THE news is not good: the publishing industry, the way it exists today, in India and elsewhere, is in the midst of crisis. Many have declared print media as, at best, a relic from the past. For some, the digital revolution is a historical inflection point that has transformed publishing in a manner such that nothing will ever be the same.

In India, the publishing industry, especially the newspaper industry, has largely been able to withstand these changes. There has been a gradual increase in readership, largely driven by smaller towns wherein resides a large young and aspirational population. This trend is only likely to consolidate further with a rise in the level of literacy, along with the proliferation, growth and consolidation of readership, and is likely to have a salutary effect on an increasingly bourgeoning readership in smaller towns. Intriguingly, it is the newspaper industry that has emerged as a frontrunner in terms of revenues. The magazine segment, on the other hand, has been facing turbulent times. In recent years, many magazines have either curtailed their numerous editions or closed down completely. The only exceptions have been the niche magazines which have registered an incremental growth.

While the spread and consolidation of digital platforms in recent years might have contributed towards an ever decreasing share of media spend on the print industry, paradoxically, there has been no decrease in the ever growing number of registered publications. On an average, the Indian print industry has been witness to at least 5000 new newspapers/periodicals annually. The bulk of this growth, i.e. 87%, has been contributed by the Hindi and vernacular readership jointly, as per the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2016.

Thus, the readership of English newspapers and magazines has been fairly restricted to metros and Tier-I cities. The real engine of growth for the publishing industry lies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of the country. The newly emerging middle class in India increasingly comprises of non-English speakers, a fact corroborated by the regionalized focus of the publishing industry by bringing out more localized/regionalized content suited and adapted to the sensibilities of an average reader.

 

It is in this context that the very survival of The Book Review (TBR) is nothing short of a miracle; 2016 marked the 40th year of its publication. The monthly has had a continuous print run since 1976, which in itself is a remarkable feat considering that a large number of its contemporary magazines have either shut shop or are in the process of doing so. What explains TBR’s resilience against the market onslaught and advertising driven industry? How has the monthly adapted itself (if at all) to the changed circumstances stylistically, culturally, and perhaps most importantly, content wise? These are the questions one must engage with in trying to make sense of the longevity of TBR in an era when the onset of digitization has led to newer formats of information dissemination.

Perhaps partially, the answer lies in TBR’s ability to straddle various genres and disciplines, the result of a conscious effort by the editors over the years. It is certainly not a trade journal, and nor can one possibly place it solely under the category of academic journals. To my mind, what has certainly contributed towards TBR’s survival is its vibrancy and eclecticism, both in terms of its content and reviewers. With no fixed style, the emphasis has been on encouraging writing shorn of jargon. The generous word limit of 1500 words for each book helps give a comprehensive perspective on the work in question by situating the argument in a more holistic manner. Running on a shoestring budget since its inception, the editorial team and board members have turned the task of managing limited finances into an art form over the years.

TBR has a very democratic policy when it comes to commissioning of reviews. A brief scan of the archives will show that TBR is a virtual academic tour de force, and reflects the academic evolution of some of the finest minds in the country since their student years. This is the result of a conscious effort on the part of the editorial team where the sincerity of effort has often been given greater encouragement and acknowledgment than one’s academic brand name. It is the continuous acceptance of new talent that has enabled it to find a wide-range of reviewers. This is TBR’s technique of investing in human resources for the future, with an emphasis on building long-term relationships of mutual, intellectual benefit.

 

First published in 1976, TBR’s mandate was to provide a non-ideological, non-partisan forum to a multiplicity of viewpoints which were often polar opposite to each other. The emphasis was, and does remain, to initiate a dialogue across ideological divides and provide space to eclectic diversity which has come to characterize our society. The fact that it was established in 1976 is significant, because this was in the middle of what was perhaps then the bleakest moment in Indian political history – the imposition of a national emergency.

At a time when more established print media outlets had taken the self-censorship route, TBR was part of the tradition of small independent magazines and newspapers which had proliferated around the same time, fiercely independent but providing a balanced perspective in an ideologically and politically divided environment. The state was able to exercise control and leverage over the big media establishments of the time primarily because the newspapers depended on government advertising. Therefore, it is not surprising that TBR remained largely dependent for its financial sustenance upon like-minded private patrons, along with agency and individual initiative of the founder editors.

 

The mandate from the very beginning, especially since the formation of The Book Review Literary Trust in 1989, has been to provide a forum to independent Indian publications and authors, along with promoting the publication of original translations of works in Indian languages. The monthly could reasonably credit itself for promoting and inculcating a culture of in-depth reviews by experts in the field. TBR has also been at the forefront of promoting awareness and understanding on topics ranging from South Asian studies, gender issues, children literature, and translation studies. The idea has always been to attract wider readership, both specialist and non-specialist, and create greater awareness for the areas, subjects, and issues impacting society at large. This has been done through special issues, seminars, workshops, and publications.

