CHENNAI : One of the biggest fears for a new author is getting the book published and taking it to the shelves of a store. To help debut authors, in 2012, three aspiring city-based entrepreneurs — Naveen Valsakumar, Bhargava Adepalley and Jana Pillay — started Notion Press in a small house with an upfront investment of `3,000, two laptops and a dream to change this face of the publishing industry.
The company now has 150 publishing professionals. It has created a process where the author has complete control over the publishing process with expert hands guiding them throughout. “We select the books. The content must not be defamatory or opinionated. In case the script is good but the language is poor then we suggest the writer hire a ghostwriter.
We are focusing on stories in your mother tongue (regional languages). Our youngest author is a seven-year-old and the oldest is a 90-year-old. From the princess of Travancore to a prison inmate on parole, we have given an opportunity to everyone,” says Naveen, co-founder and CEO of Notion Press.
The company has an author community of over a lakh. It has published 6,000 books and is printing a new book every two-and-half-hours. In an effort to help authors create and publish their own books in 30 minutes, Notion Press launched ‘Xpress Publishing’. The published book will be available in print and eBook formats on all chosen distribution channels and can be delivered to more than 100 countries. It also supports regional languages. “They can own all rights to the book and earn around 70 per cent net profits from the sale,” he shares.
“The platform provides a seamless user experience where the author can design their own cover or use pre-set templates. However, things like quality of paper that varies in several countries can be a challenge,” says Bhargava, co-founder and CTO of Notion Press. With new offices in Singapore and Malaysia, the company is expanding into new markets.
For details visit www.notionpress.com/xpress