According to a TOI report, the 47th edition of International Kolkata Book Fair generated a revenue of `28 crore this year – `3 crore more than last year. Publishers & Booksellers Guild President Tridip Kumar Chatterjee said nearly 30 lakh people visited the fair. “It’s the first time that the business has touched the `28-crore mark. This is a combination of both paper prices going up and an encouraging footfall over weekends and public holidays,” said Chatterjee. Here’s looking at the top trends in book buying from the fair this year.
More English and young, independent language publishers
According to Esha Chatterjee, founder of BEE Books publishing house, the fair ground was able to accommodate more publishers and participants this year. “Since this is a realtively new venue, it took us some time to figure out how to optimize the space. This year there was a record number of publishers participating, nearly 1000,” said Esha, adding, “The more the participation, more the variety. Hence we saw more English publisher, which is a big win. There were also more young publishers with a variety of titles which established publishers and the big names would not risk taking up,” observed Esha.
Youngsters back to physical books ‘In the last few years, we have observed a growing interest among readers in hard copies, despite the advent of digital publishing. This year in fact we saw the highest footfall of young adults belonging to the 16-25 age group and demand for books that appeal to this audience was also very high. Social media has also played a major role in the growing popularity of books and the book fair, said Swagat Sengupta, CEO, Oxford Bookstores
Non-fiction rules, so do short stories
Fiction, non-fiction and classics were Kolkata’s favourite, according to Pinaki Sarkar, East India Penguin Random House India Pvt Ltd. “From modern to vintage classics, fiction and nonfiction, there were a lot of takers for these categories,” said Pinaki. “The non-fiction and short stories segment also did good business at the fair as today people prefer to read short stories more than long ones,” added Raju Barman of Rupa Publishers.
Youngsters drawn towards award-winning books, poetry
According to publishers, award-winning books and controversial titles are big draws. “Books that have already won awards or have a good word-of-mouth are always a craze among visitors at the fair. Poetry compilations also sold well and it was good to see that the young generation showing an interest in this segment. Books on films also did good business this time,” said Subhankar Dey of Dey’s Publishing.
New titles from popular authors
“Old classics are always a hit among the customers. Books by authors such Pracheta Gupta, Swapnamoy Chakraborty, Sayantani Putatunda did good business too. Abindranath Tagore’s Jatra Gane Ramayan, Gajendra Kumar Mitra’s Shyama Trilogy and Panchajanya were sold in innumerable numbers. So did Ashapurna Devi’s trilogy- Pratham Pratishruti, Subarnolata and Bakul Katha which symbolises an endless struggle for women to achieve equal rights,” added Noor Islam, of Mitra & Ghosh.
Bestsellers
>Ruskin Bond n Sudha Murty
>Activity books for kids
>Classics in languages
> Short story compilations
>Non-fiction (biographies, history)
>Romantic novels
>Graphic Novels
>Books for gifting, sets
The man who bought books worth `3 lakh
There are some who would spend this kind of money on a fancy holiday or a deisgnerwear. But Debarata Chattopadhyay, a teacher by profession from Chakdah, is a bibliophile who would rather spend Rs 3 lakh on books at the recently concluded Book Fair in Kolkata instead.
CT spoke to the man who could well be the book fair’s grandest icon.
“Yes it’s true. This year, I spent `3 lakhs 36 thousand to buy books from the International Kolkata Book Fair. I visited the fair eight times along with my students to buy books and honestly I don’t know exactly how many books I may have actually bought,” says Debabrata, who only knows how much he spent on his first love. Even as a student, he saved up money and spent a fortune at the Book Fair.
“Spending hours in College Street amongst books is my favourite thing to do, “ says the bookworm.
“Publishers from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and other metro cities are my friends, and they help me to get hold of new, rare books, and discover new authors,” said the bibliophile who’s also an English literature professor to UG and
PG students.
“I read and buy all kinds of books. I love to read encyclopedias, so I keep buying them too. I have 14 thousand books in my house in Chakda and Ranaghat worth `1 crore 20 thousand approx. I’ve a room in my house full of books and anyone can come and read books, take notes.”
