Does the Indian publishing industry need literary agents?

There are mixed reactions from Indian publishers.

Says Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books, “Literary agents look after the authors’ interests better as they help establish communication as well as understanding between a publisher and an author.” Adds Kapish G Mehra of Rupa & Co., “On any given day, we receive a minimum of six manuscripts. Agents help get only copies that deserve publication.” However, there are also those who don’t feel we need of such agents. Says writer and editor of Manohar Publishers & Distributors, Siddharth Chowdhary, “Too much of dependence on literary agents is bad as they might misguide new authors.” Ravi Singh of Penguin Group (India) evinces, “We don’t need agents in India as publishers are doing pretty well without them.”

Alka Raghuvanshi, author, art curator and a former agent, elucidates, “Agents are like a gynaecologist directing a pregnant woman.” She feels that literary agents extend not only necessary guidance but also emotional support in a “lonely” job.

Anuj Bahri of Bahri Sons, who has recently donned the cap of literary agent himself, thinks that most publishers here don’t understand their job. “The publishers are hostile as they don’t acknowledge the role of the agents who are here not just to sell a few copies of an author’s work but the author himself to the world,” he says.

Says Tushar Raheja, writer of Anything For You Ma’am, “The book shall be left to the writer to write. The agent should focus on spotting the right publisher.” DN Chaudhuri, writer of Delhi, adds, “Unfortunately, we’ve very few literary agents who are also quite unorganised; the profession has not taken up well.”

However, despite evincing a need for literary agents, most publishers add at the same time that they don’t have too bright a future here in India as there’s not much money in the profession. Writing on the wall, is it?

From my perspective (of an Indian language publisher currently publishing in Tamil), literary agents for indian language writers would be welcome. Literary agents can add value enormously to the writers they represent as well as to the publishers they pitch the writers to, but there seem to be very few of their ilk even in English, let alone in the Indian languages. Vijay Nagaswami, an author, claims

I have been able to locate only one literary agent in India [Ms Jayapriya Vasudevan, Jacaranda Press, Bangalore] who consistently responds to authors. There may be more, but I've not yet come across them. Writers Net lists 27 India-based literary agents; you could check them out and see if any work out. If any do, please let me know, I'd be delighted to add to my list.

Comments

[Taras]

Single Ukraine women and brides dating at Ukrainian beauty marriage agency. Meet a bride, a dream woman or a soulmate from Ukraine. Sexy ukrainian women from Odessa and Kiev Ukraine!
Ukrainian singles ads with photos of pretty ukrainian women and brides. Most beautiful women of Ukraine.

[virendra khudbien]

Lot of Indian writers have made their name and money by getting published overseas. Isn't it sufficient for Indian Publishers and Literary Agents to face the mirror atleast for once.

[Alex]

Meet single women and brides from Russia on pages of this online dating agency. Russian brides and women seek relationships with other singles. Online dating and matchmaking with beautiful ladies, women and girls dreaming of romance and a happy family.

[Alex]

Russian women seeking other singles for a dating. Meet single russian woman for relationship and dating. Beautiful women from Russia and Ukraine at the Russian dating and marriage agency.

[Alex]

Russian women dateSingle russian women want to date other singles for Dating or marriage

[shameek]

You could also check out LeadStart Corporation - they work as a publishing house, and also as a literary agent. And they are absolutely responsive and very transparent about their

[myfunline.com]

There are millions of dating and matchmaking websites out there, so how to find the right one for your needs ? Do you like latin women, dominican women, brazilian women, colombian women or do you prefer more the asian type of women like chinese, japanese or thai girls ? There are also dating sites who are specialized in russian and ukrainian women. Where to search first and finally to sign up is depending on which type of girls you prefer. In the left navigation menu you will find some top dating sites who are specialized and offer free membership and affordable premium memberships. MyFunLine.com

[viagra online]

what an unforgettable post! thank you!

[Russian Brides]

I am of the opinion, that if you are not looking for love, you will probably find it in the most unlikely places. However, if you try to hard to look for it, you will fail in your quest!

[dating Helen]

A truly interesting way of looking at something most people find difficult to comprehend. Nice! I enjoyed reading it and the sincerity you display in this is something I can definitely learn from.

[Ellen Smith]

One fascinating article.
You know, indeed there have been a lot of dating agencies mostly in the net. Fascinating to learn the lengths many men go through finding the women of their dreams and vice-versa I suppose, women too do that..
What's with all the searching for a foreign bride? I can only wildly guess..

Success Dating

[coach outlet]

I agree with your idea.You look like very talented.It is very happy to meet you. Thank you!

[Soft Cialis]

Every author needs literary agents, literature is very important for all of us, because if you read you are improving your knowledge, the problem is that the countries do not support the authors so they can not publish their work. So if you have a company that publish books you can make the difference, help those authors, they need you.

[Russian Girls]

Russian Women - Believe It or Not - The Best Choice!

[Book Publishers In India]

Excellent website

[Uday]

There are only a few Indian literary agents specializing in the genre 'Crime, Mystery and Thrillers'. You can find the list here. http://thrillerwritinghelp.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/indian-literary-agents-for-thrillers/