Aleph Book Company awarded ‘Publisher of the Year Award’

9th Publishing Next Awards at New Delhi World Book Fair

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Aleph
Indu Chandrasekhar, managing editor, Tulika Books, Delhi, presenting the Editor of the Year Award to Elizabeth Kuruvilla Photo Publishing Next

The much anticipated Indian publishing awards, the Publishing Next Industry Awards, were presented on 2nd March 2023 in New Delhi, during the recently-concluded New Delhi World Book Fair. The Awards were presented in 10 categories (see table below).

Aleph Book Company — the New Delhi-based publishing house emerged the winner in the Publisher of the Year category of Publishing Next Industry Awards 2022. The citation read that the Award was presented to Aleph for “the Interesting range of subjects its list covers, including children’s and translated books. Its willingness to take the extra step to ensure that its books are of the highest quality make it stand out. It is noteworthy that, through its books, Aleph has chosen to stand up to the pressures of the prevailing political climate.”

Roli Books, a publisher that has become synonymous with lavish, beautifully crafted books on Indian art, photography, history and world cuisines, was declared runner-up in this category.

Since its inception in 2014, the annual Publishing Next Industry Awards (PNIA) recognise and reward talent, initiative, entrepreneurship and quality in book publishing, across publishers of all sizes, and in all Indian languages. Established under the aegis of the Publishing Next Conference, a platform furthering discussion and networking within the book publishing industry, the Publishing Next Industry Awards seek to celebrate innovation and leadership in the Indian book trade. Based in Goa, the Conference is driven by its two co-founders, Queenie Rodrigues and Leonard Fernandes, and by an advisory body that includes Vinutha Mallya and Rubin D’Cruz.

Besides being awarded to books in various categories, PNIA also acknowledges the importance and contributions of professionals in allied fields, such as editing and illustration. This year, Elizabeth Kuruvilla of Penguin Random House India won the Editor of the Year Award, while Prashant Soni won the Illustrator of the Year Award.

The winners and runners-up of Publishing Next Industry Awards 2022

Category

Winner

Runner-Up

Editor of the Year

Elizabeth Kuruvilla (Penguin Random House India)

Radhika Marwah (Penguin Random House India)

Illustrator of the Year

Prashant Soni

Sanket Pethkar

Book Cover of the Year (Indian Languages)

Paramita Brahmachari, for her design of the cover of Nishite Pawa Desh, published by Jadavpur University Press

Anil Aahuja for his design of the cover of Pariyon Ke Beech, published by Rajkamal Prakashan.

Book Cover of the Year (English)

Akangksha Sarmah, for her design of the cover of  Hungry Humans, published by Penguin Random House India

Akila Sesshasayee, for her design of the cover of Land, Guns, Caste, Woman: The Memoir of a Lapsed Revolutionary, published by Navayana

Illustrated Book of the Year

Indian Botanical Art: An Illustrated History, by Martyn Rix, published by Roli Books

Mumbai : A City Through Objects – 101 Stories from the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum by Anahita Dhondy, published by  HarperCollins Publishers India

Children’s Book of the Year (Ages 0-8)

Dugga, authored and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe, published by Pratham Books.

Aai and I, by Mamta Nainy, illustrated by Sanket Pethkar. Published by Pickle Yolk Books

Children’s Book of the Year (Ages 8+)

It’s Time to Rhyme: Poems for Kids of All Ages, by Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan. Illustrated by Priya Kuriyan and published by Aleph Book Company

Pinkoo Shergill Pastry Chef by Vibha Batra. Illustrated by Shamika Chaves and published by Scholastic India

Printed Book of the Year (Indian Languages)

Mahaparbat : Ek Kahani Hamare Daur Ki, by Amitv Ghosh, published by HarperCollins Publishers India

Madras 1726 by Benjamin Schultze (Edited and Translated by K. Subashini), published by Kalachuvadu Publications

Printed Book of the Year (English)

Improvised Futures: Encountering the Body in Performance, edited by Ranjana Dave, published by Tulika Books, in association with West Heavens, Shanghai

Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India, by Ghazala Wahab, published by Aleph Book Co

&

In the Language of Remembering : The Inheritance of Partition, by Aanchal Malhotra, published by HarperCollins Publishers India

Publisher of the Year

Aleph Book Company

Roli Books

 

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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