It was an informal setting over tea, but the discussion was intense and interesting. A literary meet was organised at the Easy Lib, an online library in Bangalore, which saw writers, editors and publishers assemble together to discuss issues in writing, editing, translating and publishing. Writers Shashi Deshpande, Usha K R and publisher Jamuna Pani, were among the panelists and many writers like Shiney Anthony and Samhita Arni, besides, interested readers participated in the discussion.

The beginning half of the discussion centred on what makes a good book, and the need for professional editors in the field. While Shashi Deshpande felt that the editors need to make sure they don’t cramp a writer’s style while editing their books, Usha K R felt that the editors need to get more involved in a writer’s book, and take pride in them. Jamuna Pani on the other hand felt that there should not be any ego hassle between a writer and an editor as the intention is to give the reader the best work possible.

In the later half, the discussion veered to what difficulties new writers and small-time publishers go through to get a book in the market. The panelists discussed on how many formula-based books filter into the market, even as many good books lack visibility. The panelist also felt how small-time publishers struggle to survive in the market.

“Today there are many regional publications, which are small scale and there is intense competition between them. Smaller publishers will have to be quality publishers or they lose their reputation immediately,” said Jamuna.

Shashi felt that new authors need to be visible for long enough to get noticed, which is getting difficult. “Today, there is huge publicity generated for some books, which means they tend to overshadow other good books, new writers need to be visible to their readers, only then they will eventually get picked up,” she said. Usha also felt that without good publicity many good books tend to get lost.

 The literary meet will be held on the third Saturday of every month. Those who would like to participate in the meet can log on to www.easylib.com for details.