Dynamics of Distribution & Print on Demand

The evolving landscape of book distribution reflects the dynamics between technology, market demands, and readers preference. Sameer Mahale, Associate Vice-President – Online & North India (Sales), Penguin Random House (PRH) India, shares, “India is emerging as the fastest growing market for English language books in the world. All projections indicate that print books would continue to grow in high double digits in India. Several global publishers, big & small, are looking to capitalize on growing number of affluent customers in India by establishing their presence in the country.”

Allwyn Pais, Business Manager, India Book Distributors (IBD) adds,“IBD invests money on technology. We are in the forefront in this field and do not compromise on quality of work. Our inventory is very strong. We ensure that we stock 90 to 95% of the books required by our customers. We are well equipped to process local orders in a day’s time and outstation orders reach within two days to a week depending on the distance from our branch. Our tracking system is excellent.”

Insights into POD model emphasises it being a catalyst for sustainability, flexibility, cost efficiency and providing flexibility in the contemporary publishing industry. “POD is really not about printing, it’s really a distribution model and has allowed the reengineering of the global supply chain for the printed book to the benefit of authors, publishers, booksellers, wholesalers, distributors, and perhaps most importantly of all, the reader, who now has access to millions of titles that might never have been available,” shares David Taylor, Senior Vice President at Ingram Content.

The seventh edition of Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) was successfully held from January 11-14, 2024 at Kozhikode Beach. Ravi DeeCee, Publisher & CEO of DC Books and Founder of KLF shares that it takes their team a year to curate each edition, alongside taking inputs from the audiences. A huge demography of the lit fest comprises of youngsters below the age of 35 and students from universities across India.

Taking Tamil to the World and Bringing the World to Tamil, the second edition of CIBF 2024 had a total of 752 MoUs signed, out of which 483 for Tamil books to be translated into foreign languages and 230 were for other language books to be translated into Tamil.

It is a sad news that Asoke K Ghosh, the father of Indian publishing has left for his heavenly abode. The industry will miss this stalwart immensely.

As we look forward to meeting, networking, collaborating in different Book fairs, Festivals and Events wish you all every success and serendipity.

Happy Reading!

Shweta
shweta@allaboutbookpublishing.com