Indian publishing has gone off like a string of firecrackers, and volumes, diversity, budgets and even the sheer number of publishing houses are burgeoning. But two elements of western publishing have been missing from the picture — agenting developed very late, and there hasn’t been a writer’s guide until now. Amrita Kumar’s handbook primarily teaches you to write — 73 per cent of the pages are devoted to the craft. It should sell in a market where writers have important and entertaining things to say but sometimes can’t really do what writers do — write. What happens next gets less attention. Kumar devotes a series of short chapters to the technicals of Ink Street, usually areas of mystery and imagination for newbie writers. But the gorier details are passed over. Writers now hire their own PR, for instance, and sometimes finance and manage their own launches. What do those financials look like?
