It is true that the past two decades saw a decline in Indian publishing. Steep increases in material and production costs took their toll, and the country slipped from fifth position in the world book trade. However, the industry was able to hold out, and the scenario is now changing. 

India still has a respected place in the international arena, and is the world's third largest publisher of books in the English language. If mass-market paperback sales have fallen the demand for educational and scientific literature and quality paperbacks has risen proportionately. Current socio-economic developments have also had their effect on the trade. 

Major international firms, perceiving India as an important market, have established representative offices here. Indigenously, a younger, more venturesome generation of publishers are founding their own companies and exploring new avenues. Combined with this, the recent upsurge of interest in the creative arts, encouragement of vernacular writing and a rising literacy index hold great potential for the industry growth in the near future. 

Though our output is small in comparison with the size of our population, India is a sizeable importer of books in all categories. The export market for books published here is also growing in both Third World and developed countries. 

At present there are 11,266 publishing houses in India Of these 2,400 bring out books in Hindi, and 1, 709, in English. The sizes of the company's vary- the large firms publish approximately fifty original titles per annum while medium-sized companies bring out upto twelve titles every year. Besides these, there are also 8000 small publishing houses and 460 units that are run by the government and public sector, including autonomous bodies. 

In terms of employment, this translates into considerable opportunity at all levels for those wishing to make a career in publishing.

RELATED CAREERS

Art and design, book selling, information work, journalism, languages, printing.