The bit about the attractive discounts does seem to be right. We scanned the store very casually and came across classics like Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan for Rs 49, Arundhati Roy’s award-winning The God of Small Things for Rs 99 and Ramachandra Guha’s Gandhi Before India for Rs 240, all of which are a fraction of their paperback, and even their general Kindle prices. A statement from Niti Kumar, SVP, marketing, digital and communications, Penguin Random House India, hinted that the decision to open an exclusive ebook store was influenced by the COVID-19 crisis. “Initiatives built on eBooks can bring the spotlight on a mode of reading, which in addition to being safe and easily accessible, is also more affordable and comes with additional features that make reading more pleasurable and informational,” he said. Of course, he also stressed that “India is an up and coming market in eBook consumption and we are confident that with over 500 million internet users, there is definite potential that more people can take to reading eBooks.” The move might not seem very significant in itself but we think it could be the first of many in the Indian and indeed the global book publishing industry. With the COVID-19 crisis resulting in most people being confined indoors and book stores being closed, ebooks have emerged as the best option for publishers to reach their audiences. What’s more, even when the lockdown is lifted and bookstores do open, the stress on social distancing could lead to lower conventional book sales. The only options most publishers and retailers would be left with is delivery by courier (which is expensive and many are not equipped to do) or moving titles to a digital platform. For the duration of the crisis, at least.
