When an author meets a publisher
Book curator, Sangeeta Bhansali of the newly expanded Kahani
Tree played host to the inaugural session of Society for children book writers and illustrators (SCBWI) in
Mumbai. For over two hours, Author and
publisher, Regional advisor of SCBWI, Anushka Ravishankar and children’s
author, Natasha Sharma shared their experiences and answered questions in an
interactive session titled, ‘When an author meets a publisher.’
“Things have really
changed a lot in the past ten years. It’s a good time for Indian writers,” said
Anushka Ravishankar. From the status of
ebooks, the importance of having an analytical mind to work on manuscripts,
foreign rights, literary agents, the difference between an illustrated book and
a picture book, she shared nuggets of information for the benefit of authors.
She also revealed the reasons why it is not possible for publishers to provide
marketing support for every author on their list, the journey of a manuscript
in a publishing house and the art of decoding rejection letters.
“You are the best champion for your book,” said Natasha
Sharma, sharing her experiences with the submission process, editors and
publishing houses from an author’s perspective.
Urging the authors to be pro active with marketing plans and support the
publishers to override the problem of limited distribution of children books,
she outlined her process of promoting her creations, the importance of
developing an open mind while working with manuscripts and churning out new
stories.
Lamenting over the disadvantage of not having institutional
sales, both, Anushka and Natasha emphasized on how schools can support authors
either by paying them or allowing the sale of books.
Sangeeta Bhansali,
book curator (Kahani Tree) spoke about how reading habits are inculcated in
children because of author interactions in schools.
When is a good time to leave the day job? Who gets paid
better – an author or an illustrator? Do
authors ever write to please parents who buy children books? Is there scope for
children books in regional languages? How does one get an eBook published? Why
the concept of literary agents for children books won’t work in India were some
of the queries fielded by Anushka and Natasha.
The rising popularity
of foreign books, the importance of writing good content, scuttled writing
projects and delayed publishing projects were some of the other topics
discussed.
All in all, it was a productive session to all the authors,
storytellers, teachers and book distributors who had gathered at Kahani Tree
yesterday.
To nurture your writing career with support,
tips and techniques from the best brains of children publishing industry,
become a member of SCBWI (India) by logging on to www.scbwi.org
(PS: Read
Anushka Ravishankar’s How to succeed as
a children’s author in the Indian Publishing industry in the next issue of
Kahani Takbak newsletter. Subscribe http://www.kahanitakbak.com)
To get the
best of Indian and International children books, call Kahani Tree on 91
022 24306780 ext 230/240
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