My experience at Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

The first time I heard about the Jaipur Lit Fest was during my years on the IIM Ahmedabad campus, when a few friends decided to attend. Due to personal commitments at those times, I could not attend but when the 2013 version came and I was at Gurgaon, I decided to attend it on Republic Day. So when the nation was celebrating(or rather indifferent to!) Republic day, me and many other literature lovers were enjoying the various sessions on offer. So without much ado, I recount my experience and some tips for getting the most out of the fest

1. The venue(Hotel Diggi Palace) is very close to SMS Hospital(which all autos/buses know). So rather than spend on a cab and pollute the environment/lighten your wallet, consider taking a city bus or a share auto. That should just cost you Rs 10 each way. 
2. There is no restriction on taking food/drinks inside the venue. Considering that items are slightly on the upper side, consider taking basic snacks/munchies with you, or have a good breakfast(the awesome poha/parathas/dal bhati) outside and then attend
3. Registration is free(basic version) or paid(this year Rs 2500 where you get hamper from sponsor, free food and attending the music concert). Even valuing the free food at Rs 600, concert at Rs 400, that means you pay Rs 1500 for the hamper and the pleasure of being a patron of the litfest. Considering you get no other privileges like preferred seating, thats your choice. The name tag for paid registrations has your name, which might help for those of you focussed on networking.Make sure to pre register else if crowds too much, they may close the spot registration.
4. The souvenir booklet(this year Rs 100) containing bios and detailed description of talk outline, is totally worth it. Otherwise, you spend lots of time Googling the authors to guess what they may be speaking about and stuff like that
5. Its better to go as a group not only due to the carnival atmosphere, but also to ensure you get seating even when return from lunch/snack breaks. Here, like in any other Indian ethos, the concept of blocking seats exists. While I protested and got my way, you may not be thickskinned enough to do it when alone. So keep that in mind
6. This year, the bookshop sold books by all attending authors. So if you want to make the author happy(but don't want to/have time to, order online), purchase a book at the litfest and Queue up for the post talk signing. 
7. The sessions are usually 2+ authors(generally 3-4), literary critics, journalists or other renowned literature personalities, with a moderator. The format is a panel discussion like what you see on TV, except that its better moderated, and has (usually) better quality audience questions. So if you are expected deep insights, forget it, but if you are ok with many short insights from various people, you are at the right place. 

Overall, it was not arty/elitist, and a pleasure to attend. But if you don;t like the program topic, better find an alternate else it may get very boring

Good experience at Bangalore Book Festival 2012

As a Mumbaikar who loves books, the nearest I'd come to book exhibitions/festivals was the annual strand sale, but even that was a single retailer. Hence, when I noticed the ad of the Bangalore book festival at Palace Grounds, Mekhri Circle; I jumped at the chance to attend one, especially given its timing at the fag end of my stay here in Bangalore.  The fair's description as reported in the Hindu stated that This year, over a million books and 50 renowned writers will converge at the festival, which will boast 307 stalls, lakhs of book titles and books in all languages, promised the organisers, at a press conference held here on Thursday. This list includes about 90 Kannada publishers, 150 English publishers, other regional language publishers, developers of book apps and e-books, book portals and online book sellers. By the time I'd come, all the writers had come and gone, and the number of stalls had drastically fallen, but still it was a good experience.

1. Entry fee @ Rs 20(as I'm not a student or teacher) was reasonable
2. F&B arrangements were decent inside(only veg though) and conveniently located
3. The prime spaces were taken by online portals/children's books-a lead indicator of the things to come? I've felt before that the most profitable portions of the publishing industry would be online book retailers(due to lesser real estate/stocking costs) and children's books(as otherwise rational parents want only the 'best' for their kids, and are unlikely to use pirated/ebook versions). 
4. Several Indian publishers like Jaico, Pustak Mahal, Orient-Longman, National Book Trust were present, but surprisingly, Rupa was not there. Very few foreign publishers present though
5. Several niche publishers were there like those focussing on tantra, Hindu literature, Ramkrishnan Mission, Islamic books, leftist literature, which gave a good overview on stuff not usually found in book stores. Even browsing them stimulates the mind.
6. Some magazine publishers like OPEN, Week, Network18 were present. I picked up a 1 year subscription to OPEN magazine for Rs 649, versus the market price of Rs 1045. Given the stellar content of the magazine(and a cover price of Rs 35, versus the effective per copy price of Rs 13 for being couriered to my office), its worth it.
7. Many stalls were of retailers, who played the price/bargain game like 1 book Rs 50/99, Rs 100 for 3books and so on. So much so, that the organizers were repeatedly playing announcements requesting the stalls to remove the prominently displayed price tags!! Given that we Indians are suckers for bargains, its not surprising that this strategy worked!I picked up a Shobha De book for Rs 100(Super Star India), and an old Readers Digest adbridged classics set for Rs 49(this was my best bargain from the entire thing). I also picked up some books from the National Book Trust.
8. Some stalls however, were not related to books at all, for example a stall of educational software for MS Office, Coding etc, devotional music and so on.
9. An interesting feature was the number of stalls focussing on book lending libraries, as well as sites like homeship18. They were prominently there.

