OFF THE SHELF: AN ODE TO THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

Book Review by Namrata

Off the Shelf

Off the Shelf by Sridhar Balan

November 2019

Speaking Tiger Publishing

Every book has a lot of people involved in it. Of course, a writer is at the core of it all but once the writer is done writing it, we have the beta-readers and editors who polish it further to make it publishing ready. Furthermore, we have the cover designer, typesetter, marketing team and many others who work on giving it the final shape before we the readers get to hold it in our hands. Off the Shelf by Sridhar Balan is an ode to all those people (invisible hands) who work on a book to make sure it reaches the readers in a beautiful package, inside out.

Sridhar Balan is a senior professional in the publishing industry with decades of experience in the Indian publishing industry. Having worked with Oxford University Press and Ratna Sagar P Ltd, he has also been a literary columnist with several Indian newspapers. Currently, he is a consultant with Ratna Books, an imprint for translations.

Off the Shelf has a beautiful beige cover with a bookshelf and a cosy reading nook as the backdrop. For any book lover, the cover depicts a piece of heaven they always crave for. Endless rows of books filled with titles of all types, stories, poems and essays all calling you hither to listen to them is exactly how a book lover sees heaven as.

Bringing together his decades of experience with books, book people and book places, Balan takes us through the life span of publishing, as he has witnessed. The journey is twofold, one that speaks about his personal growth – the learning, the expansion and the achievements he managed during this phase. The second journey is about the English writing in India and the changes it has been through so far keep in mind the various factors that impact it.

Read the full review on Kitaab.

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