The rise of India’s book industry!

The Indian book industry is booming. GfK Entertainment and NielsenIQ BookData have released their international report for 2024 at the recently concluded London Book Fair. The data reveals increasing fiction revenues, while non-fiction book sales have been declining in many regions. Romance novels and fantasy titles performed particularly well. As the representative data show, 16 out of 18 territories analyzed reported significant revenue growth in fiction, with India showing 30.7% growth. Overall, almost half of the territories analyzed enjoyed increases in their revenues compared to the previous year. The strongest growth was seen in India (+27.0%), Mexico (+12.6%), and Brazil (+10.4%); even though these markets still have a relatively moderate total volume.

India is a multilingual country and translation is becoming essential for showcasing the richness of literature in various languages, ensuring that stories and knowledge are not confined to a single linguistic community. Infact, translations are shaping global literary icons, and bridging cultural gaps—making world literature an ever-evolving entity.

As Trisha Niyogi of Niyogi Books, puts it, “The evolution of world literature through translation demonstrates how diverse cultural narratives transcend language barriers, enriching global literary discourse.” While, Dinesh Sinha and Sridhar Balan of Ratna Books, share, “Translations have not only helped readers understand diverse cultures but have helped in a symbiotic relationship with the original work. They have also helped in Indian languages ‘talking’ to each other as other languages have picked up the English text for translations.”

Talking about the trends in translation, Milee Ashwarya, Publisher and Senior Vice President, Penguin RandomHouse India, shares, “Translation of non-fiction works and short stories seem to be some new trends in translation.” This issue focuses on the nuances of translations in publishing industry. Experts in the publishing industry emphasize how translations are shaping global literary discourse and strengthening connections between Indian languages.

Happy reading!

Shweta
shweta@allaboutbookpublishing.com