Greetings from Mumbai. This is the final city in my three-city book tour of India that has also taken me to New Delhi and Bangalore. I've been to India before, but never as an author, and have learned so much about book retailing here amid growth and promise, but also frustration and competition.
I was in Bangalore yesterday, India's famed information technology capital. I was scheduled to read in a huge chain bookstore, Landmark, in a mall as sleek and chic as New Jersey's Mall at Short Hills. It turned out to be the day a decision was handed down about the sharing of water from the Cauvery River between the state of Karnataka, where Bangalore is located, and the state of Tamil Nadu, home to Chennai. India is facing a severe water crisis and water issues are very divisive. The ruling favored Tamil Nadu, and everyone feared outright riots in the streets such as had occurred in the past. I started getting text messages on my cell phone in mid-afternoon entreating: "Ma'am, please return to your hotel at once for your safety."
Then it was decided the situation wasn't so bad, and that the reading would go on. I was fascinated to see that huge nets had been suspended from the roofline of the mall to prevent damage from thrown bottles and rocks to the glass exterior of the building. It was obviously a system kept at the ready for this kind of situation. Inside, everything appeared normal, but soon enough, the mall was closed and my reading cancelled.
This wasn't the only interruption during my 18-day tour. In New Delhi, there is a constant problem with the power being cut. Generators seamlessly kick on in luxury hotels, but not necessarily in less fancy establishments.
Despite the disruptions, my book seems to be doing well. I learned today that it is #7 on the bestseller list at one of the country's biggest chains, Crosswords.
There is no national bestseller list in India; only bookstore bestseller lists, from the two major bookstore chains, Crosswords and Landmark. There is no database set up to track sales across stores, so it's anyone's guess exactly how many copies are sold. The book distributors look at reorders to get a sense of how a book is doing. As American publishers scramble to establish programs in India, they'll need to consider carefully which authors to send.
Where sales figures do exist, they're far lower than in the U.S. I was told John Grisham sells 50,000 or 60,000 copies here, which is considered just as phenomenal as the two million he does in the U.S. It makes me wonder how lesser-known American authors—especially ones without ties to India—will do here. India is far away, and airfare alone is a big expense. Hotels with full amenities are pricey, at least $300 a night. I'm lucky; as an Indian-American, I have relatives and friends here who've put me up. I speak Hindi, and have been using cars with Hindi-speaking drivers (English-speaking drivers are more expensive). Interior airfares are high, too: my three-city ticket (between Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore) cost more than $1,000. All this adds up to a lot of potential expense for what is still a relatively small market.
One of the first things I did upon arriving in India two weeks ago was check the Landmark bookstore near my uncle's home in a Delhi suburb, to see if my book was on the shelf yet. It was! It was so exciting to walk into a bookstore 12,000 miles away from home and see my book prominently displayed. I noted the books around mine. There were books by Indian authors aimed at the Indian market, as well as current titles from U.S. and U.K. publishers.
As increasing numbers of American publishers announce plans to publish in India, I am proud to be the author of the book that is launching Scribner and Simon & Schuster in this still chaotic but potentially huge market. It's been exciting and fascinating, and despite some unpredictable hiccups, things are looking good.
Scribner published Mira Kandar's Planet India in India January 26, and will publish it in the U.S. February 20.
