Anoop Dewan
Director, Monograph Publishing (anoop@monograph.in)

I am from New Delhi and have had the privilege excellent schooling and education. My lifetime desire is to complete a travel trip to Kailash Mansarovar and read more books. On a professional front, I am a professional trader and investments consultant. Over the last decade, I have earned my living as a financial broker and a trader of financial derivatives. Though, I started my work life trading books and importing technical standards for the automotive industry. I had decided back then, that I shall set up my own publishing enterprise when the time is right and I am absolutely ready to unleash myself with Monograph- my venture.

Arpan Sharman
Director, Nepalaya (arpan@nepalaya.com.np)

I am a go-getter by nature. I work hard to the core to acquire anything significant. I come from a journalistic and publishing family. My father used to be a journalist and ran a daily newspaper and owned a small publishing house of his own. My initial interest in publishing comes from home. Though I was involved in the electronic media for a long time, print media in one form or the other has always been close to my heart.

Ganesh Venkatesan
Head – Electronic Production Department, Reed Elsevier India (g.venkatesan@elsevier.com)

I have 31 years of experience in managing operations in different industry sectors and also have experience in setting up sites from scratch, including formulating and implementing strategies, policies and workflows. Besides, I gained experience in the operational management of multi-functional teams and therefore can identify work that can be offshored to new sites as well as training needs for new work off-shored to the sites. I also have experience with hiring and retaining of talent with the lowest attrition rate over five years and I have brought on a culture of performance in the various organisations that I have worked for. Furthermore, I attended many training programmes, for example, Extraordinary Leader, Elsevier Management programme and L6S Champion.

Katherina Rapp
Personal Assistant to the CEO, Ausstellungs- und Messe GmbH des Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels (rapp@book-fair.com)

I have been working since 2012 as the Personal Assistant to the CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair and support the Management in all strategic and relevant topics. Before that, I was a Project Manager at the Frankfurt Book Fair and have gained experiences in different projects as well as in contract design, contract management, reporting and general administration. I studied publishing and book trade management at the University of Applied Science in Leipzig, and finished in 2008 with my diploma thesis about eBooks. After that I spent 6 months working for Hurst, an independently owned non-fiction publisher in London. Originally, I started my career in the industry with vocational training as a bookseller in a small bookshop and worked afterwards for Thalia, one of the major German retailers. I am an open-minded, sociable, friendly and analytical person with strong organizational skills, good knowledge of the German publishing industry, general industry development, eBooks with keen interest in new developments, innovation, social media etc.

Leonard Jensan Fernandes
Director, CinnamonTeal Publishing ()

I am trained in Mechanical Engineering but all my corporate work experience has been in software development. Having spent 5 years in the US at BankOne, later JPMorganChase, having finished there as a Business Analyst, and having completed my MBA at the Ohio State University, I was almost desperate to start something of my own. In 2005, my wife and I founded dogearsetc.com, an online bookstore, inspired by my days as a student during which we bought second-hand books through Amazon Used Books, and later started CinnamonTeal Publishing- a provider of self-publishing services. Through these two organizations, as also through Publishing Next [an annual conference on publishing we organize each September], we seek to explore how the boundaries of publishing can be further pushed to realize its potential, both to make books accessible and that too in a way that the reader prefers. After work I enjoy reading, watching sports on television and playing with our two dogs.

Mandira Sen
Director, Stree-Samya (streesamya.manager@gmail.com)

I had eight years of education in the UK, ending with an MA in Area Studies, South Asia, University of London, and returned to India in 1970. Two years later, married, I accompanied my husband to Boston, where he was a PHD student at MIT and I started at the bottom of the publishing industry, as a receptionist and general dogsbody, then editorial assistant (Little, Brown), and copyeditor (Houghton Mifflin). We returned to Kolkata in 1978 and I found a job at Orient Longman as their regional editor. It was a valuable experience for me, getting adjusted to India and to new ways of working. In 1984, I started to publish on my own, first in ‘Mandira’ (children’s books and social sciences), and then in 1990 the joint venture with the Bhatkals of Popular Prakashan started: ‘Bhatkal and Sen’, two imprints, Stree (women’s studies), in Bengali and in English; Samya (1996) to publish on social change, caste, writings of dalits, giving social sciences a radical twist. We are based in Kolkata, are six people, and publish high quality books, about ten new ones, and reprint about 6 old ones every year.

