Publishing in Ancient India

I wonder about the history of publishing in India. I know many trace it back to the British Raj. But that’s modern publishing, where publishing is almost synonymous with books, periodicals and newspapers. I’m talking about ancient India. You see, simply put ‘publishing’ is a means of bringing the written word to a reader. In the modern era, the medium for this transmission has been paper. We are now at the crossroads of a transformation. The written word is brought to us on digital devices. It’s all binary and bytes.  So we go back to the question. When did India start publishing?



Courtesy: http://incredibleindia.blogspot.com



The earliest example of ‘publishing’ in India, as far as I can say is the Mahabharata. Veda Vyasa dictates the story to Lord Ganesha. Ganesha etches the story on palm leaves. In fact Vyasa is considered as the One who split the Vedas into the four components as we know it today. During that partnership with Ganesha, it said Vyasa also had the Puranas and the Upanishads transcribed. The events of the Mahabharata can be dated to 7^th – 9^th Century BCE. Prior to this era, I am under the impression that all Vedic literature was passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth (please do correct me if I’m wrong).  Anyway, for all practical purposes I believe the first act of publication was engineered by Veda Vyasa and Lord Ganesha.

The minute the spoken word is transcribed to a ‘mobile’ form – in this case palm leaves – it opened a whole industry so to speak. I guess just as paper remained our medium for centuries, palm leaves were the medium then. The palm leaves could be carried around to various royal courts; to be recited, enacted, debated upon. I’m sure many royals commissioned ‘copying’ of the texts – surely the Mahabharata was a best seller – a text so rich in language, so powerful in its characterisations that it had to receive academic attention. And thus, we had the first instance of ‘many editions’. Perhaps there was an abridged edition for the gurukuls? Did the palm leaves reach the superb universities of Nalanda and Takshashila? Did the Greek students of these universities compare the Mahabharata or the Puranic stories with their own mythologies? Did teachers debate over the layered meanings of each and every sentence? Did students receive awards for doing a character analysis of Duryodhana or Krishna? Did the general public flock fields to watch a play on the Mahabharata – crying when Draupadi is molested, or cheering when Bheema defeats Bakasura? Oooh what a thrilling age that must’ve been!

Shakuntala
Courtesy - http://en.wikipedia.org

The fact that complex poetry and stories could be written and distributed must’ve opened the floodgates of literature – the way ebooks have changed the game today. Just the way we sit hunched over pen and paper (okay keypads), I imagine Kalidasa frowning over his palm leaves as he etched the story of Shakuntala or the moving Ritusamhara. This was in the 5^th Century CE!  

But slowly, many learned rulers and scholars realized that if messages have to reach the common man, Sanskrit cannot be the choice of language.  Remember only the priestly Brahmins knew Sanskrit while the rest spoke languages such as Pali or Prakrit. So perhaps there was a rush of translations where all these great Sanskrit classics were brought out to a more ‘local’ form that could be adapted to theatre, or even read at home by the commoners. I’m sure translation was a great business at that time given the volume and popularity of such rich literature.

Carved for eternity - Asokan Brahmi inscriptions
Courtesy - http://en.wikipedia.org

But what of emperors like Asoka who had such spiritual passion inside their hearts that palm leaves were way too small for their words? That’s right – buildings and structures were their mediums. Asoka erected massive pillars and stupas made of sandstone, with inscriptions in Brahmi – his message etched for eternity for the whole world to read.  In fact many rulers who built temples adopted this method of ‘publishing’ – with their words carved on the flagstones, walls, pillars and domes of the structure. If you visit any such temple – for example the Tirupathi temple, keep an eye out for the inscriptions on the flagstones. Temples acted as community centres – a place to congregate or even a place to rest one’s feet as a weary traveller. Imagine sitting in the cool shade of a towering mandapa of a temple, and in the few hours of your stay, you manage to read the king’s message even as you rest your head against the wall or pillar!

How giving and liberating it must be – to just say – “these are my words, dictated by my heart. Here world, read it. Read all you want” – and put it up for everyone to see, revel, relish.  I wonder if I can do that. Write a book with my blood and give it out for free. Ah. Who am I kidding? I want the book deals. I want the accolades and awards.

So in my next post, I will talk about the current publishing scenarios in India.

Interview with Leonard Fernandes - CinnamonTeal Print & Publishing Service

Goa-based CinnamonTeal (http://www.cinnamonteal.in/) founded by Leonard Fernandes and his wife Queenie Fernandes, is India's premier self-publishing house; with comprehensive services from editing, book cover design and printing. In 2010 CinnamonTeal won the Young Creative Entrepreneur award from the British Council.  

CinnamonTeal brings Print-On-Demand technology to the table, making it easier to bring out a book, and not worry about inventory. They have a tie up with online bookstores, and take world-wide orders. The secret behind their success has been passion and innovation - this is what drives them to take great risks and forge ahead in such a shaky industry. Here's a wonderful chat with Leo.

Can you tell us about CinnamonTeal and all its associated services?

Leo: CinnamonTeal publishing provides the following services:

a. Pre-press services: including copy and substantive editing, cover design, illustrations, typesetting, typing and indexing

b. Printing (both, on-demand and offset)

c. Post-press services: including distribution through physical and online bookstores (with global order fulfillment options)

d. Ebook development: for EPUB, MOBI and PDF/A formats

e. Digitization and retouching for old books and manuscripts

f. Development of website and other marketing collateral for authors

You were into IT & Consulting. It must’ve been a huge risk getting into an offbeat business. Tell us more about your journey.

