 "Arundhati Roy")
ALSO READ: India Censored
“Tell us, please, what is it that scared you so? You are part of one of the oldest, grandest publishing houses in the world,” said Roy, in an open letter to Penguin in a prominent publication.
The withdrawal had led to a short spike in sales but the world of authors and publishers widely held the view that by culling a steadily-selling book such as The Hindus, Penguin India not only loses money but also reputation as a fearless publisher. The decision is “shocking, appalling, dreadful and entirely negative,” best-selling author William Dalrymple told the UKs The Guardian newspaper.
“Tell us, please, what is it that scared you so? You are part of one of the oldest, grandest publishing houses in the world,” said Roy, in an open letter to Penguin in a prominent publication.
The withdrawal had led to a short spike in sales but the world of authors and publishers widely held the view that by culling a steadily-selling book such as The Hindus, Penguin India not only loses money but also reputation as a fearless publisher. The decision is “shocking, appalling, dreadful and entirely negative,” best-selling author William Dalrymple told the UKs The Guardian newspaper.
ALSO READ: Penguin to withdraw Doniger's controversial book on Hindus
Penguin India declined comment on Wednesday and did not reply to an e-mail on the Arundhati Roy letter.
Author Arshia Sattar, who translated the Ramayana for Penguin, weighed in. “I remember feeling safe and proud of being with a publishing house that protected it's people and the books they wrote.. Today, that pride and that faith has been shaken,” wrote Sattar.
Stores such as Bahrisons at Khan Market in Delhi, which sells books the old-fashioned way with its mustachioed owner, Anuj Bahri, being able to put his hands on every book his store stocks, got customer calls from Monday for copies of the book. It reported running out of stock to disappointed customers by Wednesday.
Doniger’s book steadily climbed the best-seller chart on Amazon and its e-version went viral. Indian e-tailer Flipkart came back late on Wednesday, though, to say the book is withdrawn from its site; it has a marketplace system where independent sellers try to reach buyers.
A book withdrawal is a tedious process for a publisher, as it involves asking distributors to contact retailers for return of unsold stock. This can take six to eight months for Tier-2 city bookshops. The recalled stock is then shipped to warehouses and physically pulped or destroyed. Unlike a car recall, a book withdrawal cannot reach customers who already have the book and, hence, the increased desire among readers to lay their hands on a book which will not remain on store shelves for long.
“The loss is tremendous, not just of money but of reputation,” said Bahri.
Two lawyers Business Standard spoke to said they did not feel the cost of fighting a legal battle, which Penguin had already engaged in for four years, would have been high for the publisher. They cautioned, though, that lawyer fees vary and go up in higher courts.
Penguin India reached an out-of-court settlement with Shiksha Bacaho Andolan, a right-leaning outfit, which said the book ran down Hindu traditions. The case was fought in a local Delhi court.
Doniger’s volume belongs to the genre that has been best-selling in the Indian market. “Non-fiction narrative is selling high. This is a big book. It must be selling steadily,” said independent book agent Urmila Dasgupta.
News of the book withdrawal erupted in foreign media. Doniger is an American scholar on religion. “The development comes uncomfortably close on the heels of reports last month that Bloomsbury India was withdrawing another allegedly offending tome. According to local media, the publishing house withdrew The Descent of Air India by former Air India executive director Jitender Bhargava, after a defamation lawsuit was filed by former civil aviation minister Praful Patel, whom the book holds responsible for the airline’s financial losses. The publisher issued a public apology to Patel, who is currently minister of heavy industries and public enterprises. Bhargava stands by his book,” said Krista Mahr on Time.com.
Bhargava said an author does not lose money on a book’s withdrawal, but his purpose of getting his voice out there is defeated. “It becomes difficult to be re-published as others become cautious,” said Bhargava, whose book was co-published by BS Books, a Business Standard outfit.
Penguin India declined comment on Wednesday and did not reply to an e-mail on the Arundhati Roy letter.
Author Arshia Sattar, who translated the Ramayana for Penguin, weighed in. “I remember feeling safe and proud of being with a publishing house that protected it's people and the books they wrote.. Today, that pride and that faith has been shaken,” wrote Sattar.
Stores such as Bahrisons at Khan Market in Delhi, which sells books the old-fashioned way with its mustachioed owner, Anuj Bahri, being able to put his hands on every book his store stocks, got customer calls from Monday for copies of the book. It reported running out of stock to disappointed customers by Wednesday.
Doniger’s book steadily climbed the best-seller chart on Amazon and its e-version went viral. Indian e-tailer Flipkart came back late on Wednesday, though, to say the book is withdrawn from its site; it has a marketplace system where independent sellers try to reach buyers.
A book withdrawal is a tedious process for a publisher, as it involves asking distributors to contact retailers for return of unsold stock. This can take six to eight months for Tier-2 city bookshops. The recalled stock is then shipped to warehouses and physically pulped or destroyed. Unlike a car recall, a book withdrawal cannot reach customers who already have the book and, hence, the increased desire among readers to lay their hands on a book which will not remain on store shelves for long.
“The loss is tremendous, not just of money but of reputation,” said Bahri.
Two lawyers Business Standard spoke to said they did not feel the cost of fighting a legal battle, which Penguin had already engaged in for four years, would have been high for the publisher. They cautioned, though, that lawyer fees vary and go up in higher courts.
Penguin India reached an out-of-court settlement with Shiksha Bacaho Andolan, a right-leaning outfit, which said the book ran down Hindu traditions. The case was fought in a local Delhi court.
Doniger’s volume belongs to the genre that has been best-selling in the Indian market. “Non-fiction narrative is selling high. This is a big book. It must be selling steadily,” said independent book agent Urmila Dasgupta.
News of the book withdrawal erupted in foreign media. Doniger is an American scholar on religion. “The development comes uncomfortably close on the heels of reports last month that Bloomsbury India was withdrawing another allegedly offending tome. According to local media, the publishing house withdrew The Descent of Air India by former Air India executive director Jitender Bhargava, after a defamation lawsuit was filed by former civil aviation minister Praful Patel, whom the book holds responsible for the airline’s financial losses. The publisher issued a public apology to Patel, who is currently minister of heavy industries and public enterprises. Bhargava stands by his book,” said Krista Mahr on Time.com.
Bhargava said an author does not lose money on a book’s withdrawal, but his purpose of getting his voice out there is defeated. “It becomes difficult to be re-published as others become cautious,” said Bhargava, whose book was co-published by BS Books, a Business Standard outfit.
