Tag: Publishing House Talks

A mythical beast called a publisher.

As an unpublished writer, the image of a publisher in my mind was of a man who was part Karl Marx, part Freud, part Julius Caesar and part D. H. Lawrence. I imagined him in a suit smoking a pipe. I imagined him sitting at a long table with nothing on its surface except his gold pen, spectacle case and an ash tray. I imagined a publisher who did nothing but sign large publishing advance cheques for writers before going off to his club to drink a whisky and eat smoked salmon sandwiches with which ever literary great he was wooing at that point.

I was the child with nose pressed against the glass looking in and marveling. My first book was published and and I met my publisher who was staying with the Governor of Karnataka. He took me for a walk around the gubernatorial grounds, fed me cucumber sandwiches and tea and as we chatted, I noticed that he had a gold pen and a spectacle case on the table before him.

But then my first novel happened and I moved to a new publishing house and a new editor. She looked nothing like Marx, Freud, Caesar or Lawrence but she had them all within her and so much more. Over the last 17 years, she became my editor, publisher and dearly beloved friend. And that is the image of a publisher I wished for my writers at Anita’s Attic to see.

For the 10th session of Anita’s Attic, Karthika VK, publisher, HarperCollins India talked to the writers telling them of what lies ahead and what it takes to keep faith and write despite the odds and obstacles.

Very often unpublished writers imagine a situation where the editor of a large publishing house reputed to offer million dollar advances to unknown names would fling open the door of his cabin to the writer hovering outside with a 350-page manuscript typed in single space and say: “I don’t want to know why you’re here. Just come in, and sit down. Here, this is my favourite chair. Is it sufficiently close to the AC? Take off your shoes, please — no, let me help you; my secretary will wash your feet. We were just about to have a biriyani; won’t you join us? How about a glass of tender coconut water? Eat, drink your fill; make a few long distance calls. Then tell me, when you’re ready, who your parents are and where you come from and the reason that brings you here. And then I am going to take this day off and read every word you have written.”

The truth is something else. And it was to talk about the reality of the editorial process and how the publishing industry functions that I thought it best to invite one of my editors Sudeshna Shome Ghosh with whom I worked on three of my children’s books to talk to the writers at Anita’s Attic.

Needless to say the session was informative, fun and nipped in the bud many delusions of what awaits a writer :).

Thank you Sudeshna for saying it as it is without dampening dreams.

Jayapriya Vasudevan from the Jacaranda Literary Agency, based out of Singapore, interacted with the Class at Anita’s Attic, on 31 st January 2015 – the second week in the Creative Writing Course & Mentorship program at Anita’s Attic.

Jayapriya has more than twenty years experience of working in publishing, during which time she has worked in virtually every area of the business. Born in Calcutta, to a family of writers, she studied literature at college and went on to work for numerous publishers, learning the business firsthand. From editing and event management, to sales and distribution, she has ‘done it all.’

Then, having spotted a gap in the market, together with a partner, she set up India’s first bookstore café in Bangalore. It was here that she organized literary salons, inviting up to fifteen authors at a time to speak. Bookseller magazine hailed her as “one of India’s most dynamic booksellers.”

In 1997, she decided to use her years of experience in publishing to set up Jacaranda, India’s first ever literary agency. She went on build up an impressive list, working with distinguished authors such as Anita Nair and Shashi Warrior.

Following a stint living in Beijing, where she continued to develop her list, Jayapriya moved to Singapore in 2006. Once there she founded Books@Jacaranda LLP. Over the years the agency has grown and now represents more than 45 authors across South East Asia and beyond. Jayapriya has spoken at literary conferences all over Asia, from Istanbul and India to Manila and Singapore. Now a Singapore citizen, she is passionate about the visual and performing arts, about books, travel and people.