Leo: After completing my MBA at The Ohio State University, I wanted to return to India and start a business of my own. Queenie and I (she was in the UK and we were still not married) brainstormed a bit and came with the idea of having an online bookstore for used books. Thus dogearsetc.com was born in 2006. Consequently many of our authors approached us to publish their books and hence we decided to launch CinnamonTeal Publishing in August 2007.

In hindsight, what happened was a natural progression.At that moment it just seemed like the correct thing to do so we did it. It became difficult to pay the bills initially so we worked out of home to save costs and took up teaching jobs on the side.

Why did you choose self-publishing business model? What were the challenges in setting up a traditional publishing house, or even a literary agency?

Leo: When authors approached us to publish their books, we wondered why they would do so when there were statistics that said that about 16000 odd publishers operated in India. We tried to understand what authors were looking for and realised that they craved for more than what was derisively called “vanity publishing”. They actually wanted more control in their hands - control over the appearance of the book, its pricing and its availability in stores. We realised that a POD-based self-publishing model achieved all that.

At around the same time, Lulu was making it in the news as an efficient and successful self-publishing model. We decided to replicate it in India. We found editors and designers to work with but finding a printer who could deliver on the POD model with consistency in quality proved to be difficult. It took us around 5-6 months to find such a printer and we have worked together ever since!

Since the self-publishing model came in response to author queries, we never considered any alternate model. In hindsight, any other model may not have worked for us, cash-starved as we were.

Do you think the traditional publishing houses do not address a certain market – say genre fiction, poetry, regional languages etc – and this is where companies like CinnamonTeal step in?

Leo: I think traditional publishing houses play it safe as far as genres go. They like to go by what is tried and tested - rather their perception of what may and what may not work in the market. In that sense, the self-publishing model works well because the author, having put in his or her money into the book, will be more eager to see it work and perhaps work harder towards the success of the book. Along the way, the author will need some help and expertise, like with typesetting or cover design, for example, and that is where companies like CinnamonTeal come in.

You have quite a few foreign authors as clients; they prefer you over Amazon or Lulu. What are your differentiators?

Leo: The obvious differentiator is cost - especially for pre-press services such as cover design and typesetting. But cost is a finicky differentiator as anyone with lower costs can upset your cart. So we have consciously tried to develop more differentiators. Like our customer engagement, for example, that ensures that all their concerns are addressed. We also do not offer package-based services and this flexibility to accommodate client demands have particularly endeared us to many clients. For example, there was this man from the US who wanted his book packed in a golden box with loose sheets and a pencil. That is something no Amazon or Lulu would do because they do not have a package for it.

Interview with Divya Dubey of Gyaana

Gyaana Books (http://www.gyaanabooks.com/) is a young publishing firm, founded by the beautiful and dynamic Divya Dubey. It takes passion and grit to set up a publishing firm single-handedly in the current Indian market. But Gyaana is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing firms, thanks some innovative services. For example, Gyaana offers Authorz Coracle - an editorial service that prunes and shapes your manuscript before you submit it elsewhere. Divya also started the Forum for Publishers, Editors and Authors in India and Abroad (FPEAA) group in Linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com), the first of its kind. The group brought together writers, bloggers, editors, designers, distributors, retailers etc all on one platform; providing a rich arena for interactions.






 

Could you tell us a little about your entry into publishing?  

Divya: I always knew I wanted to be an editor. It was just a matter of time before I discovered I wanted to do book publishing. After doing an MA in English from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, I applied for an MA in Publishing at several universities in the UK – out of which I finally decided upon Oxford Brookes. Upon my return, I joined the publishing industry in Delhi. 

You set up Gyaana single-handedly. What is your vision for Gyaana? Is there a gap in the Indian (English) publishing scene that you seek to bridge?

Divya: When I began in 2009, our focus was on fiction of all kinds – literary and popular. We published some first-time writers and some established ones. In 2011, we began Authorz Coracle, an aspiring writer’s resource. In January 2013, we have launched a new literary e-journal, the Earthen Lamp Journal. We have been experimenting with different things.

What are the roles you handle as the founder of Gyaana? For example, do you still wake up with the slush-pile, or do you look at only the business –side of the operation?

Divya: I’m involved in everything – right from going through the manuscripts we receive for publication, to sorting the printed books and removing defective copies. All aspects of publishing – editorial, production, printing, marketing/distribution, etc, are important for a small publisher to be personally involved in, apart from the business side.

What are the challenges you face in terms of distribution and retail as new publisher?

Divya: Well, it’s rather a long and complex subject. I wrote an article on it which was published by The Bookseller (UK) last year. It explains everything: http://withinthepurview.blogspot.in/2012/08/indias-indies.html

There are a lot of people writing books – but not all have access to literary agents or publishing houses. Do you see that as an opportunity?

Divya: I would say, as far as writing is concerned, yes, the number of writers is burgeoning every minute. Perhaps not all of them are good writers, but today they have the means to write what they wish to, the way they wish to, and to reach their audience. Technology has made everything much more convenient for them. And, yes, a lot of good new authors have several opportunities today since they don’t have to depend only on the MNCs. However, as far as distribution goes, the situation is much bleaker. Several well-known book shops and book chains have shut down during the last few years. Shelf-space is decreasing, and there are too many competitors fighting for it, whether big or small. That isn’t a happy situation.