Plans on
pushing out close to 800 titles by the end of the year
Penguin Books
India has launched its first instalment of e-books, with over 200 titles
presently available, paving the way for a fledgling e-book market.
While the
announcement precedes Flipkart’s proposed e-book launch, the company is
initially targeting major international retailers such as Amazon and Apple and
plans on including Indian retailers soon.
Digital model
“The idea
behind this is to basically catch up on the digital model of publishing. While
the current tranche consists of 240 Indian titles, which includes all the new
books published in 2012, we are planning on pushing out close to 800 titles by
the end of the year,” said Ananth Padmanabhan, Vice-President, Sales, Penguin
Books India.
“Over the
course of the year, we will continue to publish from the remaining best-seller
backlist, and by January 2013, we plan to offer all new books in print and
e-book editions,” he said.
E-books, which
by the end of the year will contribute to 5 per cent of Penguin Book India’s
revenue, have become popular due to the rapid growth of tablets and smartphones
along with expansion of the Indian publishing industry.
Presently, the
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry estimates that the
publishing industry is growing at a compounded rate of 30 per cent annually.
Indian retailers
While Indian
readers will presently have to buy from international retailers, thereby paying
a higher price, Penguin Books India hopes that will change soon.
“When we look
at Indian retailers, which can provide a rupee price to customers, there are a
number of security audits which we have to do to make sure that there is no
software piracy and digital rights management issues. We are currently in talks
and hope to have something solid soon, while the e-book industry develops
here,” Mr. Padmanabhan said.
“E-books are a
serious consideration for revenue generation, in the next three years we are
looking at it contributing close to 15 per cent of our revenue.
“However we
believe that it will continue to flourish along with the print publishing, one
will not cannibalise the other.”
--by Anuj Srivas
Courtesy: The Hindu, Delhi; July18, 2012
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