Online boost to publishing sector

Hyderabad: Online stores have proved to be a boon for the struggling publishing industry of the country, with sales of books increasing by 33 cent.

According to data by Bookscam, this steady growth has helped the industry and also the authors.

Chairman of Leadstart Publishing Company Swarup Nanda said, “The book market has remained steady since the last seven years. When Flipkart first started, it was a major bookseller and the whole idea of selling books changed because of that site. The discounts offered were by the website and not the publishers. But it has helped the publishing industry, authors and also the online stores.”

This wider reach has made many to opt for books which were earlier a cumbersome task in book stores. Now with books just a click away, it has become a “good pick” for many of them.

Another publisher Prashant Gandhi said, “Online sales have allowed for a wide range of self-publishing companies to come up. It has become easy for young authors to experiment with publishing books. Initially, the fees are taken for  a lot of 1,000 books and if they sell, then it is further increased. With some books, it is found to click very well.”

The satisfaction or getting readers’ views too has become easy, as the online stores have book reviews by readers.

Mohammed Naseem, a publisher who is into e-book business, said, “The e-book market is yet to pick up in India. There are not many writers who are opting for publishing their books only in the e-book format. It’s a combination of paperback and e-book. But there are bound to be more changes in the industry with development of apps to help authors sell their books better.”

As there is still no assessment of readership numbers in India, sales data is taken as the yardstick.

But publishers are happy with the knowledge that there are enough people out there who are into reading and that ensures that the industry will continue to have a long innings.