PVPF 2024

As Readership Declines, Urdu Publishers Struggle to Stay Afloat

Most of these are religious books published by us says Khan, the managing director of Farid Book Depot, one of the country’s better-known Urdu publishers
on Nov 21, 2022

It is late in the evening and Nasir Khan is sitting in his teak-paneled office in Daryaganj, its shelves crammed with hundreds of books.

“Most of these are religious books published by us” says Khan, the managing director of Farid Book Depot, one of the country’s better-known Urdu publishers. “But 15 years ago, we published novels, poetry, and other general interest books in Urdu. These days, there are no takers for Urdu fiction and non-fiction – readership is at an all-time low,” he adds.

Khan isn't making things up.

In Delhi, there were more than 100 Urdu publishers as of the late 1990s, most of which were situated in the walled city and produced hundreds of titles each year in the form of fiction, non-fiction, biographies, and children's books. However, most of them have closed their doors along with the Urdu printing presses, and the 20 or so that have remained, like Khan's, are fighting for their lives as Urdu readership declines.

"It is challenging to sell even 100 copies, regardless of how brilliant a book is or who the author is. I spent 3 lakh printing 500 copies of a well-known poet's work last year. I lost 2 lakh rupees because the copies are simply stuck. With every book, we inevitably lose money.

So today, we advise the author to invest in his or her book, " adds Khan, who has also released Mera Watan Meri Zindagi, the Urdu version of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Exam Warriors, as well as My Country My Life, LK Advani's autobiography. These novels did rather well in terms of sales thanks to institutional buying. Institutional purchases, which were helpful to us, have, however, also been declining over the past few years.

The economics of publishing Urdu books has completely changed over the past 20 years as a result of declining sales. The print runs are typically produced digitally and start at 100 copies. Like Farid Book Depot, the majority of reputable publishers’ charge authors to publish their works.

It wasn't always that way.

"There was a period when we invested our own money and paid writers royalties, just like any other publisher would. The majority of our publications, however, are now purchased by the writer's close relatives and friends. Even 100 copies are difficult to sell and take two years. Because of this, we no longer invest in new authors and instead concentrate primarily on academic and reference books, according to MM Khan (84), founder of Educational Publishing House, one of the largest Urdu publishers.

At the Urdu Bazaar, formerly the center for Urdu publishers and booksellers, close to Delhi's Jama Masjid, the decline in Urdu readership is nowhere more glaringly apparent. The majority of the bookstores in this area that formerly sold the greatest Urdu literature and poetry have made way for restaurants and clothing stores.

"The nascent Urdu poetry culture in Delhi used to be centered at Urdu Bazaar. This was the greatest location to get Urdu literature up to the 1970s. Here were located the offices and stores of some of the top publishers in the nation.

According to the author, publisher, and translator Masoom Moradabadi, the majority of them have closed their doors. More than 100 Urdu printing presses once operated in the walled city, but the majority have closed due to a lack of demand, the author continues.

In 2003, Moradabadi founded Khabardar Publications when a fellow author who was having trouble getting his works published in Urdu sought him for assistance. The novella Shahar Mein Curfew by retired IPS officer Vibhutai Narain Rai, which is about families caught up in a curfew imposed as a result of communal riots, was one of the first books he published.

Most Urdu school teachers, academics, researchers, and journalists who write claim they are forced to pay publishers to get their works published.

A well-known Urdu publisher recently received 40,000 from Shabnam Sehar to publish 200 copies of each of her two novels, Aangare and Dard Ki Dehleez. "Both books have so far sold 150 copies, the majority of which were purchased by my family and friends. I have barely made back half of my investment. It is unpleasant for a writer to have to pay to have their books published. Writing a book becomes a vanity project as a result, but sadly, an Urdu writer today has no choice but to self-publish.

Dr. Khawar Hashmi, a well-known Urdu author with more than 18 books to his name, claims that 20 years ago, publishers began to use the self-publishing strategy. Additionally, authors are paid by organizations like The National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language to get their novels published.

"However, the majority of authors must pay for at least some of the expense of publication out of their own pockets. The lack of Urdu education in schools is the cause of the declining readership. According to Hashmi, parents do not urge their kids to learn Urdu since they are aware that it would not benefit them in the workplace.

However, Khusro points out that "we have published Urdu works by at least 50 Hindu authors." Maktaba still carries the works of Urdu authors like Som Anand, Rajendra Singh Bedi, and Krishan Chand and still offers a strong selection of fiction, poetry, essays, and travelogues.

Since there aren't many stores that offer fiction and general interest books in Urdu, publishers sell through online stores. Many also take orders via social media platforms, which are also their preferred marketing channel, and send books straight to buyers. According to Abdul Samad, owner of MR Publications, "the Marathwada region in Maharashtra, which still has Urdu medium schools, generates the majority of orders."

Samad is one of the few publishers who has refrained from releasing religious works and mostly publishes works of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and travel writing. His little office in Daryaganj is decorated with awards for "best publisher" from several governmental institutions, including Urdy Academy.

He has so far released more than 700 books, including Aur Phir Ek Din, an Urdu translation of Naseeruddin Shah's And Then One Day: A Memoir. "Urdu is a language that can never perish; it is too lovely. Many young people have recently shown interest in Urdu poetry. I'm hoping that Urdu will soon experience a revival," he says.