Books in the time of a challenge: Exclusive book symposium in Thiruvananthapuram

The closed-door meeting will be led by Subhasis Ganguly, vice president – production and content management, Penguin Books India, who initiated the idea to bring together key stakeholders among publishers and printers. The meet is being facilitated by Henkel and Welbound, and it will be attended by leading Indian and global publishers, from trade and educational publishing segments.

Together, this group will focus on pain points in the value chain and it will seek sustainable solutions for them. The book publishing and printing value chain has witnessed a number of challenges, chief of which is the impact of a rise in paper prices. Higher competition in the K–12 segment, and the potential effect on international student editions after the 2013 US Supreme Court ruling in the Supap Kirtsaeng v/s John Wiley & Sons case are few other factors that have impacted the value chain.

However, the outlook for 2014–15 looks better, with stable paper prices, and more growth opportunities in the school education market, as well as more Indian titles being published for the higher education market. Yet, it is important to foresee new challenges, and to think about how stakeholders can add value in the future. For publishers, the print-buyers, it is important to discuss with their print partners the issues of the value chain, and to set priorities jointly. Now is the time that partnerships need to be forged and strengthened, so that every link in the chain benefits.

With these aims driving the roundtable, the discussions are expected to draw solutions and enhance value for the entire printing–publishing chain, according to Ganguly. The organisers have keeping the details of the agenda under wraps. But it has been revealed that a White Paper will be prepared after the meeting, which will record the issues highlighted in the discussions; the challenges identified; and it will cite the probable solutions – which will be validated over a period of time.

Ganguly said, “This closed door roundtable of key stakeholders in the printed book publication industry is a path-breaking event. This is just Round One. We hope to have more such sessions in the future, with a larger pool of participants, to find solutions together.”

K C Sanjeev, managing director of Welbound Worldwide said, “These are challenging yet exciting times for the book print industry. We must seek sustainable business solutions and this can happen only through exchange of information between publishers, print partners and solution providers like Henkel and Welbound.”

Henkel and Welbound, as leading suppliers of adhesives, bookbinding machines and services to book print industry, hope to provide such a platform where leading print buyers and printers can come together. They could discuss new trends and prepare grounds for deriving value from these, added Sanjeev.

The roundtable will be held at a hotel located near the Welbound headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. In the past, the city has witnessed such unprecedented events like the National Book Printers’ Conference (NBPC) in 2011, and the formation of the Top 10 Book Printers’ Association.

A day after the round table, on 17 May, Welbound will organise an Open House at their factory, featuring valuable presentations and demonstrations. The global head Corbett Wallace, global head of AIG business of Henkel Adhesives is likely to grace the occasion.

http://www.printweek.in/News/284213,white-paper-released-at-the-book-printers-conference.aspx

http://www.printweek.in/Feature/284243,bookonomics-of-indias-exports.aspx

http://www.printweek.in/News/351086,knowledge-sessions-and-live-demos-for-book-printers-at-welbound-open-house.aspx