EditorSpeak

My Foray from Newspapers to Book Publishing

That was recently, on May 14, and later this month, another prestigious launch is set to happen with Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena set to release a coffee table book on Patiala House by Justice Poonam Bamba. Vitasta is most certainly going places!

Also on the stands early next month will be a top gynaecologist Dr Aruna Kalra’s memoirs presented in an absolute page-turner-kind-of-book, I Want a Boy. Dr Kalra’s account of some heartwarming, and some absolutely bizarre stories culled from among her patients, represents the obsession of millions of Indian women and their families―trying to give birth to a boy child. It is both an eye-opener and a social commentary on what women are subjected to and the absurd lengths they can go to in their quest for a male baby. It’s a book that all women, mothers, and daughters will want to read, including medical students and the doctor fraternity, itself.

On the publishing list for this month is a book exploring the phenomena that is Amitabh Bachchan by Shoma A Chatterji, a longstanding film writer. If you grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s with the towering Bachchan storming around in his films as the angry young man, then this book is for you. It has an intriguing title, Amitabh Bachchan as the Other. And who is the Other? Bachchan, himself and his towering cinematic persona in some 15 of his blockbuster films, from Anand to Agnipath.

And with elections being the flavour of the season, can we, at Vitasta, afford to miss out on politics? And so, we have journalist-turned-author, Sudesh Verma waxing eloquent on his favourite political person, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he maintains has changed people’s perception of India, on several fronts. Transforming India: Gamechanger in Action is Verma’s convincing account―backed by facts and figures of a ‘political superstar’ who in a span of 10 magical years has turned all sceptics’ theories of India on their heads.

Then again, we have a treatise by Prof. Rameshwar Mishra Pankaj, Prof. Kusumlata Kedia, and Swami Nigamananda for our serious Hindi readers looking for meaningful books. Their book, Hindu Rashtra: Kya? Kyun? Kaise? sheds light on the necessity and significance of a Hindu nation, while addressing the many obstacles in its path and the supportive forces aiding its attainment. It simplifies the necessary legislative and political processes for achieving this goal. This book explores the complex meaning of the term, 'Hindu Rashtra' and demystifies it for the new generation. It is linked to actions towards this objective by PM Modi.

Some of these books have had the compact team at Vitasta Publishing breathing fire, especially at production time which descends with surprising regularity during the last 10 days of the month.

However, monthly deadlines in the book publishing world, don’t really intimidate me, for in newspapers, it was daily or sometimes weekly deadline, if one worked on a features supplement, both of which I did for several years.

Unlike newspapers, in the publishing world, both big and small players generally have a team of freelancers on their rolls, with an inhouse editor giving the manuscript a once-over after the author has okayed the freelancer’s edits. All these years, that I have worked in the newspaper industry, one often gets just that one chance at editing copy, so it has to be done quickly with all your mental faculties on high alert. In the book publishing world, freelancers think they will catch their misses on their second read, but that may not happen either.

Here was this very promising manuscript in its final pdf stage just days away from being printed that now had to be reworked. By the time, I assisted with two younger colleagues on Vitasta’s inhouse editorial team, Saumya and Abhishek had finished reviewing, the freelancer’s work, we had marked some 2,000 errors in the pdf file!

It made us grit our teeth and had our designer throw up his hands in despair! But we are hoping that the nightmare once over will have readers exult over the book’s unusual stories! I strongly believe that it has all the makings of a nationwide bestseller. Wish us luck in that endeavour!