Overall, the book fair did meet the criteria of serendipity(http://andy161.blogspot.in/2012/11/why-i-window-shop-in-physical.html) while the deep discounting did help convert some selections into buys. Would certainly attend another one if held next year.

Why I window-shop in physical bookstores but buy online

As Gary Becker and Richard Posner put it Amazon’s book-recommendation program is primitive, and is no substitute for browsing in a well-stocked bookstore.  And even if the book recomendation alogorithm is refined(like the famous Netflix one) taking into account previous purchasing/browsing history, social media, recommendations etc, it removes the element of serendipity. If I want to check out books and look for new ideas/mental models, then a bookstore is the best place to start. Also, I may see titles that may just be right for a friend/relative.

Also, browsing through the pages of a book is rarely possible online, even Amazon gives hardly 10% of the book. On the other hand, Amazon etc have excellent reviews, which often give away the gist of the book itself and state both positive negative points. Hence, on the quality assessment/preview front, online probably wins.

One also cannot compare the prices-paying list price online, often import parity prices despite the increasing Indian editions these days, versus locating the lowest cost book often at discounts upto 40% through sites like www.kbooksearch.com or www.isbn.in. From the cost angle therefore, online is not comparable.

Evidence also states that people hardly read most books they purchase. Hence, to prevent information overload/buying books you are not likely to read, a cooling off period and searching for online reviews/alternatives is a good thing before making a decision to buy something you saw offline.

Still, having stated why I do it, it would be fair to give examples where physical book stores may actually work and prosper.

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/philjohnson/2012/05/10/the-man-who-took-on-amazon-and-saved-a-bookstore/  This gives the example of an independent bookstore which installed the Expresso 'print on demand' book printer, and pays fanatical attention to customer service with an unrivaled staff of passionate and educated booksellers. 
2. http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/13/3238391/singularity-and-co-sci-fi-bookstore-dumbo-brooklyn  This book gives information about the rare book market, for which online buying may be more expensive, and the book may not be there next time you return. This is a good business model for those who can tie up supplies.
3. Impulse purchases books like those in airport/railway/bus stations, for which no alternative is available
4. Stores supported with coffee/food cafes, music/related merchandise etc. The Landmark chain of bookstores owned by the Trend Group(part of Indian conglomerate Tata Group) is a prime example. This is because it creates an entire experience complete with sofas/bean bags etc, for which customers feel the urge to pay

Does it make sense to self publish on Kindle Store?

 Amazon has recently been making waves by signing up 150 authors in the last quarter, to write books on its platform. Naturally, the mainstream publishers are unhappy about Amazon's ambition to transition from retailer to publisher, but for the author, this represents wider choice. Now, even before Amazon entered, it offered authors a 70% royalty, with some caveats like $0.15/MB charge for electronic delivery, 30% IRS withholding tax, and 70% only on few areas(else 35% w/o the delivery fee)! So I can my own analysis of the 70% scheme, assuming sales are in the eligible countries at different list prices, and found that to get that $100 royalty check(threshold to issue check is $100), one needs to sell 74 books priced at $2.99. Considering that a print run of 10,000 copies is considered good for a book on which an author may get say Rs 20(max)=>$0.4/copy, those figures are quite good. Lets see if I use that platform someday as a test drive of my writing talent

Analysis of Amazon 70% royalty scheme
List price($)	0.99	1.49	1.99	2.49	2.99
Royalty @ 70%	0.69	1.04	1.39	1.74	2.09
Data Cost @ $0.15/MB	-0.15	-0.15	-0.15	-0.15	-0.15
Net From Amazon	0.54	0.89	1.24	1.59	1.94
Net After 30% witholding tax	0.38	0.63	0.87	1.12	1.36
Sell these many for $100 check	264	160	115	90	74
Net Realization to author(% of list price)	38%	42%	44%	45%	45%

The Vocabulary premium-part 2

The limits of my language are the limits of my world-Ludwig Wittgenstein(Philosopher)
 
Earlier, I blogged on the importance of vocabulary(http://andy161.blogspot.com/2011/09/vocabulary-premium-how-digital-words.html). This post takes those sentiments forward, as I take a break from completing those umpteen assignments in the twilight days at IIM-A.

