When looking to publish a book, it’s logical to think of the US, Canada, UK, and Australia as the English-literate markets, but can you name the nation with the second highest English-speaking population? It’s India, with an estimated 220 million people fluent in the language. It is often overlooked in publishing because the population is relatively poor compared to the others I listed above.
But in the era of ebooks, that doesn’t need to be an issue. With zero marginal cost and regional pricing control, you can price a book competitively in the Indian market and turn a good profit. Add to this the option of paperback distribution through a local, Indian publisher who can print the books in-country, and you’re in business, literally.
I will be launching my own books in India next year, but rather than wait to hear from me about how that goes, watch this interview with Laxmi Hariharan. She lives in London where she works for a PR firm and has done some rather notable work, such as launching the SyFy Channel in Europe. Originally from Mumbai, she had her first novel, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer, traditionally published, but soon found she needed to take over her own publicity to move copies. Working with the Indian company, Read Out Loud, she got paperback distribution throughout the country and did an extensive launch process.
With modern technology, the world keeps getting smaller, and that means better access for all of us.
Expand the description to see the timestamp links, if you’d like to skip around. Many thanks to Laxmi for her time, giving this interview.
Great interview. I particularly liked what she said about building your platform even while you’re writing, but then waiting before you launch into the world of paid marketing–and making sure you don’t lose track of your writing in the process.
One thing she said that I didn’t quite catch was about the importance of newletters. Did she mean authors having newsletters for their readers? Or was this about something else?
Yes, authors’ newsletters, the most important marketing tool in your kit. It’s never to early to start one!