KOCHI: Kochi-based Pine Books has withdrawn itself from the publication of the autobiography of Sr Lucy Kalappura, who was recently expelled from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), following a disagreement over the royalty payments.
Milton Francis, director of Pine Books, told TNIE that an agreement had been signed with the nun earlier where the royalty was set at 15 per cent. Later, Sr Lucy raised the royalty fee unilaterally to 50 per cent forcing Pine Books to withdraw from the publication. The book, ‘In the Name of the Lord, My God’, was to be published in three languages -- Malayalam, English, and Hindi -- as per the earlier plan.
“We had received the full manuscript of the book. However, when a difference in the terms that had been agreed upon came from Sr Lucy’s side, we decided not to proceed any further with the publication. If all had gone as per plan, the book would have been the first one to be published by our firm. We have returned the manuscript to Sr Lucy,” said Milton.
Pine Books’ first publication, ‘The Begums of Bhopal - A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Raj India’, authored by Shaharyar M Khanwas was released in Kozhikode on Sunday. When contacted Sr Lucy said that there were no definite plans to release the book this year itself.
“I have the full manuscript of my book with me and lots of offers have been made by different publishing houses. The book will hit the stands at various book stores soon,” said Sr Lucy. Though she gave a hint that final negotiations were progressing with a publishing firm, she did not reveal further details.
“The publishing company has requested that they be allowed to formally announce the publication,” she said.