As a kid, my parents and teachers emphasized the importance of having a good vocabulary. What I am today, is significantly attributable to my reading habit, which stoked a virtuous cycle of curiosity driven reading. Yes, I did miss out on watching the TV serials/comics and other junk, but I think it was a good bargain. Of course, for some periods in between, I did get addicted to fiction, which then became a hobby. Thankfully, that hobby did not break the mental concentration and interest necessary to complete a non fiction book. I know people who can spend the night reading the latest best seller, but get bored of reading a non fiction book after just 30min. And that is NOT because of the dry writing style.

While any kind of reading will improve vocabulary, some kinds of reading are better than others for that purpose. Reading biographies, classics and the kind of stuff which could be mandatory school readings; not only improve vocabulary but are also time tested ways of boosting critical thinking and analytical skills. Therefore, do not think that reading that pulp fiction bestseller will confer that vocabulary premium, but do widen your reading,

How does Infibeam make money on Pi2?

While browsing the Infibeam website, I noticed that they had launched their new ebook reader with a touchscreen, to rival Amazon's Kindle. They price it at Rs 9999, and give 10 vouchers of Rs 1000 each. Hence, effectively, the kindle seems free. This strategy is not unique having been followed earlier by Gilette(sell the razor and earn money on the blades). A friend tells me that Amazon's Kindle costs over $150. Assuming that Infibeam can manufacture at the same cost(despite India's higher tax and cost structure), that means it would make a 20% gross profit on the same. Given that Infibeam's discount on books is 25%-40%(on average), it would not make more than 15%-20% gross profits on books. So they are effectively giving away their profits and making no profit on no loss on the transaction. So what is going on here? Why would anyone do it? The reason in my view is that

1. Boosting revenue multiples:-When dotcoms are valued on revenue multiple basis, then there is no reason why Infibeam should not book Rs 20,000 despite the transactions cancelling out each other
2. Shrinkage:-As any coupon seller knows, not all gift cards/coupons are used. Even taking a 30% shrinkage, that is money directly to the bottomline. And to encourage that shrinkage, Infibeam has
1. Limited the usage to 1 voucher/transaction=>If an item costing>Rs 1000 is purchased, then the user ends up paying cash for the difference. 
2. Relatively low limit(Rs 1000) for the voucher
3. Time limit of 6 months to use 10 vouchers. That implies an order once every 18 days!
4. Limited book selection of academic/other low profit books like NCERT etc! 
3.  long term customer value:-Anyone who places 10 orders of books/ebooks is likely to come back for more. This would expand the market and 10orders would increase their faith in Infibeam.

 However, one important disadvantage of this is the potential of misuse for institutional purchases. If I was a librarian, I would order Pi2, and use the infibeam gift vouchers to make purchases which I may anyway have done. So the concept of incremental customer value may be defeated.

Another issue is that are 10 orders enough to make the Indian into a book buyer? Few Indians read, fewer are willing to pay. And the surfeit of pulp fiction costing less than Rs 100 has devalued the category. Would more expensive books cause Indians to pirate them online? On file sharing sites, one can download illegally the latest version of books even costing $5 or less. I think that after exhausting the vouchers, it is optimistic to expect an Indian reader to purchase ebooks rather than download them from filesharing websites.

Anyways, I shall follow this matter with interest, and update you all if I purchase that reader

Is Kindle the new Napster?

Napster killed the records industry. When customers discovered that they could listen to unlimited music online without being forced to buy bundled tracks on vinyl CDs, they defected en-masse to P2P sources of pirated digital music. Though the records company legally fought back and got Napster shut, it was clear that digital music was an idea whose time had come. Hence when the Apple Store decided to sell most songs for 99 cents, music companies reluctantly joined the party because they realized that the customers had now tasted blood, and would not return to the old system. But despite the 99 cents thing, I can say from empirical evidence of both Indian and foreign friends, that the quantum of pirated music is mindboggling. Students already cash strapped with high tution, rent, mess and other expenses, are most willing to cut their spend(not consumption!) of music/films. Also, going online does make our ethics a bit more elastic. The person who would never dream of stealing 5cents from a blind beggar on a desolated street, has no compunctions downloading media content worth thousands of dollars. Whether it be rock music, Hollywood films(or even Bollywood for that matter), torrent sites and DC networks on college campuses/apartment complexes lead to large scale revenue linkage.

