Local roots, global reach!

Born and brought up in Delhi, Neeraj has a keen interest in sports, reading and Music. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in commerce from Hansraj college, University of Delhi, Chartered Accountancy from Institute of Chartered Accountancy in India, CMA and CFM from Institute of Management Accountants, USA and Executive MBA from ISB, Hyderabad. As the Managing Director for Scholastic India, Neeraj Jain is committed to advancing Indian education and promoting reading. He has actively represented the publishing industry, serving as the Chair of the FICCI Publishing Committee and the immediate past president of the Association of Publishers in India.

Neeraj Jain, Managing Director, Scholastic India, Chair – FICCI Publishing Committee explores the future of Indian storytelling. Excerpts.

AABP: How do you see digital-first publishing platforms changing the way Indian readers discover and engage with stories?

Neeraj: Digital-first publishing has made discovery of titles far more democratic. Earlier, access to stories was largely shaped by what was visible in bookstores or libraries. Now, algorithms, social media, and community recommendations allow readers to stumble upon stories outside regular/ traditional distribution networks.

Of course, with more access can come paralysis-of-excessive-choice, especially with shortened attention spans. So, the real challenge now is knowing how to keep readers engaged deeply with these changing formats.

AABP: What are the most exciting trends you observe in storytelling—formats, genres, or languages?

Neeraj: Regional storytelling is really coming into its own; people want voices that are authentic and rooted. It also helps that technology has made it easier to let those voices be heard.

Young readers are also responding strongly to graphic novels and light novels (stories that mix illustrations and text). Millennials have also taken well to audiobooks, in line with increasingly hectic lifestyles.

Genre-wise, there’s an appetite for everything: from myth retellings, historical fiction, to contemporary stories about identity, to horror.

AABP: How do self-publishing and community-driven platforms expand opportunities for new and regional voices?

Neeraj: These platforms have definitely widened the field, since many writers are getting to first experiment with self-publishing or share their work online. While it can help build your self-confidence (or at least, a sincere love for the storytelling), it does not substitute the role that traditional publishing plays; which is shaping manuscripts with editorial depth, ensuring quality and giving books a longer shelf-life. This kind of rigorous involvement carries a sense of credibility that self-publishing is yet to promise. Especially, with AI tools in the mix now, there’s a risk that these platforms become more centred around an output than the craft itself.

AABP: With AI, audiobooks, short fiction, and mobile storytelling on the rise, where do you see the next big disruption in Indian publishing?

Neeraj: In India, disruption now would mean “what’s new and accessible,” not just “what’s new?” This is because audiobooks and flash fiction already fit well into the way Indians consume content, which is mostly through commuting culture and multilingual formats.

AI can help play a huge role here, not in terms of Generative-AI, but more so for creating hyper-personalized storytelling experiences, i.e. curation of reading paths. It can also greatly help with blending mediums.

The real inflection point then, in my opinion, is when these formats also reach semi-urban and rural readers, increasing accessibility across socio-economic groups.

AABP: How do you balance scale and accessibility with the quality and authenticity of storytelling?

Neeraj: Scale and reach definitely matter in a country of India’s size, but I’d say that publishing has always been a craft as much as an industry. Readers know when something feels true and when it has been diluted to fit marketable tropes. The way forward here is to invest in good, thorough editing and nurturing strong voices, while also making sure that pricing and distribution are done in a way that don’t shut readers out. Without inclusivity, good stories will not find lasting homes.

AABP: Anything else you would like to add

Neeraj: What excites me is most is that we’re in a moment where Indian storytelling is both deeply local and globally connected; we are drawing on centuries of oral and literary traditions while also being part of a global conversation shaped by technology. Children are growing up with stories in multiple formats and languages, and that kind of exposure is going to shape a generation of readers (and eventually writers and leaders) who are comfortable straddling many worlds at once.

That plurality, if nurtured, will define the next chapter of Indian publishing.