Books Are Us

Six years ago, just as India was getting used to terms such as BPO and outsourcing, Dorling Kindersley set up shop in Delhi, bringing with ...

Six years ago, just as India was getting used to terms such as BPO and outsourcing, Dorling Kindersley set up shop in Delhi, bringing with it the idea of 8216;8216;offshore publishing8217;8217;. The notion was simple enough: with its talent pool of editors and designers, India was well-placed to doing the back-end work for DK8217;s international operations.

DK, set up in 1974 as 8212; interestingly 8212; an outsourcing company that produced books for other publishers, had a bit of a reputation for business innovation. Anticipating the changing media market, it had invested heavily in a CD unit and even television.

As such, venturing into new territory 8212; the presses of Hong Kong and Singapore had made them 8216;8216;offshore printing8217;8217; hubs, but moving editorial work to another location was still untried 8212; was not something it was unused too.

Unfortunately, DK spent more than it should have. Worldwide it was 8216;8216;haemmorhaging millions8217;8217;. The CD division had to be closed down. The India office too was seen as a trifle extravagant. In 2000, DK was sold to the Pearson Group and became part of the extended Penguin Books family.

The following year, Deborah Wright, a Penguin veteran, took over as managing editor of DK United Kingdom and Global Publishing Operations. In 2001 as well, DK began its turnaround, began to make money. Earlier this month, Wright came to India 8212; her first, 8216;8216;long overdue8217;8217; visit 8212; business pilgrim to an outpost that is, really, becoming key to DK8217;s future strategy.

DK is known for its strong children8217;s non-fiction books, its adult manuals and guides, its encyclopaedia list. Its trademark is its 8216;8216;lexigraphic8217;8217; design, using a combination of words and pictures to draw young readers. At the simplest level, its outsourcing operations 8212; the India office has 70 people now 8212; require Delhi to place text and images as per a template designed in London.

This brings down costs significantly. 8216;8216;My guess it is reduces costs by 20 or 30 per cent,8217;8217; says Wright, 8216;8216;maybe more.8217;8217; Some of DK8217;s books have universal appeal 8212; such as its travel guides, including one on India. Yet some of DK India8217;s work is genuine outsourcing, it just never retails in India. 8216;8216;In the UK, we publish the British Medical Association BMA health guides,8217;8217; says Wright, 8216;8216;We used the India office to customise them for the Canadian and Australian markets.8217;8217;

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8216;We must provide content in any form our consumers may choose to access it,8217; says Wright

Along with cost cutting, contemporary publishers have to be alive to the third C 8212; the computer. 8216;8216;Young people are bombarded by the Internet, by television, by films. We have to complement technology, can8217;t turn our backs to it.8217;8217;

As such, DK experimented with Google for an e.encylopedia, followed by e.science encyclopedia and e.history encyclopedia. 8216;8216;When you buy the printed book,8217;8217; says Wright, 8216;8216;you get a code for access to a website.8217;8217; The website is updated constantly. New facts, new information, stuff not available in the book is uploaded almost daily; and 8216;8216;the websites are designed and maintained in India8217;8217;.

Now DK plans to repeat the book-website combo with its travel guides. For instance, the book will list Melbourne8217;s theatres; the site will give you the names of plays currently running, show timings and ticket prices.

The future of books is as mysterious as it is exciting. 8216;8216;We must be willing to provide content in any form our consumers may choose to access it,8217;8217; signs off Wright, 8216;8216;today it8217;s computers, tomorrow it could be Blackberrys or mobile phones. After all, I-pods have changed the music industry forever.8217;8217;

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So someday will a voracious reader curl up with a good mobile phone, content 8230; er, text streaming in from India.