by Ben Antao When the well-known Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo told me in January 2011 that my stories in English are really Konkani stories and that the only reason I write them in English is because of my greater fluency in the English language, his critical insight dazzled me. I…
Learning from Zynga
This blog post is inspired by one on Zynga where the author has identified the “four secrets behind Zynga’s narcotically addictive games”. Anyone who has played games developed by the iconic company, like Farmville for instance, will describe quite passionately how these games can keep you engaged for hours on…
New old books
We have constantly endeavoured to bring old titles back in print, thereby taking advantage of our design and print-on-demand capabilities. We have done this often before, both for the State Central Library, Goa and also as part of our own publishing programme. This time we have 3 titles on offer,…
Are Self-Publishing Authors Killing the Publishing Industry?
The title of this is post is borrowed from a recent article in the Huffington Post that wonders if self-publishing authors are spoiling the party for everyone. In their hurry to create blockbusters, authors, the article argues, are ignoring the basic tenets of writing and resorting to cheap gimmicks to…
Two of a kind
It has been a pleasure to work with Ben Antao. Originally from the Goan village of Velim, Ben cut his teeth in journalism while working at the Indian Express as a reporter. He subsequently migrated to Canada where he works a certified financial planner. Ben’s heart, though, still beats for…
E-books in Hindi!
The development of e-books in Indian languages is a road fraught with challenges. These challenges include the usage of appropriate fonts and the ability of the reading device to accurately render the text legible. After working at it for some months now, we were able to develop an e-book in…
Kindle Whispercast
Once in a while an entire community seems to be overrun by a buzzword or two. Such a time seems to be upon us and the buzzword these days is “innovation”. Without knowing what it really entails, every person wishes to be innovative and every company wishes to drive innovation….
Ebook FAQs
Having had several discussions with various publishers who wish to develop e-books, we have realised that there is much confusion over how one should proceed. The following is an attempt to answer some of the questions that are often raised. Are there different kinds of e-books? There are at least…
Mining the Playfield of India’s Publishing Industry
A report on three critical discussions from Publishing Next by Vinutha Mallya For those of us that have freshly emerged from the stimulating Publishing Next conference in Goa on 14–15 September, it will be a while before we can completely absorb all that was discussed over the intense two days….
E-book sales: An infographic
Away from India, it seems like e-book development and sales are finally picking up. More publishers are investing in the development of e-books and many are seeing substantial returns on investment. The following infographic dwells on a study by Aptara and Publisher’s Weekly. A similar study in India would be…