Writerly Wrath
All book launches don’t end happily. Apparently, a big one recently, of a top author in Delhi, ended in heated words and frayed tempers. The launch was in a huge hall which can take about 400 people. Usually, at launches of big authors, there are people sitting in the aisles or spilling over outside. But here, the author noted from the dais, the hall was not even a third full. The book discussion went off without event; after it was over the author hauled up the publishers for the poor response. The top management and senior editors had to be called in to pacify the writer, who felt the firm had not done enough to promote the book.
Blood in Ishkvaku
There was no such problem at Amish’s book event for his latest, the Scion of Ikshvaku, the first of his series on the Ramayana. His book discussion with Pritish Nandy kicked off the Times Literary Festival and here there was no space to stand in the cavernous banquet hall of a five-star hotel. But the book has got caught in the Amazon vs Flipkart crossfire. Now, Scion of Ishkvaku was to be sold exclusively on Amazon (like how Moto phones are sold only on Flipkart). But going by its popularity, Flipkart seems to have devised a clever plan. The book is available on their portal but it says it is sold by TheNorthRemembers (named after an episode of the popular Games of Thrones TV series). Unlike mobiles, it is very difficult to control books as they can be procured from so many vendors that often the publisher is unable to track every book printed. Amazon has taken Flipkart to court over the issue and the verdict will be vital for future exclusive web deals.
