Cambridge University Press recently organised a special evening for its partners, authors, distributors and retailers
There was a small crowd gathered in the lawns of the India International Centre. Some chatted away in groups with a glass of wine in their hands while others strolled around the lawns talking to different people. While one could identify a small group of writers talking about their books, there were several others from different universities and educational institutions.
On the occasion of the New Delhi World Book Fair the company brought together many of its authors, business partners and distributors for a special evening.
“The gathering is a mix of all the people who have been associated with Cambridge University Press for years and also retailers and authors who have made recent bondings with the company,” said Ratnesh Jha, MD. The gathering proved beneficial to a few business people as they had the opportunity to discuss some trends in academics.
“Our main aim has always been to make content available to maximum number of people. The root of the company lies in print but you cannot ignore the fact that children today are more tech savvy than we are their age. So it is but important to cater to that. Developmental ideas only come out of discussions with our distributors, authors and heads of educational institutions,” said Ashish Arora, head of digital and product management.
One of the recent publications of the Press was Debal Singharoy’s book Towards a Knowledge Society: New Identities in Emerging India. The author has been associated with CUP for the past three years and is indebted to the help that it has offered him during his research.
“They have been really quick in accepting my request to access their records and have greatly helped me in my proceedings,” he said. Similar was the reaction of Arul George Scaria, whose book Indian Film Industry: Copyright and Cultural Consonance was published by CUP last year. The book was an extended study of his doctorate paper, which he was pursuing in Munich.
“I was the first time author, I had no idea how to put a book together, I just wanted to delve more into the subject. Cambridge University Press helped a lot and now I am in charge of correcting fresh manuscripts and reviewing books on technology,” said Arul.