Despite what you may have seen in Bridget Jones’ diary, book publishing is not all about comedy launches. The industry now means serious business and is becoming a highly competitive area, writes Sakshi Khattar
Book publishing is a creative industry that helps source, develop and market content thereby helping spread knowledge. It offers multiple career choices especially in areas like editorial and sales and marketing. As we are progressively becoming a knowledge economy, content creation and dissemination are becoming prized skills that would be needed by society.
Book publishing is considered to be a traditional industry, which is a misconception,” opined Ajay Shukla, managing director, McGraw-Hill Education India Ltd, adding,“publishers today are offering innovative multi-dimensional content delivery including digital, online, interactive audio/video content in addition to print content. With the development of new delivery channels, a career in publishing is becoming more challenging and exciting for bright young talent.”
Stephen Barr, president, SAGE international, said:“The publishing industry is highly enriching as one gets to interact with a lot of authors, work with people from different fields and overall has an exciting career.” Though he cautions,“It is stronger on enriching your mind rather than filling your pockets.’’
Outsourcing
Outsourcing projects to India has received plenty of press. Companies are keen to have their work done in India. Earlier, it was the economic slowdown that inspired companies to close departments and outsource their work to India whereas now they are discovering that outsourcing allows rapid expansion.
Due to globalisation, this industry is growing at a rate of 20%, felt Saurabh Garg, director, Brijbasi Art Press. He said:“The future of book publishing is promising. Companies from US and UK are outsourcing their publishing requirements from India, which includes writer, correction, designers, and so on, thus making it an exciting career option.”
Scope
Book publishing offers multiple career choices. Vikesh Dhyani, general manager - marketing, Pearson Education, explains,“Editorial mainly comprises sponsoring or commissioning editors, development editors/project managers, copy editors and proof readers,” adding,“sales& marketing is composed of field sales executives and professionals from all walks of life like management, technology, health besides product specialists for marketing and promotion.”
“With large public and private investments underway to enhance enrolments in school and higher educational institutions in India, the publishing industry is all set to grow dramatically in the years to come, resulting in a high demand for talent,” claimed Shukla.
The scope of book publishing is perhaps huge, especially in India as publishing is a relatively new field here. Anurag Mehta, marketing director, Snab Publishers Private Limited, said:“The literacy level is increasing and the book market is expanding. Moreover, there are big retail companies who are retailing books now and soon books would become something like a FMCG product.”
Since books have a longer life there lies more scope. P S Bright, managing director, Bright Group of Publications, said:“The scope for publishing is rising day after day because audio and video cannot educate you for a long time but books and print production can, as they work as a reference guide which has a long life.”
Work Profile
The job of a publisher includes selecting and commissioning manuscripts, preparing manuscripts for printing, designing the final appearance of books, overseeing their printing and binding and finally, marketing. Bright explained,“The publishing process is mainly divided into editorial, designing, production, advertising, publicity and marketing,” adding,“the publishers can be specialising in textbooks, paperbacks, technical literature, art books and children’s books. He also looks in to the fact that the works published are sold in the market.”
Likewise, Mehta said,“There are many job opportunities starting from the lowest level to the highest level like DTP operators, proofreaders, editors, research editors, authors, illustrators, photographers. There are all sorts of books published and this requires the services of many professionals.”
Threats
The copyright problem is perhaps a major threat today, specially the piracy of books.“Stricter action is needed to control this”, opined Mehta adding,“E-publishing is more of a supplement to book publishing than a threat. This can be a source of additional revenue for publishers and also can be used to increase the awareness about a particular book.”
“Copy writing, piracy and as far as e-publishing is concerned, it is limited in metros only where internet facility is provided,” felt Bright. Likewise, Shukla claimed,“Piracies, plagiarism, abuse of copyright including photocopying are the key issues facing the publishing industry today.”
Lucrative Choice?
Sky is the limit, if you have the potential. Mehta said,“Definitely it is financially rewarding and specially editors, research editors, authors can make a lot of money. It is a profession, which can make entrepreneurs out of people without investing too much. There are many cases of authors becoming self publishers and establishing their own publishing houses.”
Similarly, Shukla assured,“Compensation including incentives is quite attractive at entry level and as you gain experience, employers are willing to recognise your value through handsome bonuses and perquisites,” adding,“senior management staff can expect salariesthat are comparable with equivalent positions in other companies in the manufacturing and services sector.”
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