Viva Books, headquartered in Delhi, brings out books in the fields of science, technology, medicine, humanities, social sciences, self-help and management. Vinod Vasishtha, managing director of Viva Books, says, “In our book publishing journey which began in 1977, we have become a name to reckon with in the industry by producing quality content for a wide audience. Due to the tireless efforts of our team, we brought out around 300 books in the last fiscal year. Today we represent and distribute for foreign publishers in India and are one of the leading educational publishers in the country.”
Vasishtha’s passion to excel in the industry egged him on to full-fledged distribution. Presently Viva Books is both a representative and distributor for foreign publishers like Brookings Institution Press, United Nations Publishers, Manchester University Press, WW Norton & Company, Scion Publishing, to name a few. Moreover, the company is into joint ventures with UK-based Kogan Page (Kogan Page India) and US-based Jones and Bartlett Learning (Jones and Bartlett India). Viva also has a marketing office for the UK-based Eurospan Group.
Viva Education
Viva Education, the school book publishing division, has a comprehensive list which focusses on core subjects like English Language Teaching (ELT), science and mathematics. Viva’s marketing network comprising eight branches across the country and marketing executives stationed in key cities and towns ensure high product visibility. Also, participation in national and international book fairs provides ample opportunities to authors for promoting their works.
When asked about the percentage of books Viva sells through eRetailers and traditional distributors, Vasishtha explains, “We have published eBook versions of most of our trade titles, which are available on the major eBook retail platforms. We also distribute electronic whiteboard compatible versions of our books to schools. Our business through eRetailers is around 10% while 90% of our earnings come from traditional distributors.”
Key strengths
When queried about the key strengths of the company, Vasishtha says, “The ability to evolve with time is our strength. The market is changing at a very fast pace and our customers have great expectations from us. Our ability to take cognizance of feedback and improve constantly has been the driving force behind our success. We aim to make a significant contribution to the educational segment by imparting knowledge and skills to the young generation of Indians. We are on the way to achieving that goal, which is well within our reach within the next few years.”