That TBR only pays a token honorarium has not deterred the best in the field from writing in issue after issue for the last 40 years. The continued patronage of our loyal reviewers and readers bears testimony to the positioning of the monthly as a leading and preferred forum for critical and informed reviews. In an era of sleek magazine layouts and glossy covers, TBR comes across as an outlier. The journal started by being published in a tabloid format, with its characteristic contents page and layout, and the format has remained the same for the last forty years. Surprisingly, even small changes in the layout have faced stiff resistance from readers, both young and old. Probably, in an ever changing and adapting publishing industry, along with the world at large, TBR provides an anchor and a nostalgic reminder of earlier, simpler and gentler times.

 

We live in an increasingly saturated media market, and readers today are spoiled for choice, both offline and online. We believe that in such a scenario, the survival of magazines like TBR, with a limited readership base, would depend upon the quality of their content. While the digital platform has definitely jolted the more traditional media houses and the magazine sector out of deep slumber, it is continuously evolving, in a constant state of flux. This has come at the cost of quality writing and content. The digital realm has had an upper hand when it comes to information dissemination, but one cannot automate excellence which often demands patience.

It is here that magazines like Caravan, TBR, and Seminar provide a much needed anchor, by giving a more grounded and comprehensive overview of the subject at hand. The survival of such magazines is a testimony to the false divide between the digital and analogue realm and calls for a shifting of the gaze once again back on to the real world. This can only be achieved by bringing the focus back on content.

In countries like India, where a large number of readers are first generation graduates, the print medium is likely to retain its pre-eminent position for some time to come. This might work to the advantage of big media houses who have increasingly embraced regional customization to reach out to an ever increasing readership. It has been much more difficult for the mainstream magazines, the only exceptions being the ones either targeted specifically towards competitive exams or the niche magazines. The exclusivity associated with the niche magazine largely comes from a dedicated interested readership. This could vary from watches to books. While the space given to the books section in newspapers and magazines has shrunk, what has ensured TBR’s popularity and, most importantly, survival is that it has been able to bridge the gap between a niche and mass readership.

 

However, with an increased proliferation and access to the Internet, in the long run traditional media players like us might also face the heat. This has certainly worked as an impetus to either adapt or perish. While it is true that the number of newly registered periodicals has seen an increase, an equally large number of them have also shut shop.

For us at TBR, it has meant going back to the drawing board and looking at delivering value by focusing on content, expertise and curation, thereby building and reinforcing trust in the publication. To achieve this, the TBR team has in recent years brought out a series of specially commissioned issues ranging from a focus on gender, children’s special, history, translation, and South Asia. This has been complimented by curated seminars, conferences, workshops, and special lectures. The idea has been to reinforce and compliment the brand presence and reach out to a wider audience.

This has certainly become a norm in the publishing industry today if one were to go by the proliferation of literary festivals across the country. However, at the end of the day, these activities often come across more as a distraction and an exercise in event management in the absence of an excellent editorial team supported by an understanding publisher who may not always have deep pockets. While some might have fashionably written the obituary of the editorial team on the altar of the market, recent developments have refocused attention on them as it is they who help bind together cogently, seemingly disparate events and activities. Therefore, it is still too early to write off the role of the editor.

 

We believe that in the long run, only those magazines will survive which have worked out a model whereby the market and political exigencies do not play a deciding role on matters related to form and content. Therefore, on one end of the spectrum, we would have niche magazines with well endowed war chests and committed readership of equally well off patrons/readers and, on the other, magazines like TBR with meagre operating costs, dependent mostly on institutional and individual subscriptions, and underwritten by the publishing industry itself.

In an era of downsizing and closure, it helps to have a small establishment which keeps the running cost to a bare minimum. The fact that most of the TBR-like establishments are based on an editor-proprietor model helps insulate the periodical from the vagaries of the market. In the past, editor-proprietors were often associated with the centralization of decision making and, in some cases, the periodical itself was usually an extension of the editor’s own personal political predilections. Therefore, it is not surprising that most such periodicals failed to last beyond the editor-proprietors lifetime. This is likely to change, especially if the periodical is to survive a generational change, and this can only come about with greater democratization in terms of decision making structures and diversity of content.

No medium has ever killed another medium. It has always been about adaption. The new medium has always provided an impetus for the older ones to reinvent themselves while remaining true to their core philosophy. This remains the case even for magazines. The digital platforms and proliferation of online content has certainly jolted the media industry out of its slumber, reflected in the manner in which the print media industry has adapted itself and tweaked its business models to build a strong online presence. Just like the others, we too at TBR are trying to grapple with the changing times and make sense of the continuously evolving face of the publishing industry.

As the magazine completes forty years in the publishing industry, most of its contemporaries, albeit with a few exceptions, are long gone. The challenge faced by TBR is a difficult one but certainly not insurmountable. The answer lies in adapting to the changed environment by remaining loyal to its core. Therein lies the secret of its longevity and survival. While we have recently marked our digital presence, the focus remains on the print edition. The digital platforms shall remain at best, a repository for the content written largely for the printed product.

However, to say this is not to belittle or remain oblivious to the changing profile of the readership but to underscore the fact that this challenge could equally become an opportunity by rising up to it and producing better magazines, accommodating diversity of viewpoints and, last but not least, having better editors backed by publishers with a spine of steel. For magazines such as the TBR the new era and consequent transition is an opportunity to reach out to a larger set of readers while retaining the loyalties of our reader community, young and old alike.