Juergen Boos on ‘The Freedom to Publish’ at Jaipur BookMark

6th edition of Jaipur BookMark to focus on global rights translation catalogue

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Jaipur

Jaipur BookMark is soon approaching with all the glam and glory from 23-26 January 2019 at DIGGI Palace, Jaipur, India. In 2019, JBM returns with its 6th edition with a focus on key industry issues and the 2019 Global Rights Translation Catalogue. It brings together stakeholders of the book trade from across the world – publishers, literary agents, writers, translators, translation agencies and book-sellers. It gives them an opportunity not just to talk business through relevant sessions and focused roundtables but also provides the right and fruitful atmosphere to inspire conversations and a space for one-on-one meetings and networking. This intimacy forges relationships and allows the occasional contract to be signed too.

Apart from being a B2B platform that brings together important people from the publishing industry from across the world, the Jaipur BookMark also features a mentorship program for writers, an exciting platform that invites storytellers, poets, literary enthusiasts and writers to tell their story and be mentored by experts in the field. No longer limited to first time writers, this initiative not only gives writers a chance to express themselves, but also lets them mingle and interact with publishers, literary agents, translators and other industry experts in a pitching session, and perhaps get to even sign a book deal.

Three major awards – Vani foundation distinguished translator award, the Romain Rolland prize, and the Oxford bookstore book cover prize – will be announced at Jaipur BookMark 2019.

The event will be inaugurated on 23 January 2019, at Durbar Hall with keynote address on ‘The Freedom to Publish’ by Juergen Boos. The programs for the first day will be other forms of storytelling, LGBTQ writes, writing for children, writing as children, and convergences: languages, markets and readers.

On 24 January 2018, topics for discussion will be ‘This business of books’, ‘A hundred bookstores are not enough’, ‘Are you (s)killing your employees?’, ‘How content is consumed’, and ‘Cover to cover at JBM Pavillion’, and ‘Found in translation at JBM Jharokha’.

Day 3, 25 January 2019 is set for roundtables, innovative distribution models, the Romain Rolland prize: literature and cosmopolitanism, and discussion on gender equations in publishing and translating India.

On the last day the discussion topic will be ‘What do you do when you finish writing a book?’, followed by the closing ceremony. Jayapriya Vasudevan, Anita Nair, Paul McVeigh, Ekta Kumar, Jack Ramm, Aditi Maheshwari Goyal, HE Nils Ragnar Kamsvåg, Margit Walsø, Namita Gokhale, Naveen Kishore, Urvashi Butalia, Sanjoy K Roy, Neeta Gupta and many others will be part of the event.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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