Manish Purohit
Chief Executive, Popular Prakashan (manishp@popularprakashan.com)

I have over nineteen years of experience at senior management positions in media, entertainment, education and publishing domains. I have undertaken assignments in Indian and multinational organisations, start-ups and established environments, across a multitude of formats (online, mobile, print, e-books and electronic) and languages (English and other Indian languages). My experience spans strategic and operational responsibilities, setting up businesses and collaborating in multi-cultural environments. I have worked with leading brands in setting up and building business in South Asia. I have worked with The Times Group, Business Standard, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Disney Publishing Worldwide in his previous assignments. Presently I am the Chief Executive of one of India’s leading book publishing house, Popular Prakashan. I am excited about digital developments and the immense avenues it opens in publishing and education. I am a graduate in science and have a post graduate degree in management. I live in Gurgaon, India.

Naresh Kumar Khanna
Managing Director, IPP Catalog Publications (editor@ippgroup.in)

One of midnight’s children- born in Bombay in 1949, grew up in Delhi and New York. Anti-war and anti-racist activist, publicist, computer programmer IBM 360, engineering and arts student. Summer jobs as messenger and printer and fisherman. An anti-war movement printer in the 1960’s. Printer, bookshop staff in Manhattan. Returned to India in the 1970’s. Learnt Hindi at the Max Mueller Bhavan. Worked for Thomson Press and Mehta Offset Works. Wrote post emergency book “The Miracle of Democracy in India” published by Interprint. From 1979 onward, ethical technical consultant to the periodical publishing and print industry. Participated in developing computerized typesetting for Indian scripts. Founded Indian Printer and Publisher B2B magazine in April 1979.Consultant to Thomson Press, Tata Press, Malayala Manorama, Unicef India, Unicef Bangladesh and many others. Visiting faculty at IDC, IIT Powaii. Owned bookshop in Chandigarh. Living with an extremely outspoken woman political journalist since 1984. Organised technical and user conferences since 1994. In 2001 founded IppStar and conducted research and wrote the subscription based 2003 IppStar Survey Report on the Indian Printing Industry. Founded packaging B2B magazine in 2007. Research presentations USA 2007; India 2010; Germany 2012.

Ritu Sharma
Publishing Manager, Reed Elsevier (r.sharma@elsevier.com)

Telling about myself always interests me as I believe if you know yourself well, then you can understand the world better. I am quite passionate, sometimes over passionate, about whatever I handle which is within my area of interest. I love to meet and interact with people. I like accepting challenges. As professional, I am a hard core publisher; love to see my books selling like hot cakes. I thoroughly enjoy my work and am passionate about each and every process associated with book publishing. I like to experiment on new products; love to get feedback and suggestions and I like to travel and see the world.

Sahil Gupta
Director, V&S Publishers (sahilgupta@vspublishers.com)

I would like to introduce myself as a young, dynamic publishing professional who intends to make a contribution to the publishing world and society at a large through the only thing he knows well, and that is publishing good quality books for the layman. Personally, I am a very sensitive yet practical person who loves hanging out with family and friends. I am a big foodie and very fond of music and writing.

Sakshi Jain
Art Director, Katha (Sakshi.jain@katha.org)

A Visual Communications Designer, I graduated from National Institute of Design in 2008, with specialization in Animation Film Design. Colours are my joys and sorrows, just like that of light. I aspire to be a better storyteller every day. Different mediums of communication fascinate me. My love for children’s books is borne from the fact that it brings art, literature and children together. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of writing and illustrating for children, working on television content, making an awareness animation film for rural Gujarat, doing projects with contemporary and regional artists from India and abroad, leading international searches for excellence in illustrations, setting up bookshops, drawing marketing and publishing strategies, doing workshops with children and adults, interacting and working with underserved communities of Delhi – the list is long and varied. And this time right now is that of infinite possibilities. I revel in the process, and rejoice in the fact that the end of each book is the beginning of another, whether you are creating or reading. I make children’s books to celebrate the multicultural linguistic diversity we live in.

