National Book Trust India inaugurates publishing course

Prof Milind Marathe, Chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT), inaugurated the publishing course, affirming that the Indian publishing industry is a growing and vibrant ecosystem—a market that requires skilled talent.

The publishing course follows a duration of three months, from October 2025 to January 2026, consisting of 56 sessions. The course covers editorial, design, marketing, and finance. The course addresses various topics, including skill development for the Indian publishing industry, the various sectors of book publishing, and book printing and production. 

The third module of the course, taking place in December, highlights numerous book printing processes, including pre-press, dummy preparation, plate making, CTC, and various methods of imposition. In addition, the course focuses on post-press processes such as binding (hardback and paperback), sewing and finishing, the lamination of covers and book jackets (uses of foils, UV, embossing, special substrates) and packaging. The module will also cover the various types of paper.

On 4 October, Kumar Vikram, chief editor and joint director of the National Book Trust, welcomed the students and highlighted that the course has 117 diverse students from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and 72% of them are women students. He also emphasised that 58% of the students are young adults (age 21-30).

In addition, on 5 October, Ananth Padmanabhan, CEO of Harper Collins India, delivered a session on “Book Publishing as a Career.” Following this, Prof Abhijit Gupta of Jadavpur University addressed the students on a historical view of book publishing in India

The course faculty includes Yuvraj Malik, the director of NBT, Prashant Jain of Indica Publishers, Prabhat Kumar of Prabhat Publications, Ravi Singh of Speaking Tiger, Elizabeth Kuruvila of Simon and Schuster, Naveen Kishor of Seagull Books, Claudia Kaiser of Frankfurt Book Fair, and Kanishka Gupta of Writer’s Side, among many others.