Harvard press books will now be available in India

New Delhi, Feb 18: As part of its centennial celebrations, Harvard University Press intends to make its titles accessible within the Indian market and publish some of the best ideas and scholarship active in the country.

"Our specific mission is to publish and disseminate the very best ideas and scholarship from all over the world to the world's readers. We intend to make HUP titles accessible within the Indian market, and to publish some of the very best ideas and scholarship active in India," says Susan Donnelly, assistant director of HUP.

"We will be taking advantage of the admirable success of the HBP (Harvard Business Publishing) team in India over the past 5 years, and working together as a branch of publishing at Harvard within India," Donnelly told PTI.

Harvard Business Publishing was launched in India in November 2008 and it has had "strong impact" across all its three markets - individual managers, corporates and management educators. "As part of our centennial celebrations, we are launching a new partnership with HBP in India and South Asia. Our goal, as always, is to be in tandem with the goals of the University to be at the forefront of scholarship and education, globally," says Sharmila Sen, executive editor-at-large of HUP.

"HUP intends to make the entire list of HUP books on various topics such as literature, social sciences, economics, philosophy, law and lots more, for which we hold South Asian rights, available in India," she adds. "Ananya Vajpeyi, Faisal Devji and David Shulman each have new books on the HUP list. William Kentridge, the South African artist with a current show in Mumbai, has a book forthcoming with HUP. These books and the entire HUP catalogue will be made available to the Indian market through the efforts of HBP India," says Donnelly.

HUP had taken a booth at the recent World Book Fair here and she says she's "sincerely impressed" with how avid readers are in India. She says HBP's journey in India has been exciting and has "seen us furthering HBP's mission in this region".

"We regularly conduct webinars for the HBR community in India with leading management thought leaders. We work with faculty at over 90 Indian b-schools through our locally priced site licence model. In addition to providing content such as case studies, simulations, articles and online courses, we conduct case teaching programs in India with HBS faculty and provide faculty with extensive teaching and curriculum planning support. Today all good Indian b-schools use PCL pedagogies and this trend is accelerating."

However, digital is shaking things up, Donnelly says. "All of us in the world of publishing and bookselling are facing many of the same issues. Digital is shaking things up. Strategies are evolving on many fronts, but I'm not convinced that anyone has a real fix on the best path. Internet bookselling continues to grow and change the way that consumers think about a availability, and in some cases, pricing.

"The chains and independents feel the pinch all around. I am hopeful, however, that in India as in the US, that the 'bricks and mortar' booksellers will adapt to the changes and continue to offer curated selections of books."

PTI