#49 Why A New Speculative Fiction Imprint is Important
Westland has announced a new imprint called IF, which will exclusively publish speculative fiction. Why is this a big deal for Indian writers and the publishing landscape?
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In India, the diversity in the publishing landscape is still in its nascent stages. Many multinational publishers have their own imprints, but only a few differentiate these imprints beyond the binaries of fiction and non-fiction.
Speculative fiction covers science fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, and any fiction that doesn’t adhere to or deviates from the rules of reality in the world we inhabit. Given the breadth of the genre, no publishing house without a dedicated speculative fiction list would be able to give adequate attention, if any, to all the sub-genres.
Most fiction lists are dominated by romance, historical fiction and literary fiction, so science fiction, dystopian fiction, horror, climate fiction, etc. don’t find their way to mainstream publishers. Moreover, most publishers are increasingly publishing more non-fiction titles as those are more popular among Indian readers.
Publishers have always maintained that the market for speculative fiction is too small in India.
This is why Westland, one of the most popular Indian publishing houses, starting a list dedicated to Indian speculative fiction is a surprising move.
We asked Karthika V.K., Publisher, Westland, her thought process on setting up this imprint:
We've been wanting a focus on S F (speculative fiction) for a while now but the time never seemed right. Then, in mid-2023, a few things happened to catalyse it. One, I joined an SF book club in Delhi and was struck by the passionate interest and depth of interaction evident at every single meeting. Consequently, I started reading a lot more in the genre. Two, we got submissions from a few writers whose work we greatly admire. We are really hoping we can bring drive and energy to SF publishing in India in a way that hasn't been tried before.
-Karthika V.K., Publisher, Westland.
Does this mean the demand and readership of speculative fiction is on the rise?
In recent years, many speculative fiction books like The Devourers by Indrapramit Das and The Horizon by Gautam Bhatia have shown up on literary prize shortlists and bestseller lists. We have also witnessed Indian authors like Samit Basu and Tashan Mehta gain huge success and popularity in the US.
Have these developments made the genre more mainstream? Or is this decision an attempt to tap into a niche but loyal group of readers and writers?
This imprint is the first of its kind in India and given the uniqueness of its first book, Biopeculiar by Gigi Ganguly, a climate fiction book, readers have high hopes for this imprint to open new doors for Indian authors.
The Bound community is also filled with spec fic writers who have been developing their craft and waiting for an opportunity to showcase their work. And they are definitely excited by this development. However, what happens to the imprint and what kind of books get published is yet to be seen.
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