Sameer Suresh Mahale
DGM Sales, Harper Collins Publishers India (Sameer.mahale@harpercollins-india.com)

I was born and brought up in Nasik. I graduated from BMCC, Pune and did my MBA from NIM College in Pune University. I have a total experience of 12 years in book publishing, 10 years at Mumbai and the last 2 years in Delhi. Currently, I am head of Sales at Harper Collins India. I will be completing 7 years of service at Harper Collins India next month.

Shabnam Sudha Srivastava
Manager: Sales & Marketing, German Book Office (srivastava@newdelhi.gbo.org)

Having been a student of literature and media studies, publishing has been an area of more than just interest. After a short stint with Leo-Burnett India, I shifted to Random House India as a Publicist. Drawing campaign strategies, social media activations, promotional events, communication and relationship management are skills I honed while in my erstwhile position. Wishing to swim the big seas and to actually learn the groundwork, I took to a Sales & Marketing position at the German Book Office India. I love the digital ‘revolution, so to say, in publishing and hope to meet and learn more as the changes takeover.

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri
Managing Editor, Harper Collins Publishers India (shantanu@harpercollins-india.com)

I am a commerce and finance person who made a shift to editorial at the age of 33. After my PG in commerce & ICWA, I worked in finance & accounts in many organisations. I shifted to media & publishing after a course in mass communication from XIC, Mumbai. I joined publishing in 2001/2002 as proofreader and have moved up to managing editor. I have written two books which have been published: ‘Whims’ (a book of poems) and ‘Icons from Bollywood’ (Penguin Books). At Harper Collins India, I manage the editorial schedule and commission books, primarily books on cinema – two of which have won National Awards for Best-Book on Cinema.

Supreeth Sudhakaran
Associate Editor, Haymarket Media India (supreeth@haymarket.co.in)

I am a journalist with five years of experience working with print publications and dot coms. I have worked in various capacities in leading media houses such as Planman Media, Dainik Bhaskar and Indian Express, among several others. I am a lover of the new generation cinema, especially Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.

Suresh Goyal, Director
Goyal Brothers Prakashan (info@goyal-books.com)

Publishing is our family business and Goyal Brothers Prakashan’s market status bears testimony to this. I am a science graduate from Delhi University and joined the family business two decades ago. I am looking after the editorial and printing activities of Goyal Brothers Prakashan. We have over 700 titles in circulation. I am involved in all pre-press work of the organization and I am responsible for all product profiles. We have been the pioneers in bringing out curriculum based books as and when required as per specific time schedule.

Vijitha Yapa
Chairman, Vijitha Yapa Publications (vijiyapa@gmail.com)

I am a journalist since 1965 and the director of the first full length feature film ‘Fridom’ in the pidgin language in Papua New Guinea. I worked with Himmat Weekly in Mumbai from 1972-75 as Administration Manager. Then I became a freelance journalist with articles and photographs appearing in many well-known international publications including The Times UK, Gulf News Dubai, Far Eastern Economic Review Hong Kong, International Herald Tribune, Asian Wall Street Journal, etc. I am also an author of four books on Sri Lanka and the Maldives, published in Singapore and Hong Kong. Besides, I am the founder editor of three national newspapers in Sri Lanka. Currently, I am the President of Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association and Vice President of Asia Pacific Publishers Association. My books have been in publication since 1991 and have published nearly 400 books. Currently, I am also the Chairman and Managing Director of the Vijitha Yapa Group of Companies which includes 12 bookshops, a Public Relations Company and Sri Lanka’s largest subscription agency while the publishing arm is the largest publisher of books in English in Sri Lanka.

