The business of books at Jaipur BookMark

JBM 2025 was held against the backdrop of the Jaipur Literature Festival from 30 January to 3 February 2025 and pivoted around the business of books with those who drive it. In 2025, Jaipur BookMark represented over 10 countries, 27 languages, and featured over 30 publishers over its 26 sessions, including five roundtable discussions.  

It included segments, discussions, roundtables and conferences. The first day opened with the session, Green Shots of Big Ideas, featuring Nobel laureate Esther Duflo, who explored the art of writing about economics for children. 

Tamil publishing was spotlighted at JBM, with sessions featuring established names and voices in Tamil literature. AR Venkatachalapathy, noted for collecting and publishing the works of the Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan, delivered a keynote address, and the Kalachuvadu publications event which honoured the 30th anniversary of the publishing house, which has over 1,300 titles in its name. Book launches too were a part of this segment. 

“Tamil is an ancient language,” Manisha Chaudhary, festival co-director, JBM, said. “At JBM, we had people speaking in Tamil and on-the-spot translators. We tried to make the event as multilingual as possible. We aim to reflect the multilingual nature of India as a country, and therefore the publishing industry in India.”

Other interesting discussions included the Booker Prize winning author Michael Hoffman, Nashwa Nasreldin, Olga Drenda and Radha Chakravarty in conversation with Mitra Phukan, who spoke about who to translate cross-culturally and how crucial it is to remain true to the story.

Conversations about literary magazines and how they act as nurseries for an authors’ potential, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in literature, new media and the changing narrative, the relationship between authors and editors, and an Indian language publishing roundtable were also held.

The International Publishers’ roundtable had about eight publishers visiting from France. Publishers from countries such as Norway and the UK were also present. About 15 publishers began to email each other a month in advance for the event with details of their catalogue. “The variety of people and the sorts of books that exist on the spectrum often astonishes people, but all of the publishers were extremely happy to have met each other,” Chaudhary said. 

Manisha Chaudhary of Jaipur BookMark, which has a Rights Catalogue with 51 titles from about 30 publishers of 10 languages

A retailer’s roundtable was held in order to talk about how to expand the base of readership. An emphasis was drawn on how bookstores are very largely a cultural hub, and there was also a large focus on Hindi, with a session called, Hindi ke Badalte Swaroop, being conducted. 

Jaipur BookMark also has a Rights Catalogue with 51 titles from about 30 publishers of ten languages from India, where anybody can scan the QR and get access to the full document.

Chaudhary’s perspective on publishing as an equilibrium between marketing and editorial calls is fascinating. “We must remember that publishing is a business, and that it has to be viable. Every publishing house needs to find the balance between editorial insight of what may turn out to be the next big thing, versus a backlist of titles that are likely to sell well in the market. A publisher is only a publisher as long as they publish.”

The UK-India Publishing Fellowship, a collaboration between Jaipur BookMark and the British Council, was a vital part of the programme as well. The fellowship was set up in an effort to recognise diverse voices in the publishing ecosystem, with the British Council supporting one publisher each from the UK and India. The fellows get a special session in JBM every year. This year, the Indian fellow, Vasudhendra of Chanda Pustaka, a Kannada writer, will also be invited to London Book Fair. 

Next year, JBM may hold designated time where debut authors can pitch to literary agents and editors, in hopes that their books make it big. “We are conscious of the fact that OTT is the biggest platform at the moment, and for the past two years, we have also ensured that designated time is awarded where the possibility of such contracts arise,” Chaudhary added, “With JBM, we don’t track the outcome of the deals that are struck. What we aim to do is create a platform where people can interact. We aim to be the place where people forge relationships that may morph from personal to professional, and vice versa.”