India is the profile nation this year at Frankfurt and as the industry gears up for representation there have been a number of articles on the subject of Indian publishing. This article in the Indian Business Standard suggests that while there has been some change since the last time India was the guest of honor at Frankfurt many of the same issues remain. The local market is still problematic - although it must be stronger than 20 years ago. The middle class in India is significant and has rapidly growing wealth. External markets however are underleveraged and the article calls for more translated titles to open up Indian publishing to the west.
India is also publishing a broader array of products in addition to trade fiction etc. This article surveys some of the new illustrated titles on the way. Introduced with a Seinfeld reference. Gotta love their sense of humor.
Cambridge University Press purchased Foundation Press and formally entered the Indian publishing market.
Here is a little more background on children’s publishing in the South. Interesting to see Scholastic is a player.
Here is an article in the Guardian reporting on preparations for Frankfurt.
In China, Jane Friedman is quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying Harpercollins wants to expand into China. It is the Beijing Bookfair this week.
Lastly, in Turkey, there seems to be an issue on censorship. Not satisfied with simply banning a book that they don't agree with, publishers there are changing some well know Western books. For example, "In Dumas' Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan while on his way to see Aramis is stopped by an old woman who explains: “You can't see him right now. He is surrounded by men of religion. He converted to Islam after his illness.” At least the government seems to be acting reasonably.
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