Thursday, August 8, 2013

Flipkart Launches e-Platform For Aspiring Authors in India

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Online retailer Flipkart is out to woo debutant authors in India by announcing the launch of a new e-platform which will serve as a launch pad for authors in the country. This should be seen as a boon to the author community, and particularly the aspiring and to-be authors which in any case contribute about 30 percent of the entire publishing task undertaken in India. However, the benefits of such an effort are both ways as it's not only the authors who get to enjoy a worldwide launch of their literary works, but the portal too has much to earn (along with the authors too) from the sale of the ebooks.

Also, such a development on part of Flipkart does make a lot of sense considering the steep popularity curve that ebooks have hit upon in India. Such a trend is attributed to the growing popularity of smart connected devices such as smartphones and tablet devices together with the ease that these devices provide for towards ebook reading. Interestingly, Flipkart holds a sway over 40 – 45 percent of the printed books market, something that could come under strain once ebook sales pick up. Printed books have been witnessing a decrease in its appeal with the emergence of ebooks and the same could be seen getting repeated in India as well in the long run. Publishers though have stated they are witnessing a rise in demand for printed books which they have attributed to the increasing popularity of ebooks in the country.

However, the immediate focus for Flipkart seems to be on ebooks and have stated they intend to increase their ebook count to a million from the current 2.5 lakhs. The retailer now has an app for iOS, Android and Windows platform and is keen to ramp up its efforts against piracy and security. Worth noting, Flipkart had started retailing books in India in Dec 2012.

Flipkart Launches e-Platform For Aspiring Authors in India is a post from: E-Reader News

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