Harper Expands Into India

by Lynn Andriani, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 10/10/2006

HarperCollins said this morning that it will expand its publishing initiatives in India. The news comes on the heels of president and CEO Jane Friedman’s announcement of the details of the company’s plans to publish in China at last week’s Frankfurt Book Fair. Harper’s involvement in India—which was the guest of honor country at the Fair—is three-pronged, involving licensing, publishing, and retail and distribution.

According to the announcement, Harper will begin licensing books published by HarperCollins India (which was formed in 2002 when HarperCollins teamed with the India Today Group) around the world, starting with two recent works: Asian Juggernaut (an analysis of Asia’s role in the world) by Brahma Chellaney, and Blind Faith (a parable on love) by Sagarika Ghose. On the publishing end, HarperCollins India will focus on publishing international bestsellers in local languages, beginning with a Hindi edition of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Finally, Harper has signed a distribution agreement with The India Today Group, which will have the media company distributing HarperCollins books directly to more than 2,000 outlets and bookshops. India Today will also carry Harper titles in its “Media Marts,” news and magazine kiosks in railway stations, bus terminals and airports.

Friedman confirmed that the initiatives in India are the latest step in “transform[ing] HarperCollins into a truly global publisher.... Our primary goals include discovering new Indian voices, delivering quality literature to the Indian market, and establishing proper distribution channels to effectively reach the reader.”