High price, fewer volumes, pleasing visuals, the result: bonanza in publishing coffee table books!
What are coffee table books?
Picturesque images topped up with small amounts of text, meant for a quick light read, high quality glossy or matte paper, hardcover, visually oriented, impeccable finishing, large size and priced right through the roof—these are some of the common characteristics of a coffee table book.
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There are two broad types of coffee table books—the ones that cater to niche or localized audiences and tastes, with small print-runs, or those on eclectic topics like Playboy centre-spreads, or India, or the Kamasutra, which plays out to global audiences.
There is a third kind of coffee table book, one that has been commissioned for a specific need, and is usually a brand promotion vehicle for the commissioning organization. Royal Enfield — The Legend Rides On was one such book, commissioned by the Royal Enfield India to celebrate fifty years in India.
Coffee table books are also referred to as Illustrative or Pictorial books. As Kapil Kapoor, Director, Roli books points out, “We don’t refer to our books as coffee table books as that is demeaning to the quality of books we publish. We publish illustrated books that are for reading, reference, and information.”
Due to the dominance of visuals, the work involved in its publishing is vastly different. It is often collaborative; working with two equally important people, the writer and the photographer. These two people have a crucial role in the making of the book
An average coffee table book is priced at around Rs 2,000. That leads us to the million-rupee question—is there an opportunity in making good money out of publishing coffee table books?
Where’s the money?
Out of the three types mentioned above, the most profitable, from an entrepreneur’s view, is obviously the third, where typically you are paid for the project on an expenses-plus model or on a total project cost model and you don’t have to bother about sales, as the sponsor picks up all the copies. While some copies may be sold in the market, most copies in such commissions go for brand promotion.
Even when you don’t have a sponsor, you will usually try to find a bulk buyer for your coffee table book, so that most of the cost, if not a part of the profits, are recovered early on.
A coffee table book has a long shelf life, unless the subject is extremely time-sensitive, like a book made for a specific event. So, the publisher has a long window of opportunity to recover the costs. All this seems to indicate that coffee table books are sure-shot successes.
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| The audience is very smart. Firstly, they will go for a book only if the subject interests them and even then, they will read only if it is by the master of the subject Bikash D. Niyogi |
But that is not always the case. There are lots of risks involved in this business. A good insight into what will sell and in which market, is a must to succeed in this venture. For example, a very costly book on a football icon, in an otherwise cricket-crazy country may not be the most successful of coffee table books. Market sources point out that Pele by Gloria books, which is priced at a lakh and forty thousand, is not doing all that well in the Indian markets.
According to VK Karthika, Publisher and Editor in Chief, Harper Collins India, “The idea is not just to give beautiful books, but give books with additional edge of information or particular kind of product that you don’t find anywhere else”
However, President’s Award winning architect-turned-publisher Gerard da Cunha of Architecture Autonomous, believes it is all about passion. His first publication Houses of Goa happened eight years back purely because of his love for architecture. Priced at Rs 1,900, around 7,000 copies of the book have been sold till date. “When my first book was launched, everyone said that no one would buy it. They said print only 500 copies, I went ahead with 8,000. Everyone said I was mad. The fact that it sold 7000 copies reaffirms my faith that everything done with passion is successful.”
In Indian markets, Indian culture, including religion and religious practices, is the safest bet. There are titles by numerous authors, each exploring India through different lenses. So there’s Exciting India, 100 Wonders of India, Hidden Faces of India, India of Dreams and Fantasy, and many more with an India somewhere in the title. India Then And Now, 270 pages and priced around Rs 3,000, seems to be the hot seller in this category. The book is divided into two halves. In the first half, India Then, historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee revisits ancient India. The second half by Vir Sanghvi, India Now showcases contemporary India.
People and brands—obviously their own—are hot favorites amongst books commissioned by corporates. Film stars have become a hot topic recently.
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written by Krups, February 17, 2011
written by AJAY PARIKH, December 18, 2010
written by Deep Basu, September 08, 2010
The author has fogotten that research, compilaton and wrting takes a maor part of a Coffee Table Book endeavours.
Where is the writer's cut?
Have he ever seen a book, except those Rollie Cheapies which has no text or writing involves. He should see more of Mapin pubishing and even Making of Delhi by Rollie has a huge research ob involved. No research and writing comes free or cheap!
written by pankaj.iiim, June 05, 2010
written by Yacht Charter Greece, March 17, 2010
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THANKS A TON!