Are you finding nothing to buy in bookstores? - A Daily Download

Are you finding nothing to buy in bookstores?

Sukumar Ranganathan - Friday, June 05, 2009 9:17 AM

 

I am, and that feeling of emptiness surely has to be a booklover's purgatory.

Since  I know the person who used to run India's biggest distribution chain and because I have met with the approval of the man who runs the excellent small bookstore in my neighbourhood -- he only communicates with people whose taste in books he approves of -- I asked around and seem to have uncovered the making of a disaster -- at least for a trigger-happy book buyer like me.

Here's what has happened 

1. Sometime ago, the ownership of the distribution chain changed hands, from my friend to one of India's largest conglomerates. Now, this conglo is run pretty much the way all conglos are run. So, if there's a copy of Dogs of Babel that hasn't sold for, say six months, a bean counter will say, "Let's not order any more books by Carolyn Parkhurst." Much of the pleasure in book buying is finding the unexpected, but the bean-counting approach will ensure that the likes of Boris Akunin, Peter Hoeg, and Frank Tallis will remain undiscovered by Indian readers.

2. In the past few years, most big publishing firms have set up shop here. They import and distribute their own books now, but have a preference for so-called best sellers. This means their slow moving inventory -- which likely includes literary gems -- will never be shipped into and distributed in India.

Well, there's always Amazon.

 

 

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10 Comment

From Siddarth Raman

June 5, 2009 2:27 PM
I agree with your summary. I went to a bookstore (Crossword) hoping to pick up a copy of George R R Martin's Storm of Swords. While the store provided ample opportunity to scope out Games, toys, music CDs and games, it seemed to contain a surprising shortage of books. The same store had shelved Knut Hamsun's "Growth of the Soil" under Agriculture earlier. I was also surprised to know that the book I was hoping to purchase was available in only two remote corners of Mumbai. It's extremely disheartening. There was a time when I could go sit in one of these long book distribution chains on idle summer evenings and read. I suppose I could even now... except without the books of my choice.

From Siddarth Raman

June 5, 2009 2:31 PM
This might seem irrelevant to the above post, but why do you not write on comics anymore? No opinions on the death of Batman or New Krypton? I quite enjoyed reading your old posts (I forgot the name). Or is there another blog that you also write on?

From Sukumar Ranganathan

June 5, 2009 3:35 PM

And to think there was a time when even comic book versions of Martins sword-and-sorcery classics were available.

On comics Siddarth: still buy them; still read them; but stopped writing Cult Fiction sometime back. Maybe its time to revive it

From hahaclickclick

June 5, 2009 4:49 PM
Name the conglo, expose the buggers. During a recent visit to Fact & Fiction, there was not a single title either by JG Ballard or John Barth. If that is the fate of established writers, what chance does newbies like Carolyn Parkhurst have? On Ballard and Barth, Mr Singh sadly shook his head and gave me an unheard of discount on the few books I bought.

From Thomas Abraham

June 6, 2009 12:56 AM
As the publisher of both Carolyn Parkhurst and Boris Akunin, I'm glad to say that both of them are available with us. Being an international company, we are not allowed to retail by the Indian govt, so regrettably it's not as simple as just mail ordering it from us. Every author or book listed above is published either by us (Hachette Group), Random House,Harper, and agencies handled by Penguin (canongate, Atlantic). So all you need to do is to tell your bookseller to record a 'procurement order' for you, and you should have the book with you fairly soon. far cheaper and if in stock faster than getting it from Amazon (and if not in stock, it'll be about the same time as flying it in; and without the shipping charges). Not quite the same as discovering the book you want in a bookshelf(or the joy of discovering something unknown in a store), but the next best thing in the circumstances. We can bring a book in, even special price it for India, but the horse has to drink. And though the numbers game will play out (ergo mass market will always be available far more easily), that doesn't mean that you won't get the get the ones that are from the road less travelled.

From Sukumar Ranganathan

June 7, 2009 2:22 PM

That's good to hear Thomas.

And haha: was hoping Ballard's death would see a reissue boom, but that is clearly not to be.

From Anand Divan

June 8, 2009 12:36 PM
Hi all, May be the time is right for BOD - Books on Demand. Why not have a kiosk with electronic formats of all books available. A ny one should be able to print out a book whenever he or she wants it. Would save on shelf space for the bookstore and printing/stocking/inventory costs as well.

From vasundhar

June 8, 2009 2:17 PM
Yes you are very true. I was wandering across bookstores like landmark(s),crossword(s),odyssey these days number of interesting books have fallen significantly. looks like shelves are filled with either software or management ... So sad.

From Rajeev Sharma

July 15, 2009 11:33 AM
Sad but true. There seems to be a surfeit of Management, self help and lifestyle books but the interesting books are being available less and less. I find it very bad that Niche Interests like Science Fiction are now scarce. Very few titles are available. Earlier, at least 6-8 months after the publication, the SF titles could be seen but it is no longer the case. There should be scope for fun literature.

From diesel jeans

September 15, 2009 7:13 PM
Nice work guys! this is just Amazing! Thanks

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