Noted Diaspora
”It’s a bloodbath,” my informer declared. He was referring to the mass exodus of literary authors from Picador last year. It’s not just Amit Chaudhuri who moved on to greener pastures but also Pankaj Mishra, who had stuck with Picador after his first book, Butter Chicken in Ludhiana. Pankaj has moved to Penguin with his forthcoming From the Ruins of Empire. Anuradha Roy, who published her debut novel, Atlas of Impossible Longing, with Picador, took her second, Folded Earth, to Hachette, which has also snapped up Manjula Padmanabhan. Aatish Taseer, who went to Picador with his debut Stranger to History and stuck with them for The Temple Goers, then moved on to HarperCollins for his second novel, Noon; Neel Mukherjee, whose debut Past Continuous was with Picador, has moved to Random House. And, lastly, Rahul Bhattacharya, whose prize-winning debut, The Sly Company of People Who Care, was Picador’s triumph.
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The Best Practice
It’s not just publishers who keep an eye on Nielsen BookScan’s bestseller list, but authors too. Is there a way of making it to the top 20? Yes, say smart, bestselling types. Make sure your book reaches the over-56 cities where Nielsen monitors sales. “Once you make it to the list, all shops will stock your book.”
Brotherly Persuasion
With publishers reluctant to splurge on launch parties, authors get more creative about finding sponsors. The resourceful Bhaichand Patel avoided the usual tea-and-biscuits launch for his Bollywood Top 20 by finding a clutch—one to fly Kajol to Delhi and back, another to provide drinks and a five-star hotel to host the reception.
