Crossword Bookstores enters cluttered publishing space

Mumbai: Leading organised bookseller Crossword Bookstores has entered the already cluttered publishing domain with The Write Place, which will focus only on Indian authors.[caption id="attachment_3208768" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image[/caption]According to market research agency Nielsen, the domestic publishing market had as many as 9,000 publishers and over 21,000 book retailers in 2015. The report has valued the domestic book market, including textbooks at $3.9 billion in 2015 and the industry has been clipping at 20 per cent annually.On the move to enter the publishing platform, Crossword Bookstores chief executive Kinjal Shah said, "The Write Place is committed to publishing Indian authors." The share of Indian authors at Crossword sales is 45 per cent, and has grown by 25-27 per cent in the last eight years. "Indian authors are in demand and we look forward to telling some wonderful stories", he added.On the publication plans, Shah said he plans to have 300 titles over the next three years, which will be mix of author paid and commissioned titles. He also said The Write Place has already published 25 titles, including bestsellers like 'Around India in 40 Doodles' by Humming Whale, 'The Indian Garden' by Rathi Varma, and 'Challenging Destiny,' a biography on Maratha warrior king Shivaji by Medha Deshmukh-Bhaskaran.