A new chapter

International publishers look to churn out Hindi translations of bestsellers to make headway in the local market.

The characters in Enid Blyton's "The Famous Five" series, Asterix & Obelix, and Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot will soon be speaking in Hindi.

The Indian arms of international publishing giants Hachette Group and HarperCollins are planning to introduce translated editions of these much-loved classics in the Rs 750-crore Hindi-books market.

These books and many more classics, as well as contemporary English bestsellers, will be translated into Hindi and sold at an aggressive price band of Rs 60-Rs 99, sources in the publishing industry say.

This move will help the international publishers tap into the local market and grow it substantially. According to experts, the Hindi books market is growing at a slow pace of six-eight per cent per annum at present, as against 18-20 per cent growth the English language books market has seen.

"We will start operations in India by April 2008. Yes, introducing Hindi translations of a number of classics is on our agenda and we will work out a way of either doing it ourselves or through a tie-up with Indian publishers," informs Thomas Abraham, head of the newly-formed Hachette India.

The Indian operation of US-based HarperCollins has also lined up translations of some of its bestsellers for the Hindi market. These include classics by Agatha Christie and other best-selling authors like Sidney Sheldon, and chart-busters like The Devil Wears Prada and Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus.

"We will soon be present in the Hindi language through translations of some of our existing collections and later, we will also look at commissioning writers in Hindi," P M Sukumar, chief executive of HarperCollings India says.

HarperCollins also holds the rights to legendary authors like H G Wells and Agatha Christie among others, while the rights for Enid Blyton, Asterix & Obelix are with the French media and publishing company, Hachette.

The organised publishing market in India is estimated to be worth Rs 7,000 crore. Of this, textbooks and trade journals account for Rs 5,500 crore. Hindi books, fiction as well as non-fiction, account for about Rs 750 crore while regional language publications make up for the rest.

Penguin India, the third of the big international publishers, already brings out selective Hindi translations including those of India authors like Khushwant Singh, Anita Nair, Ruskin Bond, Arundhati Roy, and Shobhaa De.