The books industry is quite similar. It also depends on backlists(old content that sells as classics like Enid Blyton, old classics etc) and on blockbusters(Harry Potter, fiction franchises). And given the higher entry barrier for books(literacy, time investment), people saw it worthwhile to spend on physical copies, given that they could use it during the downtime of commuting, breaks etc,. But the disruptive innovation of ebook readers like the Kindle, ensured that now ebooks could be as convinient as books. In metros, the factor of not having to endure traffic jams/long distances for buying books, is a factor. And though online shopping and free delivery of physical books is now a global phenomenon, ebook downloads allow for instant gratification,at prices often lower than physical books. Given that adults are likely to read books at best once(research shows that upto 40% of books go unread!!), ebooks are value for money, and save the space crunch which results from having huge collections of physical books.Not so long ago, children's books were the most expensive because publishers felt that children would prefer the paper and ink version of books. That assumption may no longer be valid. Kids used to their screens(TV, mobiles, PS3) may readily accept a fourth screen. And the Kindle costs just $79(around INR 3900). Infibeam's version of the Kindle costs Rs 9999-but they give 10 vouchers of Rs 1000 each, which are redeemable against purchases of books/ebooks within 6 months. So cost is no longer an excuse to avoid buying an ebook reader. And the high battery life(upto 1 month) and ease of handling makes the ebook readers suited to Indian conditions. And publishers(especially niche books) find that ebooks leapfrog the poor and often expensive distribution chain for physical books.

But as the music publishers found, the costless distribution of digital content is a two edged sword. Any level of digital rights management pioneered so far, has been unlocked by pirates. The publishers have been losing the cat and mouse battle with pirates. Cloud computing may hand the technological victory to the publishers, because they can control and revoke access at any time, and have on the clock information on WHO is reading their content. Still, given the vast ebook piracy which Kindle allows for, it can be said to be the new Napster, for more reasons than one.

Why is the reading habit dying?

·         Expensive books-we are poor(!)

·         School Libaries-in the budget strapped scenario, that’s the last priority.

·         General dumbing down of syllabus-it is possible for State Board students to clear the Std 10 exam(maybe even get a distinction) without having read a single book.

·         Comic Books-the general introduction to reading- replaced by those same comic serials.

·         Reluctance to spend on non academic books-seen as timepass and not worth it even for food. This reluctance to spend on CPE/self development extends beyond books, perhaps because the quality of programs/training is not that good

·         Attention deficit-TV has really reduced our attention span and made us used to instant gratification.

·         Multimedia-books not multimedia. Ebook reader allows colour BUT audio books still quite expensive and presently impracticable

·         ‘Uncool’ since reading associated with being a studious type which teenagers don’t like

·         Parenting-not all literate, nor do all give time to read to their young children(best way, it worked for me atleast).

·         Indian editions out of data(both academic and others).

·         Indian ‘pulp fiction’-Gresham’s law-Wheeler’s stalls as examples-'good' books are driven out by the pulp fiction of today priced under Rs 100(I'm not meaning to sound elitist it is just a fact)

The light at the end of the tunnel

·         Libraries which supplement corporate librarires

·         Libariries on wheels-free home delivery

·         Ebook readers.

·         Comics on mobile/relaunched

My ideal professional reference book

After referring to many books for projects, MBA course work, CA/CMA preparation etc, I think I'm well equipped to comment to how an ideal reference book should be. Hardly 10% or fewer of books I've seen meet even 50%+ of this wishlist.Note that this does not cover books intended merely as textbooks only.

1. Bridge the gap between theory and practice instead of leaning too much towards one side;-Some industry experts like Taleb critique nearly all academics, while most academics works do not refer much to practice. Hence, a book written by a professional with some academic background(to ensure proper referencing/language use) is often the middle way out.
2. The 'inaccessible' material like quant stuff is contained in an appendix/online version. This is done successfully by John Hull's landmark book on Options, Futures and Other Derivatives. This reduces the printing cost, while allowing more detail to be put online.
3. Spreadsheets/Simulations to practice the material, preferably with data also. This may be either on CD or downloadable/playable from webite. I've seen this in OM books.
4. Downloadable data tables:- Instead of giving the data in PDF/text, how about being brave enough to give that same data(especially economic ones) as a supplement? That would let the student do some checking on his own as to the conclusions.