Home to an annual literature jamboree, Jaipur is now set to host a brand new initiative to develop and promote the Indian publishing industry.
Beginning January 18, the Pink city is bringing together publishers, agents, rights holders and literary content producers from across the world at the inaugural initiative -the Jaipur Book Mark.
The three-day event is born of huge interest shown by the international publishing industry in the Jaipur Literature Festival and is scheduled to run in parallel to the main Jaipur Literature Festival at the Narain Niwas Palace, organisers said in a statement today.
Six sessions, each looking at different aspects of the publishing industry, from self-publishing to e-books, digital content to distribution are on the agenda.
Sessions, panels and talks by prominent publishing figures are billed as the main draw of the event, which promises scope for for meeting and personal interactions.
"It is expected that the Jaipur BookMark will bring together 100 key publishing professionals in its first edition," said organisers.
Jaipur BookMark 2014 has tied up with Norway as the official country partner with supported from NORLA, (Norwegian Fiction and Non-Fiction Abroad). NORLA is a government-funded, non-commercial foundation which promotes Norwegian literature to other countries.
"The Jaipur BookMark venue is a natural progression of the interest shown in the annual publishing sessions at Jaipur. This is a modest beginning and I am convinced that it will provide a welcome and much-needed haven for informal interactions within the publishing industry," Namita Gokhale, author and Co-Director Jaipur Literature Festival who helped conceive and programme the event said.
The publishing industry in India is counted among the top seven in the world, and ranks third after the US and the UK in the English language sector.
India is also a major outsourcing hub for print and pre-publishing services in the world, be it print, design or editorial. Unlike other territories, India is one of the few major markets that is still experiencing growth in both print and digital publishing.
