Amazon in India, the World’s Most Avid Readers

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Taj-Mahal-in-India
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Who Spends the Most Time Reading in the World?  INDIA  It took the Western world a bit by surprise, that the most avid readers can be found in India. See the info-graphic by Publishing Perspectives. Canada is #21, Germany #22 and the USA #23 …
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David Gaughran wrote:”The Indian market has huge potential: a burgeoning middle class which speaks English and enjoys an increasing level of disposable income. Skeptics might point to high levels of poverty and low levels of internet connectivity, but with a population of 1.2 billion, only a very small percentage of the population needs to purchase devices (or read on existing devices such as lap tops or smartphones) before this is an extremely important market.”
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Forbes.com posted on July 2, 2013:  Amazon’s Perfect Timing for India – Why Jeff Bezos’ late India entry will work to the company’s advantage.  Business Today wrote: Amazon launches India website, begins with books and movies categories.
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Most popular in India: self-help books
Penguin India, for example, has sold 5,000 copies of The Ultimate Visual Dictionary. According to a report published in The Sunday Times, in small towns, encyclopedias and dictionaries are sold by travelling salesman and are often occupy pride of place as the sole book owned by a family.
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The strong market for educational books reflects the fierce competition faced by young Indians when applying for a job or a place in the university. Self-help books, how-to guides and textbooks are considered the quickest way to improve prosperity and social status. Every middle-class family dreams of having a doctor or engineer in the house.
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Children-India
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Reading for pleasure is considered less useful and a novel is a bestseller if it sells 2,000-3,000 copies, a tiny number in a country of more than one billion people.  India seems to be almost a paradise for non-fiction authors!
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More readers
With literacy rising, there are also more reasons to pick up a book: Improving conversational skills, being ‘in the know’, and getting cheaper books.
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More publishers
Penguin India, is celebrating its 25th year in India. Plus there are other big publishing houses such as Random House and HarperCollins on the Sub-Continent. There are also independent publishers, for example Katha Press. And many writers are self-publishing, in print or digitally.
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More contests and prizes
Notable ones are the Hindu Literary Prize, the DSC Prize, Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, and many others.
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More Festivals
Mumbai has three literature fests, Goa, two. There are fests in Kerala, Kolkata, Hyderabad; and these are just the major ones. Many more literature events are taking place in other Indian cities.
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More authors

Goodreads Listopia presents a huge list of “Best Indian Books” – and readers can vote!  
One more author from India: Fiza Pathan.  Her books (short stories) as well as the new one
Classics: Why we should encourage children to read them  (launch July 2013), 
can be found on Amazon. Poetry lovers go to http://insaneowl.com to read more from Fiza. 

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Classics-for-Children

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Amazon explains:
“Authors can track your book sales to customers in India with the new KDP sales reporting, detailed by country. Digital Books enrolled in KDP Select will be eligible to earn 70% royalty for sales to our customers in Brazil, Japan, and India. The List Price you set for Brazil, Japan, and India must also meet the 70% List Price requirements for sales to customers in these territories. If your Digital Book is not enrolled in KDP Select or you do not meet the 70% List Price requirements, you will earn 35% royalty.”   Let me add this: Authors can enroll in KDP Select (which means their book can be borrowed by Prime Members, and which earns the author more than $2 per borrowed book) but they do not have to use the 5 free days, if they don’t want. 

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