A litany of literary loss
It’s a devastating day for readers, authors, publishers, translators and others in India,’ announced Sharanya Manivannan as she was getting updates about Amazon electing to shut down the publishing house Westland Books. Going by the outpour of condolences on social media since, the rest of the country seems to be in agreement.
The homegrown brand’s reputation for promoting eclectic fiction and pushing the boundaries with revolutionary non-fiction had found resonance in many a quarter for its loss to go silently into the night. Even as loyalists scramble to purchase the last of its stock from every available marketplace, Westlands staff themselves and their authors have been left to pick up the pieces.
Reckoning of a loss
Sharanya, for one, is mourning the fate of her Ila duology — Mermaids in the Moonlight, and Incantantation over Water; the latter is barely two months old. She, like several of her fellow authors, learnt about the development through a news article. Confirmation from the inside came later. But she isn’t blind to the fate of the Westland team itself. “I can imagine the shock and horror the Westland team themselves were in, and don’t blame them. They are a great team, and the dissolution of their company will have repercussions throughout the industry and for creativity and culture at large,” she says.
Amrita Mahale managed to speak to Karthika VK after learning about the closure. But it took her a while to realise what this could mean for her books under the label. “My first thought was that this wonderful team — one who took a chance on my book and nurtured me for three years — are out of job. The real shock came the next day when I got an email saying the book will not be available for sale or circulation beyond February 28. I didn’t expect the timeline to be so short,” she notes.
Krupa Ge, who found out about it on social media herself, too expresses her concern for the team that stood behind her and offered so much for a first-time author. “They are possibly the best team you can ask for, especially for a first-time writer. The kind of publicity blitz they organised for my books and the kind of editorial care I received from Ajitha GS; Arunima, one of the publicists, is possibly the best in the industry. I know many friends who have been published by other publishers and they didn’t get that much care. That’s what is very sad because these people excelled at what they were doing. The fact that it was trending on Twitter and so many people were standing by them means they were doing something right,” she points out.
Many an adventure
The sentiment is widely shared among Westland’s authors. While the publishing house has brought together many top-selling authors, including Chetan Bhagat and Devdutt Pattanaik under its banner, its imprints — Context, Eka, Red Panda, Tranquebar and Westland Non-fiction — have published many award-winning works in politics, poetry, society and art. And that didn’t come without taking a chance on authors from all walks of life.
Krupa recalls that it was Ajitha who came up with the title for her book What We Know About Her. Amrita found a warm reception with Westland after being turned down by many publishers. “Karthika was the first person who read the manuscript and said ‘Oh this is a Bombay novel’. That’s the identity the book has taken on now; she was such an astute reader. Her inputs and edits were invaluable. And the kind of marketing support I got from Westland, I’m not sure other publishers give for a debut author. A lot of debut novels start getting talked about when the award season starts. Otherwise, they just go under the radar. But the Westland team put me in touch with bookstagramers, on podcasts, got me interviews,” she narrates.
Perumal Murugan recalls how they helped publish his book Poonachi when he returned from the Madhorubaagan controversy. “Poonachi was put on an auction among publishers; a first for a Tamil book. Westland offered good compensation for it. It was the book I wrote first after Madhorubagan. They brought out the book beautifully, consulting me every step of the way,” he recounts. He has another novel (Estuary) and non-fiction book (Amma) under the banner and he couldn’t be happier with how the team handled all this work. That they translated the books into other Indian languages and not just English also is a source of immense satisfaction for the author.
Such effort reflects in the kind of non-fiction work that came out of Westland. From Aakar Patel’s The Price of the Modi Years to the recent Arvind Narain’s India’s Undeclared Emergency. Among them also features Josy Joseph’s The Silent Coup: The History of India’s Deep State; a book that presented a critical view of our security forces and the nationalism and corruption in their midst.
The way ahead
With what feels like the end of an era after five short years under the aegis of Amazon, Westland’s titles will not be available in circulation after this month. Yet, booksellers have been proactive in placing orders for the last of the stocks. “I’ve received word from Westland that they aren’t recalling books that are already in the market on February 28,” reassures Krupa..
Yet, beyond that, authors have little clarity on how they will sustain their books. Amrita says that Westland is attempting to find alternative publishers for her book. If that doesn’t work, rights would be returned to her by the end of March. She might just wait till she is ready with the manuscript of her second book before approaching other takers.
Perumal will be discussing his possibilities with his Tamil publishers. But does this have the authors looking at self-publishing options? “Self-publishing digitally is an option for some books — prose books. But many writers, even of prose, require or desire physicality for their books, for reasons including library availability, ease of reading, the reading experience itself and so on.
This presents challenges relating to cost and storage. Certain other books simply cannot be digitalised without compromising the reading experience severely. These include books of poetry where layout matters, visual works like picture books and coffee table books and more. My two with Westland are full-colour illustrated books. I cannot afford to self-publish them as physical objects, and neither can I publish digitally,” explains Sharanya.
It comes with crazy challenges, says Krupa. “Rivers Remember is being used in certain universities in Canada. I have to make it available to them. I’ve been struggling to get a publisher in Canada. I’ve been thinking about self-publishing for that option. In that way, it can give you some freedom and Amazon becomes the middle man,” she notes. As for e-book publications, even Kindle Direct Publishing works, they are far more common in the US and the UK, while we have a long way to go, says Amrita.
Whatever the way forward, the answers will come in the next few months. Meanwhile, there’s still a legacy being left behind in the wake of a loss. It shall remain immortalised in the sentiment expressed by Karthika on Twitter. ‘You know the beautiful thing about all that’s happened these last few days at @WestlandBooks? Almost every single author my colleagues and I called responded instantly with ‘What about you? Are you ok? We’ll talk about the books later.’ And that’s why publishing is home and hope.’
A wide range
While Westland has brought together many top-selling authors, its imprints — Context, Eka, Red Panda, Tranquebar and Westland Non-fiction — have published many award-winning works in politics, poetry, society and art.