New year, new beginnings…

The New Year brings with it a fresh start, new opportunities and an exhilarating sense of rejuvenation. Expressing our love, gratitude, respect and appreciation to all people in the industry, we wish to ring in this new year with a positive start to a fulfilling year ahead.

The year 2018 has been a roller coaster ride for us. On November 18, we lost our founder editor Mr. SK Khurana, who was the man behind All About Book Publishing. He is our hero and our inspiration. Many in the industry would remember him as a man who was always full of positivity and new ideas. We will tread on the path he has shown us and hope to take this magazine to another level.

The new year is beginning with the New Delhi World Book Fair, which although is a smaller show due to renovation at Pragati Maidan, would be showcasing 600 publishers from India and abroad. Other activities to look forward to are the Kerala international Literature Festival, Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur BookMark and the International Kolkata Book Fair, to name a few.

The industry is abuzz with many positive developments. CAPEXIL is taking a contingent of Indian publishers to the London Book Fair as an Indian Pavilion. Besides, there will be participation from individual publishers as well.

Paper books are back in vogue and Indian language publishing is striving for greater heights. According to a report by Google and KPMG India published in April 2017, there were 234 million Indian-language internet users in 2016 while only 175 million English users, and the gap between the two groups is expected to widen going forward. The report states that nine out of ten new internet users between 2016 and 2021 will use local languages. The publishing industry does seem to be in a happier space.

With such positive thoughts, let’s ring in the New Year. A very Happy New Year to all of you!

Shweta Khurana
shweta@allaboutbookpublishing.com