CHENNAI: Every January, the annual Chennai Book Fair - considered the second largest in the country - lures over a million book lovers to the sprawling YMCA Grounds in Nandanam.
Major publishing houses (regional and English) from across the country count on this lucrative opportunity to expand their loyal clientele and make profits in business. However, their ambitious plans for this year have been disrupted by the virus, yet again.
Finding themselves at this COVID-induced crossroads, a few from the fraternity have joined hands to endure this third wave with a vigorous pursuit to keep the publishing industry afloat. It is with this promise, and the offering of 5,000 titles from over 25 publishers, that The Virtual Book Fair was launched on January 14 to bring the publisher-reader community closer.
"By far, book fairs have been the best place for publishers and readers to understand each other. We wanted to provide a platform that connects everyone under one roof and VBF is one such initiative. This is why we say we are not in competition with any organisation, rather we are an extension to their effort," says Karthikeyan Pugalendi of Sixth Sense Publications, a founding member.
After a year of writing drafts, revising and brainstorming, the website is now available for a global audience. "Publishers with a proper website, and capable of processing payments would have already realised the potential of going digital. Some are even adept at using social media to sell their products, without a website. But the majority of us publishers rely heavily on e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart, who have frozen their inventory except for essentials, to sell their books. Instead of finding a quick fix for our problems, the publishing industry needs to build something concrete using our collective customer bases," he points out.
While the idea is to provide a one-stop solution for publishers by presenting a virtual storefront that emulates the feel of a book fair, the ultimate objective is to build a nationwide selling network without losing out on the individuality of every publisher.
"There will be a set of customisations that could be done by each publisher on their storefront - putting up banners, altering the display (for now 2D) like in a physical book fair and others. The site will have in-built functionalities that offer space for reviews and literary activities with the social media plug-ins. We’ve been receiving good responses from users," shares Karthikeyan.
Building a sustainable model
Breaking away from the conventional fare has not been easy for traditional publishers, but the team is hopeful that the numbers will eventually look up given their meticulous approach to building a suitable subscription model to encourage more sellers and publishers. Besides, customers can also watch out for exciting offers.
"New-generation sponsors for book fair events are looking for numbers and they prefer data-driven information. Personally, I’ve also witnessed the benefits of having a digital presence, at international book fairs. A dedicated team works round the clock to monitor literary activities. If we also have an effective team, then we can take our books across the globe to different festivals," he notes.
Reviews, critiques, and discussions among readers also find an equal space on the website. "Like any e-commerce portal, we aim to create a sustainable delivery chain across India. We also request book fairs to allot a stall for VBF so we can monitor the digital activities. By the end of April, we are looking to have over 20,000 titles and 70 per cent of the publishers on board with which we can host our first literary festival. We are waiting for the website to be officially launched by the Department of Information and Public Relations on January 26. We wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to become our primary source of income in the coming years," he shares.
(For details, visit www.vbf.co.in)
Future features
VBF is also building a unique app-based content management system so that people without soft copies of the books, wrapper images, or catalog in Excel, can key in everything from their mobile. Many such features and plans are expected to be executed shortly. This is touted to be that one place where publishers can stand united and offer their entire catalogue for book lovers.