In the world of books

The more the publisher works invisibly, the more successful a book becomes, says Aleph founder David Davidar

December 24, 2014 05:50 pm | Updated 05:50 pm IST

All for quality over quantity: David Davidar. Photo: S. Subramanium

All for quality over quantity: David Davidar. Photo: S. Subramanium

Publishing house Aleph hosted an evening recently to celebrate the publication of its new book “A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces”, and the year’s last.

Celebrating the occasion, Aleph founder David Davidar was in a mood to look back at the entity he put together two years ago. “When I decided to come up with Aleph, I questioned myself, Why did I want to start an independent company when I could work for someone else. I realized that with Aleph, I could give each and every novel the kind of attention and time it needs. Though I always had a knack for publishing, I had to find a partner since I wanted to work on lesser number of books and give out better quality and I found my partner in Rupa Publications.” He always knew that “writing is a very subjective matter and no author can be perfect.”

“Aleph works on it and publishes only 20 to 25 books a year,” he said.

So what would he call the secret behind a successful book? Davidar was categorical there, “The more a publisher works invisibly, the more successful a book becomes.”

The recently published “A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces” is a collection of 39 short stories.. It covers a wide spectrum of literary masterpieces that reflect the diversity and range in our story-telling tradition. It has works of Rabindranath Tagore to that of a 21st Century writer,Kanishk Tharoor. From folklore, romance and myth to stories based in small towns and cities, it has a wide range between its covers. “I have always known that I loved writing and was into journalism initially. I got into publications accidently when I joined Penguin as a founding member,” said Davidar, also the author of three novels. Wishing upcoming authors would invest greater effort into their writing, Davidar stated, “Writers should always take risks with writing. They should go beyond autobiographies.”

“What makes a story great is that the readers want to read it over and over again and it leaves an indubitable mark on their mind.”

Aleph’s upcoming publication, “The Patna Manual of Style” would most likely be the first in its 2015 list. Penned by Siddharth Chowdhury, the book is expected to come outthis February. It would comprisenine short stories and would connect Patna with Delhi. Siddharth, an author of four other novels, was awarded The Man Asian Literary Prize in 2009.

“Every fictional work is influenced by one’s personal experiences. In a way, it is an autobiography,” said the author present at the event.

”Writing is a blessing and one can write great stories and come up with fresh ideas it comes to him or her naturally,” he added.

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