'Still greedy to find that strong, fresh, compelling voice'

New Delhi, April 3 It came about quite serendipitously and over the last 15 years, the journey for Mita Kapur, the CEO of Siyahi, India's leading literary consultancy, has been "like a jigsaw puzzle, one of discovery" as she is still "greedy" to "find that strong, fresh, compelling voice" notwithstanding over a thousand manuscripts being transformed into books over this period.

Simultaneously, Siyahi has been organising various literary and cultural events - everything from intimate reading and listening sessions, book launches to international literary festivals, monthly literary events in Jaipur, a specialised literary Crime Writers Festival in New Delhi, and an international literary festival, Mountain Echoes in Thimphu, Bhutan.

"It came about very serendipitously! At a casual lunch with a publisher where it was pointed out to me that what I was doing by helping authors was what a literary agent does. That was a light bulb moment for me and it took just a few weeks to get the website going," Kapur told in an interview.

"As context, there was an acute consciousness in my mind that there's a lot of splendid literature that needs to be seen in bookstores and is not reaching there so here we are.

"The journey has been like a jigsaw puzzle, one of discovery, moving forward, landing somewhere and taking off again. It's the best part of my life. I am still greedy to open each submission, to find that strong, fresh, compelling voice," she added.

At an airport bookstore recently, "one sweeping look at the shelves told me that our authors are doing just fine, their books were all there and for once I wasn't sending frantic messages to publishers saying 'why isn't xyz's book here?'"

"We've grown and done some good work with translations in India and Europe, have done some great international English publishing deals, audio book deals, film and OTT rights for our books, created landmark literary festivals. The spirit is not to give up," Kapur elaborated.

It is this spirit that in the last two years of the pandemic alone that Sihayi has seen 84 manuscripts become books, 45 books reappearing as translations, 27 books crossing continents and 20 books adapted to screen.

Over the years, how many manuscripts would she say have become books?

"Never counted", Kapur said rather modestly, adding: "Close to 1,000, I guess. Could be more actually - just never kept count."

"Storytelling isn't bound by the written word, and we want to be at the forefront of the best stories that reach the world. Films, audio books, and podcasts have seen a tremendous rise in popularity in the last few years, and Siyahi is pushing its boundaries and actively seeking movie/series scripts, concepts, synopses, long-form audio story ideas, and everything in between," Kapur said.

"We work with film agents, to pitch for creative film and television adaptations, and are also in direct touch with leading independent and mainstream production houses. We actively help production companies source authors and books that fit the genres they are looking to work in," she added.

Siyahi's authors are from a wide and varied spectrum, from established names to debutants, from subject experts to artists.

"We have authors come to us after they've heard about our reputation in the publishing industry and some of our esteemed authors signed up with us after being a part of our festivals. But it also goes without saying that a good number of our authors were discovered from our slush piles that we trudge up day after day with diligence and dedication," Kapur explained.

Siyahi currently represents over 150 authors leading literary figures and accomplished writers like Ashok Ferrey, Aparna Shewakramani, Devdutt Pattanaik, Pranay Lal, Paro Anand, Pradip Krishen, Dr Mukesh Batra, Tarun Tahiliani, Alan Friedman, Late Wendell Rodricks, Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma, Diana Chambers, Aruna Roy, and Siddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi, to name a few.

"Our authors feel close to us for the tremendous support we offer them through processes of contracting, publishing, international rights, language translations, distribution and marketing. We look out for various marketing opportunities for our authors based on their work and step in every time there is inadequate web presence for them.

"Whether it's complex terms or clauses of the contract, or something as simple as ensuring that their books are available for sale at literature festivals or events, Siyahi's authors remain well-looked after and warmly nurtured," Kapur explained.

The publishing industry seems to have bounced back pretty remarkably after the pandemic, in spite of the devastating second phase. To what does Kapur attribute this in countering the negatives it faced?

"Retail sales had come to a standstill and online sales suffered hugely in India. Supply chains were disrupted and it was a desperate time for the industry. The indelible survival instinct kicked in. Publishers didn't lose their zeal to counter the negatives; they strategised, moved their publishing calendar, resources around, adjusting to the new normal and forged ahead.

"Above all, storytelling is second nature to the human race," Kapur maintained.

How do she view the impact of Westland's closure on the industry? What are the lessons to be learnt from this episode?

"It wasn't the news any of us wanted to hear for sure and did not bode well for the business of publishing. Our community of writers were faced with a future that seemed uncertain, specially the midlisters and debut writers. Since the team from Westland is back in action now, I am sure they will work their way around the challenges faced astutely and carry on bringing out solid books," Kapur said.

Does she see any long-term impact on the industry from the digital space and if so, how is this to be countered?

"Digital and print publishing will co-exist. The smart thing to do is make sure that both move along and grow so that content writers and authors get to take advantage of both," Kapur maintained.