HarperCollins India, which happens to be the second largest English Language publisher in the country (second to Penguin Random House), has turned twenty-one years old, and what better way to celebrate the occasion than by launching a collection of twenty-oneĀ short stories that has been appropriately named Harper 21. The stories, which are less than twenty pages, are generally based on romance, though other topics include business, cinema, crime, poetr, and more.
“It includes a fairly nimble collection of titles,” says V.K. Karthika, publisher of HarperCollins Publishers India. “We wanted to test the waters before venturing out with an e-book imprint, and felt this was a suitable occasion to do so.”
The titles can be downloaded from Amazon India and have also been suitably priced at Rs.21. What should add to the appeal of the collection of stories is that the content is fresh, with just about fifteen percent of it being reworks of existing texts.
HarperCollins India became a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins Wordwide in 2012, a move that enabled it to adopt the HarperCollins 360 program. This in turn ensured authors donāt remain restricted to the market they started with, but are able to reach other regions and territories where Harper Collins maintains a presence.
“As a global publisher, my goal is to make sure that our books are available in every market we operate in and put them up for sale on as many platforms as possible,” said Murray. “The retail prices for these books are different for each of these markets and are fixed by sales teams specific to each region.”
Murray also expressed satisfaction in the manner that the ebook market is growing in the country.
“In India, weāve seen growth rates between 12-20% in the last five years,” says Murray, “which is very healthy compared to other local and international programmes.”
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.