08 October,2014 08:47 AM IST | | Kanika Sharma
Litomania is Mumbai's newest literary festival that focuses solely on popular literature. Writers like Amish Tripathi and Ravi Subramanian will explain why their books sell thrice as much as the next John Grisham
Litomania, Mumbai literary festival, Litomania app, popular literature, books, Amish Tripathi, Ravi Subramanian, chef Ritu Dalmia, Sangram Surve
Amish Tripathi, Ravi Subramanian, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravinder Singh, Rashmi Bansal - you name it and the public knows it. Think Why Not, the marketing company behind the reeling success and popularity of such authors, has gone a step further with Litomania, a literary festival that will take place in the city, this Friday.
Celebrating the rise of Indian writing, Sangram Surve, festival director and CEO of the company, shares, "We have been handling the marketing side of such authors for quite some time now. In most literary festivals, the common points discussed are about authors based in the West. But we wanted to look at popular writers who are the new elite and write with an Indian context in a simplified manner."
In the current Indian publishing scenario, the sales of the popular fiction writers hint at great potential for the market. Yet Surve mentions that one doesn't see many new faces being discovered. He explains, "Yes, the author brand is becoming a trend now. It is easier to sell a new book by a bestselling author. But Indian publishers are mostly poaching these writers rather than being open to new manuscripts." This has led to several writers being lost in the crowd lest they don't make it to the top 10 bestsellers list. Plus, with the shrinking numbers of bookstores, there is only a limited space on the shelf.
"This platform will then market authors who usually can't afford our services and in turn, will act as a launch pad for them," says Surve. Taking the idea further, the festival has several exciting ideas for readers and writers who can continue to interact and stay in touch via a Litomania app. "From interviews to short stories, blogs and talks, now the reader can follow their favourite writer with exclusive content."
On: October 10 to 12
At: We School, Welingkar Building, Lakhamsi Nappu Road, Matunga.
Log on to: www.facebook.com/ Litomania
