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Bibliofile

While Kama Kahanis bite the dust, Jeffrey Archer rules -- at least in India

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Bibliofile
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Romancing a Gap

Last year when publishers realised that most Indian readers wanted  racy low-priced paperbacks, they went overboard—and not just with the glossy covers. Some of them even came out with special imprints like Penguin’s Metro Reads and HarperCollins’ Harper Young Adult series. Even Random House followed the trend with its Kama Kahanis. The latter was the first to bite the dust: discovering that its version of Mills and Boon romances sold less than 3,000 copies each, it has paused the series to take stock of what the young adult reader actually wants. While Penguin’s Metro Reads is plodding bravely on, rivals say it’s only a matter of time before they realise that there simply aren’t that many good commercial fiction writers around to sustain the series.

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Now For a Toreador

After being headless for a few weeks, Picador has found a publisher: poached from HarperCollins. Saugata Mukherjee, better known for the commercial hits he has commissioned than his literary list, has been hired by Pan Macmillan not only to head its Picador imprint but also to start a Pan India list of commercial fiction on the lines of the Jeffrey Archers and Ken Folletts. So here’s another publisher looking for a rare Indian species: a writer without literary pretensions who can deliver bestsellers.

Aim Intact

Elsewhere, Jeffrey Archer is finding it tough to counter the competition, especially from chicklit and crime fiction authors. But in India, he still rules. Which is why the queue of fans waiting to get their copies inscribed by him were told he would only sign his own name, and only on one book!

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