Why a Boom in Self-Publishing Is the Industry’s Next Opportunity
A surge in self-publishing can look like a threat to established publishers but a closer look at the evidence suggests it is more useful as a signal. It shows where authors, readers and technology are heading, and publishers are well placed to act on it.
India publishes roughly 80,000 titles a year through traditional publishers. Navsangeet Kaur of White Falcon Publishing says self-published titles now outnumber that figure. Her house reports year-on-year growth of about 40 per cent, and orders up by half over three years. Those are one publisher’s numbers, but the direction is clear. Notion Press co-founder Naveen Valsakumar adds that nobody has a clean figure for the sector, because most reports still fold it into the wider traditional publishing. For publishers, that unmeasured activity is a large pool of tested content and data that is worth watching closely.
A decade ago, self-publishing was where manuscripts went after a rejection. Today many writers choose it first. “With self-publishing, writers stopped waiting for permission,” adds Navsangeet. The motive is mostly control. While, Naveen adds, “Ten years ago, authors came to us either after getting rejected by a traditional publisher or to offer publishers a ‘proof of concept’ in a bid to be picked. Today, they look at publishing models through the lens of ‘which suits my needs best?’ The ones wanting more creative control end up choosing self-publishing, either as a first choice or a transition from traditional deals later in the career.” A publisher who treats such an author as a partner will be more attractive than one who treats them as a supplicant.
Besides, self-publishing has become the industry’s largest open audition. Authors arrive with proven sales, an existing audience and a marketing record. Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi built momentum independently before reaching mainstream publishers. More recently, Notion Press titles such as The Gita for Gen Z and Can We Be Strangers Again? opened doors to traditional deals.
Moreover, print-on-demand has lowered the cost of keeping a backlist alive and of testing titles before a large print run. Platforms such as IngramSpark let publishers take selected titles to international readers, diaspora communities and libraries, and bring overseas titles closer to Indian buyers through local print partners. As IngramSpark’s Chris Sako says, “India has no shortage of content. The opportunity is connecting the right content with the right readers — wherever they are.” Regional languages stand to gain the most, since a Gujarati or Punjabi title may find its largest market among readers abroad.
The demand side is encouraging as well. Penguin Random House India’s Sameer Mahale shares that today’s readers are younger, more experimental and more willing to spend. Fiction has been among the fastest-growing segments of the trade market, led by readers aged 14 to 24 who move easily between thrillers, romantasy, mythology, poetry and literary fiction. Social media drives discovery, book clubs make reading a shared activity, and many buyers now want the book as an object, in hardbacks, special editions and sprayed edges. Publishers who know how to design, produce and position a book are well placed to meet that demand.
Read this and more in this issue. Happy reading!
Shweta
shweta@allaboutbookpublishing.com