In March, Debabrata is investing in a property in Chakda which he plans to turn into a library. “The whole idea is to encourage a reading habit among youngsters, which is missing nowadays,”
he says.
More English and young, independent language publishers
According to Esha Chatterjee, founder of BEE Books publishing house, the fair ground was able to accommodate more publishers and participants this year. “Since this is a realtively new venue, it took us some time to figure out how to optimize the space. This year there was a record number of publishers participating, nearly 1000,” said Esha, adding, “The more the participation, more the variety. Hence we saw more English publisher, which is a big win. There were also more young publishers with a variety of titles which established publishers and the big names would not risk taking up,” observed Esha.
Youngsters back to physical books ‘In the last few years, we have observed a growing interest among readers in hard copies, despite the advent of digital publishing. This year in fact we saw the highest footfall of young adults belonging to the 16-25 age group and demand for books that appeal to this audience was also very high. Social media has also played a major role in the growing popularity of books and the book fair, said Swagat Sengupta, CEO, Oxford Bookstores
Non-fiction rules, so do short stories
Fiction, non-fiction and classics were Kolkata’s favourite, according to Pinaki Sarkar, East India Penguin Random House India Pvt Ltd. “From modern to vintage classics, fiction and nonfiction, there were a lot of takers for these categories,” said Pinaki. “The non-fiction and short stories segment also did good business at the fair as today people prefer to read short stories more than long ones,” added Raju Barman of Rupa Publishers.
Youngsters drawn towards award-winning books, poetry
According to publishers, award-winning books and controversial titles are big draws. “Books that have already won awards or have a good word-of-mouth are always a craze among visitors at the fair. Poetry compilations also sold well and it was good to see that the young generation showing an interest in this segment. Books on films also did good business this time,” said Subhankar Dey of Dey’s Publishing.
New titles from popular authors
“Old classics are always a hit among the customers. Books by authors such Pracheta Gupta, Swapnamoy Chakraborty, Sayantani Putatunda did good business too. Abindranath Tagore’s Jatra Gane Ramayan, Gajendra Kumar Mitra’s Shyama Trilogy and Panchajanya were sold in innumerable numbers. So did Ashapurna Devi’s trilogy- Pratham Pratishruti, Subarnolata and Bakul Katha which symbolises an endless struggle for women to achieve equal rights,” added Noor Islam, of Mitra & Ghosh.
Bestsellers
>Ruskin Bond n Sudha Murty
>Activity books for kids
>Classics in languages
> Short story compilations
>Non-fiction (biographies, history)
>Romantic novels
>Graphic Novels
>Books for gifting, sets
The man who bought books worth `3 lakh
There are some who would spend this kind of money on a fancy holiday or a deisgnerwear. But Debarata Chattopadhyay, a teacher by profession from Chakdah, is a bibliophile who would rather spend Rs 3 lakh on books at the recently concluded Book Fair in Kolkata instead.
CT spoke to the man who could well be the book fair’s grandest icon.
“Yes it’s true. This year, I spent `3 lakhs 36 thousand to buy books from the International Kolkata Book Fair. I visited the fair eight times along with my students to buy books and honestly I don’t know exactly how many books I may have actually bought,” says Debabrata, who only knows how much he spent on his first love. Even as a student, he saved up money and spent a fortune at the Book Fair.
“Spending hours in College Street amongst books is my favourite thing to do, “ says the bookworm.
“Publishers from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and other metro cities are my friends, and they help me to get hold of new, rare books, and discover new authors,” said the bibliophile who’s also an English literature professor to UG and
PG students.
“I read and buy all kinds of books. I love to read encyclopedias, so I keep buying them too. I have 14 thousand books in my house in Chakda and Ranaghat worth `1 crore 20 thousand approx. I’ve a room in my house full of books and anyone can come and read books, take notes.”
In March, Debabrata is investing in a property in Chakda which he plans to turn into a library. “The whole idea is to encourage a reading habit among youngsters, which is missing nowadays,”
he says.
