Giving children goose-pimples

Q&A - Pranav Kumar Singh

Pranav Kumar Singh's family has been involved with academics and publishing for as long as he can remember. His maternal grandfather Prabod Narayan Singh played a major part in helping the Maithili language get recognition in the Indian Constitution, and as a child it was common for Pranav to help members of his family operate letter-presses and carry out proof-reading. After a stint in public relations, he is now the publisher of Ponytale Books, a new imprint for children's books.

How did Ponytale Books come about?

Around five years ago I had a discussion with some of my friends and associates about how children were spending their leisure time. It's something I was personally interested in because my daughter "" then three years old "" had become glued to the TV set. Anyway, this led to the creation of Bridging Borders, which undertook a survey on this issue.

Around 1,000 children were interviewed and we found that contrary to existing beliefs, children were increasingly spending their leisure time in reading books. But they were mostly reading foreign authors "" among Indian writers, the main names were Tagore, Premchand and Ruskin Bond, all of whose works tend to be part of the school syllabus.

On the other hand, the parents and schools we polled wanted there to be an Indian context to what children were reading. This gap made us realise that there's a market for quality books for children in the core age group eight-13 years that will entertain, inform and subtly educate today's children about history, culture and traditions. This was the genesis of Ponytale.

How does your imprint differ from what's already available in the children's market?

We realised that textbooks are full of drab things and that history needed to be presented in a more interesting manner. It was around this time that I met a freelance writer, Nimish Dubey, who had written a series of stories about sportspersons who had triumphed against all odds. It struck me that if similar treatment could be given to Indian stories "" legends about heroic deeds, for example "" it would be much more enthralling to a young reader. So we got Nimish on board to do the first book, which is Kesariya Bana and Other Tales of Valour, a collection of eight stories about heroes from different periods in Indian history. The stories are high on drama and some of them are told from an unconventional perspective "" for instance, the story of Chandrashekhar Azad's final moments is from the viewpoint of the policemen who have surrounded him and are moved by his bravery.

What are your distribution plans?

Contrary to established industry practice, we released just one title to start with, and we couldn't take just one book to a distributor like IBD. We have tied up with the Delhi-based Variety Book Depot and are trying to ensure our presence in major bookstores across the country. At this point, promotion is not so important, what we're after is basic visibility. Early feedback has been promising. The best comment so far has come from an acquaintance's nine-year-old son, who said that every story in Kesariya Bana gave him goose-pimples. That's the kind of response we're hoping for.

What challenges do you foresee?

The challenge has been the not-so-well-defined children's books market. Market dynamics are skewed towards tales retold from classics, quasi-religious stories and imported titles. There is no segmentation based on age or reading capability. It will be a big challenge to position information-based books in an Indian context.

We also need to invest in creating relationships with our authors, illustrators, printers, distributors and retailers that can be sustained in the long term. We are in discussion with a couple of leading publishing houses to draw on each other's strengths with an aim to grow the children's market for Indian books.

What other titles are you looking at?

We plan to bring out 12-15 titles in the coming year, with the first set of books to appear in January. There will be some content in Hindi "" I'm particularly excited about a book of pahelis that will teach children how to create their own pahelis. There's also a book on the river Ganga, told from an exciting new perspective which I can't disclose much about right now.

We hope to have a core list of original 50-60 titles by 2010-end. There will be books on sporting heroes, quotations and speeches, as well as fiction in translation. Our first title in this category will be an English translation of a contemporary Bengali children's classic. We will also be publishing books in Hindi both for urban and mass markets.