Twenty five years ago, Norma Alvares was
one of the pioneers who brought in more readers through her mail order system
of books in Mapusa before Flipkart or Amazon had entered the market. Today with
the online market open, one can select any book with the click of a button. But
is your favourite book from Goa online? Many publishers are still pondering
upon the pros and cons of putting up with their books for sale through online
portals.
Leonard Fernandes of Cinnamon Teal Publishers will be organising the sixth edition of Publishing Next on September 11 and 12, 2015 at the Krishnadas Shama Goa State Central Library in Panjim. Leonard feels that authors should get equally involved in marketing their books as much as the publishers. “Many authors believe that their job is done once the writing is over and they don’t do anything to promote the book post publishing. We end up doing all the promotions and marketing, but with books releasing every week, it becomes difficult to market each book thoroughly the moment it is out,” says Leonard.
Though books from his publication are one Flipkart and Amazon, Leonard asserts that there is a difference between online and store sales. “One easy convenient method of buying books is either online or through mailing lists. Most book lovers prefer online but searching for books is not easy. The finding of new books takes place offline, mostly in bookstores. Online, you have to be particular about which book you want to buy. In Goa, there is a small percentage of readers who prefer buying books online. Books are sold mostly at the book launch itself,” adds Leonard.
However, online portals have an advantage for publishers. “The books are purchased from the publishers with a 50 per cent discount which is passed down to the reader and with offers such as free shipping. Also, the books sold online recover money faster unlike some bookstores in India that take around three months to give the sales amount,” he explains.
Oscar Noronha is one of the Noronha brothers running the family publishing house, Third Millennium. Their recent books included ‘Commemorating Christ in Goa’ with Isabel Vaz on the editorial team, ‘Boddki’, a Portuguese novel by Augustine Fernandes and ‘A Journey to Remember, Memoirs of my Professional and Leisure Life’ by Vitorino Pinto. “Most of the online books that do well in terms of sales are books for engineering students and competitive exams. Literature is slowly catching up and Goan books are a niche market. Most of the readers, either contact us through mail or through other bookstores,” says Oscar.
Third Millennium was founded in 2002 by Oscar’s father, Late Fernando de Noronha, with his book ‘Momentos do Meu Passado (Moments from my Past)’. They are the only publishers in Goa that publish English, Konkani and Portuguese books. Oscar is presently working on a manuscript left behind by his father. “I am not very conversant with the online portals but sites like Amazon and Flipkart require the publisher to give books in bulk at a low rate which allows them to give discounts online. My children have also caught on with the trend and order their books online,” says Oscar.
Frederick Noronha’s Goa 1556 offers a wide array of literary genres. His publishing house specialises in books written by Goans or by the Goan diaspora. “There are some books that do well online like books written on Goans from East Africa as it offers a chance for Goans living abroad to order the book but some books like those written about Panjim or Mapusa have a small number of buyers and hence do well at local bookstores. Judy Luis Watson’s book, ‘Waiting for the Sunrise’ will appeal to Goan readers, those residing in Africa and those who were brought up in Africa, while Alan Machado’s book, ‘Slaves of Sultans’, will attract more readers from Goa and Mangalore,” says Noronoha.