Knight of the publishing world

It’s mostly fashion designers, writers and artists who get international recognition and appreciation for their contribution in their respective fields. But Pramod Kapoor is an exception to this list. The founder and publisher of Roli Books, Pramod Kapoor has recently been conferred with the prestigious ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) for his contribution towards producing books that have changed the landscape of Indian publishing and promoting India’s tangible and intangible heritage within the country and abroad.

“I am not just honoured but humbled to be given such a big honour. It is a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life. I can’t help but feel nostalgic and feel almost like recounting my autobiography, not in colour but in sepia,” shares the 64-year-old author-publisher.

He founded Roli Books in 1978 and has conceived and produced books like Made for Maharajas, New Delhi: The Making of a Capital and most recently Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography that have endeavoured to weave compelling narratives through visual storytelling. “The idea is to present not just a book but an experience to the readers. We always ensured that quality is never compromised in our books. I remember printing up to the world-class standard was not easy in the initial days. When we started, the technology was not available in India but that did not stop us to go that extra mile and get our books printed abroad. Our reader base is intact because we focus on quality, elegance, culture, knowledge and in all desire to make the lives of the readers better,” points out Pramod.

He shares that it was not an easy ride but there are numerous situations that have inspired him. He took a leap of faith in 1981, when he flew to Paris not to sell but to buy a book that, according to him, changed the course of Roli Books. “I thought the best way to sell a book to a country was to learn by way of buying books from them and experiencing the way they create them,” explains Pramod.

Talking about publishing sector in India and the role of a publisher, Pramod says, “The industry grapples with an unpredictable market response as with differing education levels and the diverse culture, making readership sensibilities difficult to anticipate. We reject more manuscripts than we accept simply because I believe in publishing only 40 titles and selling 10,000 copies of each than having 200 titles and selling 2,000 copies. We personally take care of each of our titles. It is difficult to predict what will work and what will not, but we do our best for each of them.”

Digitalisation and online reading habits of youngsters have been affecting the industry tremendously, but Pramod is not worried. He says, “We do not believe in producing for the masses. Our books are for a certain class of people. I am not trying to belittle the people who like Chick lit but I am simply telling that is not our focus area. The readers like our books because of the printing quality; it helped us carve a niche for ourself since the very beginning. Even recession in 2008-09 did not affect our business compared to others.”

Talking about his relation with the French publishing industry, Pramod says, “Over the years, I have developed a friendship with the French publishing community because we share the same sentiments and passion for book publishing. As part of its alliance with the French publishing sector, Roli books also published two historical books on World War I that highlighted the lesser known participation of Indians particularly in the French battlefields.”