Koi Good News?, in blinding fuchsia, arrived in the usual white envelope of Harper Collins, but with a box of laddoos—fat and as bright as the sun on a hot Delhi summer day. The book, written by Zarreen Khan, on its way to becoming a movie, is a laugh-out-funny at the pressures couples face to have children. And in an age where writers are prolific and books are so many that they often get lost in the clutter, publishing houses are exploring new ways to promote books to get them noticed.
It is especially important for books written by writers who are not well known. “Fresh voices usually have limited budget,'' said Aman Arora, senior manager, brand and marketing, Harper Collins India. “We felt we needed to out our might behind the book and push-market it differently.”
Food—however welcome—isn't always the way to go. Badges, bookmarks, stationary, bags and even customised book covers are all part of the publisher arsenal to ensure that their book gets covered and tweeted about.
With budgets being limited, publishers have to rely on innovative ways to find the right audience. Rupa Book Company pulled out all stops for Jeet Thayil's The Book of Chocolate Saints. It had its own bag. A big book for the publishing, they felt it deserved the special treatment. They are not the only ones. Hachette India printed customised covers of their title A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman to send it out to influencers. So, people received their own personalised version of the book. “We got a great response especially on Twitter,'' said Rachna Kalra, consultant, marketing and publicity. “People posted pictures of their covers. Strategies like this that get people to talk about the book encourages them to buy it and we manage to reach out across the country, which we wouldn't with only an event.”
This merchandise is sent out to key influencers—people like Twinkle Khanna and even Sonam Kapoor, who reads and tweets—to ensure that the book is publicised. The Anuradha Roy's new All the Lives We Never Lived, a sumptuous book set in pre-independent India, spanning two countries Indonesia to India, went out with postcards and stationary. “Letters are a theme in the book,'' said Kalra. A buzz has been created around the book and people are already calling up to ask about it.
But it is not only established writers who get this treatment. Bloomsbury sent out badges with The Bitter Pill Social Club to accompany a book titled just that. The second book by Rohan Dahiya, it revolves around the Kocchar family—extremely rich and extremely lonely—has a blog tour to go with it. So far the book seems to be finding its feet in this sphere.