Arrested Flight
The literary agency floated by Osian’s two years ago was put down quickly, almost painlessly, in January, with its lit-agent Renuka Chatterjee crossing over to head Westland’s publishing house. Its demise is being seen as the first of what the worldwide recession holds for India’s book world. In the preceding boomtime, Osian’s managed to strike at least one big deal—Ved Mehta’s collected works sold to Roli for a five-figure sum in dollars. It’s natural that publishers now prefer to do business directly with authors, and except for potential bestsellers, authors can kiss their dreams of high advances goodbye.