How and why. For many Indians, those words during childhood were not just explanations sought for misdemeanors, but also a favourite series of books that informed and entertained in equal measure. The legendary German publisher for children, Tessloff Verlag, which has made such a spectacular success of the series, recently entered into a partnership with Sterling Publishers to form Tessloff Sterling, which will not only offer these books, but a wide range of other publications and facilities like publishing, translation and related work.
?This is the first such Indo-German joint venture,? Dr Thomas Seng, Director, Tessloff Verlag points out during a recent visit to India. Tessloff Verlag, which is marking a half century of publishing this year, is the leading publisher of children?s non fiction for the age group 8-12 years and is present in over 50 countries and in languages as diverse as Spanish, Chinese, Romanian, Korean, Turkish and even Georgian.
The JV, which is 50-50 partnership, will have an initial investment of $300,000. The JV plans to launch 500-600 titles in the next three years. While Tessloff will contribute in the original content, as well as translations, sales and marketing, it is also counting on Sterling?s extensive distribution network to reach out to the Indian hinterland. Seng is confident the Indian market has the capacity to absorb the volumes the company plans for the Indian market. ?India has lots of people who have kids ? and they want to invest in their education,? he stresses. ?Smaller towns in India have no access to books. Our strategy will be go to the middle class, who eagerly want quality books and content.? Besides developing the retail network, he also says that direct marketing, especially school fairs are also on the anvil as ways of reaching the customer. He is confident of breaking even within the first year itself!
Nor is Seng worried about new media. ?Apart from the traditionally large book markets, countries like Russia, Poland, Romania, China, Korea and many others are really reading.? As for new media, he says 30% of the sales are in new media, especially audio books and this needs to be taken into account by publishers. Tessloff already has extensive television presence in Germany and also has an extensive catalogue of audio books, an interactive online portal, magazines and even Nintendo games that push the content. ?The Indian market also has potential for DVDs, Nintendo games as well as content for television,? says the affable German, who is especially fond of Indian food, especially at Bukhara at ITC Maurya, Delhi. ?Working in India is not a problem due to the language, almost everyone knows English,? Seng, who graduated in Rhetorical Studies and Philosophy and also has a degree in business administration from the University of Tubingen, says, especially when he compares the situation to countries like China, where too the publisher has a joint venture. Tessloff Sterling will also undertake translations to tap into the potentially huge and lucrative Indian market. And looks to have a winner in his hands.