By IANS,
New Delhi : Dorling-Kindersley-India (DK-India), a publishing subsidiary of Penguin Books, is expanding its footprint in the Indian market with new digital and travel titles in 2010-11. It has cut down its list of titles post-recession in 2009 to concentrate on its quick-yield travel, lifestyle and digital segments.
“We are building our digital operations in India,” Aparna Sharma, managing director of DK India, told IANS here.
In 2009, the imprint cut down on its titles by at least one-third to survive the downturn… and the trend continues.
“We have narrowed the focus down to our strengths – travel, lifestyles and digital books so that we get the maximum returns. We are publishing nearly 180 titles a year and we do not want to increase the number,” she said.
However, children’s books remain a priority area.
DK has installed a research and development team in India to facilitate publishing with more digi-books. “At the moment, we are licensing our content to various digital formats like i-phone, i-pad and mobile phones in the country. By 2011, we will transfer all our content on to digital format,” she said.
The company has increased its volume of business by 70 percent in the last one year, Sharma said, refusing to divulge turnover figures.
DK-India, which began operating in India 11 years ago, is known for its travel books, children’s books, education reference books, cookbooks, atlas and the Rough Guides- travel reckoner. The company was acquired by Penguin in 2000.
The latest DK-India title, “Top 10 Delhi” was released last week to coincide with the Commonwealth Games 2010, Sharma said.
The publishing unit will become more India-specific by 2012 “when it begins to publish India-centric books across all formats and genres”, Sharma said.
It currently occupies only three percent of the market share.
Travel is still at the core of DK’s business. “We publish at least 60 travel titles every year, update the backlist and keep out the Rough Guides,” Sharma said.
Destination travel tops the list of travelogues. The DK travel books combine picture, texts and information – in tune with the changing nature of travel reading, the managing-director of DK India said.
The imprint is working on a new travel series, ‘the family travel series’, with five titles next year.
The five travel titles of DK India are “Walk Like an Egyptian”, “Looking for the Perfect Beach Gateway”, “Off the Tourism Trail: 1,000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives”, “Back Roads Italy” and “Bed in a Tree”.
The Egypt guide suggests travellers 60 ways to spend the day in the country, while “Looking for the Perfect Beach Gateway” maps 130 Caribbean islands with thematic tours, Sharma said.
“Travel publishing is changing. Readers want to access instant nuggets of information in manageable formats. Our e-travel books are interactive. They link readers to travel and lifestyle service providers on the Internet,” Sharma said.
For instance, DK’s “Top 10 Eyewitness Travel Guide” i-phone apps to popular destinations can be purchased in any Apple app store.
India handles nearly 80 percent of DK’s global travel titles, she said. The e-linkages have ramped up the sale of DK’s cookbooks on the Internet as well.
“They are more interactive. For example, if one wants to look up the recipe for an apple pie, one can read it and order the ingredients from the nearest super-market by clicking on a related site,” she said.
Dorling-Kindersley was founded as a book-packaging company by Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersley in 1974. It moved to publishing in 1982.
The Indian publishing market is estimated at Rs.2,000 crore.