Bibliofile
"If they want to keep their authors, they must keep the editors who got them the authors in the first place," says David Godwin. But will Penguin's loss be HarperCollins India's gain?
Agents Of Change
How easy is it for an author to move out with his editor? In the West, according to lit agent David Godwin, author-editor loyalty invariably wins over contractual obligations. He should know: remember how he wriggled Arundhati Roy out from her contract with HarperCollins India when Pankaj Mishra quit? "If they want to keep their authors, they must keep the editors who got them the authors in the first place," is his take on the issue. Insiders claim the half-dozen titles that HarperCollins lost when Ashok Chopra quit is a mere nosebleed compared to what will ensue now.
Baru, Now In Chinese
Trust the Chinese to know what sells. As a curtain-raiser to Chinese premier Hu Jintao's visit to India next week, Citic Press in Beijing is bringing out a Chinese edition of an unlikely Indian bestseller: PM's media advisor Sanjaya Baru's well-launched Strategic Consequences of India's Economic Performance.