Sakshi Shioramwar

How different is a growing publishing market like India compared to matured markets like the USA, United Kingdom, and China?

India is also a fairly matured market. However, the trend differs in terms of the pricing of the books whereby the markets in the USA and UK take up high-priced books which are also large by volume easily while in India it is a shade difficult to sell them. The same goes for China where shorter low priced books are preferred compared to the thicker ones. In terms of genre, both the regions are open to most of the genres though non-fiction sells more and can be priced higher.

How has the growth and spread of e-commerce sites, E-books, and Audiobooks changed the writing and publishing industry globally and in India?

There have been radical shifts in the way books are bought. According to a survey conducted among Indians in 2019, it was found that a vast majority of people read books on digital devices with over 71% stated that they download e-books and read them offline in contrast to 29% of the people who purchase physical copies of the books.

Earlier, there used to be a huge dependency on bookstores and getting shelf space has always been a challenge. So, the growth of these online platforms has led to increased opportunities to sell one’s book. But, this also means that there is huge competition with more and more people going online. The flip side has been the fall of book stores. 

Another rising trend can be seen in the uptake of audiobooks as people are short on time and have to multi-task. This is why podcasts have been growing over the last few years.

We all know, a literary agent seeks an author bio, 1000 words synopsis, and 3 chapters of the manuscript. But, What are the things publishers looking for while selecting or rejecting a manuscript?

For Ukiyoto Publishing, all that matters is quality.  Quality in terms of both the content and grammar. We have a board of faculty that goes through manuscripts and makes the decision. One of the most important aspects that they look for is whether there is a connect that the story builds with a reader. When we read a story, we relate it to our lives in some way or another. Unless a story is pertinent to the current times, it will have great difficulty in finding a reader base. Also, we are not genre-biased. Though, we do try to stay away from books in political and religious domains. 

How important is Author branding in the publishing industry? What other aspects should an author focus on outside the manuscript to improve the book sales?

If I create a masterpiece and lock it in my cupboard, it’s not going to do any good to anyone. A good product should reach consumers and the owner should also reap the benefits. So, marketing a book is very important. Although it need not be synonymous with author branding, it plays an important role in the overall marketing of the book. When I was in school, my father bought me six RK Narayan novels, not because he had read any of his books, but because of the brand, he is. Putting a face to a name anyway helps build a connection with the author and his or her story. We usually like to read about the author when we are hooked to a book because we are literally looking inside someone’s mind that imagined the story. 

Authors should always go the extra mile in marketing themselves as branding helps building a community and selling something to people with a pre-existing affinity towards the author will only help the sales.

With so many books getting adapted into a visual medium like movies or series on OTTs, How will this aspect impact the book publishing industry?

I think it’s a huge opportunity for the authors and publishers alike, especially since the Covid started as movie theatres have been mostly closed due to lockdowns, more people have moved to the OTTs for entertainment. The reading community has always been very excited to see the book characters come alive and personified in movies.

Even though Five Point Someone was already a bestseller, the success of the movie 3 idiots did have a ripple effect on the book’s sales numbers and Chetan Bhagat’s other books. When a book gets adapted into a movie or a series, its target audience broadens. Art can take several forms, why limit it to one. Getting a book adapted into a movie will only increase its popularity and marketing is always good for the publishing industry.

How can publishers help a new and upcoming author in marketing his/her book and reach out to more readers? What will be your advice to young authors?

Planning is imperative to a book’s success and unfortunately, most authors make the mistake of not planning ahead of finishing writing. This is where publishers can come into the picture and handhold the new authors. They need to prepare the writers and apprise them of the challenges they will face once the book is out there competing with thousands of books. Planning a book launch and giving it a boost by running promotions in the few first months after it’s published can make a whole lot of difference. 

My advice to the young authors is that leverage your network, both online and offline and try to create buzz and word of mouth as much as possible starting right before the launch of the book. Plan with your publisher, spend on self-branding, go all out, give interviews, reach out to media for PR, get social media marketing done for your book. 

What is the range of Author Royalties achieved in a traditional contract? What all things could fetch a better royalty for an author? How many books do you need to sell to become a best seller in India?

Royalty is usually based on a fixed percentage which is standard across the publishing industry varying only for channels where the books are sold and their format, that is, whether it is a paperback, a hardback, or an e-book. The printing cost in India is quite cheaper as compared to the rest of the world which offers a scope of higher margins, but it gets canceled out by price-sensitive consumers in India.

You can become a bestseller with a single book if readers can associate their lives with the story and if you market it well by planning it in advance. 

Join the Exclusive Community Today & Promote your book.

Please give a bit of a background about Ukiyoto Publishing House,  its presence in India, its Vision & Mission, Top management, the Kind of books you publish, and your biggest strength as a Publisher, popular authors published with Ukiyoto, years of experience, etc.

Bringing stories to life and nurturing creative talent worldwide have been two of the primary objectives of the company. 

We’ve created a community of 1500+ international authors and have published over 3500 books. To support our authors and ensure their books have a global reach, we have a robust distribution network in 50+ countries. In fact, we’ve already published more than 180,000 books as a paperback so far. Along with Amazon and Google Play as our primary sales channels, our Global Bookstore can ship paperbacks and hardbacks anywhere in the World. 

And being a traditional publishing house, it’s our constant endeavour to engage the writing community globally to bring out the best in them and give them an opportunity to publish their work. It goes without saying that we accept only quality work. That’s all we ask our authors. To keep writing good stuff and publish it. We have an excellent editorial team to take care of everything. This is why we organize so many events, 100+ so far including around 50 book launches. Another aspect that’s very unique to Ukiyoto Publishing is that we use technology like Blockchain, Augmented Reality to enhance experiences for our readers.

At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Let’s Empower Our Kids’. Please suggest some books that you think every child should read before the age of 15 (mostly the character-defining age), teaching them life lessons. Things like empathy, sympathy, relationships, etc.

I think reading fiction before turning 15 can introduce children to new possibilities, help build new perspectives and integrate curiosity in their minds. A mocktail of different genres like sci-fi, adventure, thriller and classics would be perfect for them to develop language skills and give them a world’s view. 

Some books that come to my mind are – The Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank, Gone with the Wind, Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, RK Narayan’s Swami and Friends.

Connect with Us