The India finalist for International Young Publishing Entrepreneur 2009 Award is Nishad Deshmukh.

This award is part of British Council’s worldwide work in promoting the creative industries, of which publishing is an integral part. The publishing award is run in association with Oxford Bookstores.

At a glittering ceremony, noted UK writer Hari Kunzru gave away the award preceded by a keynote address by him on Freedom of Expression and Publishing. The evening also saw an interesting panel discussion on Diversity and Expansion of markets chaired by Jenny Brown, Founding Director of Edinburgh International Book Festival. Scottish, Indian and British publishers spoke at the discussion attended by nearly 100 in the audience at The Park Hotel.

Having graduated from Pune University, Nishad worked in marketing for a few years before he quit to become an entrepreneur. “There was no previous history of entrepreneurship in my family but today I can proudly say that there is no handicap associated with being a first generation entrepreneur, “he said. In 2000, he set up a publishing house CAREER Publications in an office space of less than 80 sq ft and absolutely no assistance. Today, they operate with 42 employees with a 2700 sq ft  office and an additional branch office of 600 sq ft.

The winner of the Indian award gets an all-expenses paid 10-day trip to the UK in April 2009, to compete for the title of the International Young Publishing Entrepreneur Award 2009, at The London Book Fair in April 2009, where, incidentally, India is the market focus.

The international winner gets a cash prize of £5000 towards the publishing proposition approved by the panel and a free stall at the London Book Fair 2010, in addition to the opportunity for networking with UK publishers.

The award was judged by Mandira Sen, Stree Publications, S Anand, Navayana Publishing, S.K Ghai, Chair, Books Panel, Capexil and Debanjan Chakrabarti, Head, Inter Cultural Dialogue, British Council, India

The judges commended Nishad by saying “he has identified a gap in the market, founded a company in Nashik, a small town in Maharashtra, which has grown to doing business with international players in the field. A thorough publishing professional, he has the potential to lead an independent imprint focussed on science, technology and medicine, to emerge as a global force. “

The Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) Award programme forms the core of the Creative Future Network. It is unique in that it rewards the talent and initiative of young creative entrepreneurs from across the creative industries recognising the central role they play in the development of a competitive and sustainable creative economy.

 Nishad Deshmukh

Having graduated from Pune University, Nishad Deshmukh worked in marketing for a few years and then left his job to become an entrepreneur. With no background in entrepreneurship, he set up his publishing house CAREER Publications in 2000. He now employs nearly 45 people in a large office. Career Publications has published nearly 150 titles and have already focussed their sights into the overseas market.

The Finalists

 Luke Haokip

Luke Haokip started his career working with the business team at Outlook Magazine. After Outlook, he began his foray into project management in publishing and technology in the field of education. In 2006, he started ‘Mindfields’  which is a print and online journal with Amruta Patil hoping to do some exciting work in the field in publishing and new media. The magazine is funded and partnered by Idiscoveri Education.

 Suman Chakraborty

Suman Chakraborty started as a self-publisher (Roman Books) with the two academic books he had written for the English Honours students of Calcutta University. After both the books became a success, his friends and advisers encouraged him to start a publishing business on full scale and Roman Books now publishes poetry, literary criticism, fiction etc. Roman Books is available on Amazon network and stores in the overseas market.

 Divya Arora

Divya Arora is born into a family that brought the book trade to India after the Partition in 1947. Her grandfather founded the Natraj Publishers. Natraj started out as India’s military publisher, with her father branching out to introduce Indian readers to books on ecological issues. Divya joined the business in 2001 as an assistant editor and a few years later, set up ‘Etch’, an imprint that aims to publish ‘interesting books for interesting people’. ‘Etch’ was also conceived to fill a vacuum for quirky, intellectually stimulating publishing by an independent publisher.

 Gopal Krishna Ghosh

A software developer in a multinational, Gopal Krishna Ghosh with two friends started an initiative named “Srishtisandhan” to reach out to little known writers and poets who find the going tough. The website has a unique archive of collection of contemporary Bengali Little Magazine literature, other section of Bengali literature and almost all the areas of arts and culture - photography, art, sculpture, music, film, drama.

The idea

British Council India, in association with Oxford Bookstore, invites applications from young publishers with big ideas to apply for the Young Publishing Entrepreneur Award 2009.

If you have a smart, fresh, innovative business plan that you think can set standards in the industry and have the leadership to back your vision, here’s your chance to put that idea into action.

This is a continuation of our work in promoting creative entrepreneurship.

The award

Winner of the Indian award will take part in an all-expenses paid 10-day tour of the UK publishing industry in April next year and competes for the International Young Publisher of the Year Award 2009. The international winner receives £ 5000, for accomplishing his/her innovative publishing idea, approved by the panel of judges and a stall at the London Book Fair 2009.

Application criteria

			You should be between 25 and 35 years of age (less than 36 years as on 18 April 2009)
			Work in publishing as broadly defined below: Publishing (including e-publishing) Agents Literary festivals Retailing (including e-tailing)
			Through your character, drive and abilities demonstrate your potential to be a future leader of the publishing sector in India.
			Be entrepreneurial and have shown your ability to promote publishing in India.
			Be able to communicate sufficiently in English and be confident of making a presentation to convey ones ideas.
			While the British Council does not require an attestation from your employer, it’s in your interest to keep your line manager in the loop before applying.
			You should not primarily be an academic, writer, author or poet.

Selection procedure and timelines

Applicants will go through a two-tier selection process.

1. Short listing by a British Council appointed specialist by 27 December 2008. Names of short listed candidates will be published on our website and they will also be informed in person by the British Council.
2. A national panel of eminent people from publishing and book retail industry will interview short listed candidates on 30 January in Kolkata and the name of the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony the same evening.

Our partner

Oxford Bookstore, with its countrywide network in Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Chennai and Goa, is committed to bringing the best in international publishing and book retail to India. Owned by the Apeejay Surrendra Group, Oxford Bookstore is a one-stop shop for books, music, software, stationery, gifts and even comes with its own cha bar!

Oxford Bookstore is India's foremost online book retail business, stocking over half-a-million book and music titles. Oxford Bookstore became the first book retail enterprise in the country to launch an interactive SMS Service recently.

Please note that YPE Award does not consider unpublished manuscripts for publication or otherwise. The five books the application form asks you to promote must already be a published work.