The Jaipur Literature Festival concluded last month and we have been posting bits and pieces of conversations/observations taking place on blogosphere (look here if you missed out on any of that). Some more notes from the festival:
Via aptstudio
The largest challenge is “distribution” – here used (I think) more as a catch-all from repping, to (believe it or not) the lack of central buying, the general supply chain infrastructure as well as the hassle of collecting payment from a widely distributed, decentralised and fragmented retail market – although piracy is also a concern. It also becomes clear that whilst publishers in the UK have become very obsessed with BookScan figures, there is no such data collection in India. There is no point of sale barcode scanning; no publisher (or author, or agent) knows their exact sales figures; bestseller lists are fairly arbitrary and local – and all parties seem happy with this. If there is money to be made, then it gets shared around.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan’s cultural calendar has several events lined up for this year. The 3-day Desert Festival starts tomorrow in Jaisalmer and the Elephant Festival will be held on 10th March in Jaipur. Of course, it will be great to go for these festivals. But, just in case you can’t make it, you can give your child a glimpse of Rajasthan through one of our books titled “Rajasthan: A Journey Through India”. Filled with rich illustrations, the book has bits of information to transport your child to the colourful land of Rajasthan.
Image Source: “Rajasthan: A Journey Through India”; Written and Illustrated by Abhisheikh, Published in 2008