Amit Abrol
General Manager – Finance and Commercial, Harper Collins Publishers India Ltd.

Amit is a chartered Accountant by profession and has been working in the publishing industry since 1999. He has had very a satisfying experience in the industry and has worked for several publishers in the past such as Sage Publications, Penguin, Parragon and Hachette.

Amit Sharma
DGM – Production, Harper Collins Publishers India Ltd.

Amit is a printing technologist by profession with over 10 years of experience in the book and newspaper manufacturing industry. He has handled various roles like press room operations, production coordination, quality assurance, managing press units and buying print services. He holds a B-Tech in Printing Technologies from Guru Jambheshwar University and as of 2012 is in his final semester of M. Tech in Print and Graphic Communication. He is also on the panel as a guest lecturer with two universities for teaching courses in printing technology.

Anil Kumar Pandey
Executive Director, Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd.

After completing his graduation in commerce from Calcutta University & PGDCA, Anil joined the publishing industry as a sales trainee. Although he joined the industry by default he has enjoyed working in the industry since the very beginning and as of 2012 has spent 21 years in the publishing industry. He is always eager to learn about new trends in publishing and generally keep himself updated about industry news. Anil looks after the business of Cambridge University Press in Western and Southern India and also leads the journal team.

Ankur Verma
Financial Management and Control, Diamond Publication

Born and brought up in a publishing family, Ankur is fascinated by the world of books. He is involved in the financial management and distribution of products for the family owned publication. Ankur also loves to travel around the world, meeting and sharing experiences of different people and lands.

Ankush Goyal
Director – Online Publishing Division, Goyal Brothers Prakashan

Ankur is a qualified business management professional from Sydney, Australia and works in his family owned publication. His primary involvement is in the group’s strategic planning and he oversees the production of all the group publications and also leads the organisations new product development team. His focus is also to implement the industry’s best practices in all areas of operations like production, editorial, logistics, etc.

Dr. Devashree Chattopadhyay
Vice-President Publishing, Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd.

Deepa received her Masters and Doctoral degrees in Applied Linguistics and Teaching of English as a Second Language from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Soon after, she went on to teach the same at California State University in Sacramento for 2 years. She then returned to India and took up publishing as a career. Although her main focus in publishing has been in the editorial department, her interest remains in providing well-planned books to learners of English in India, both at the school level as well as adult learners.

Gadicherla Siddhartha
Product Manager, Harper Collins Publishers India Ltd.

Gadicherla has been in the book industry for the last 16 years. Since 2009 he has been working as a Product Manager with Harper Collins in Delhi. He manages the P/L for UK titles in India, either as a reprint or as import.

Gaurav Goyle
General Manager – Sales, Ratna Sagar P. Ltd.

Gaurav is a fun loving person who likes interacting with people. He has a keen interest in marketing and receive his MBA in sales and marketing. He started his career with Scholastic Inc. which coincided with the company’s inception in India and played a key role in setting up the company’s operations. Currently he is leading the sales team of Ratna Sagar and his job includes sales, market development, promotion etc.

Gopalakrishna K.
General Manager – Marketing, Prism Books Pvt. Ltd.

Gopalakrishna, a graduate in the Sciences with a Masters in Marketing from BVB, started his career in the Pharma industry as a Management Trainee in 1994. Since then he has worked in number of different industries like Pharma, Financial Services, FMCG and Print industry. In 2005, with a background in marketing diversified products and strong affinity towards books and education, Gopalakrishna decided to join Prism Books as a Marketing Manager. He strongly believes that hard work and ethics are key to making a successful career path.

Jitender Nangia
National Marketing Manager – Academic, Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd.

Although born and brought up in Delhi, Jitender feels his roots are in Punjab. After finishing his schooling and college in Delhi Jitender joined the publishing industry and has been part of the industry ever since. He has worked for various types of publishers ranging from children’s’ books to specialized medical books. In 2009 he joined Cambridge University Press (CUP) as National Marketing Manager and is responsible for sales & promotion of both CUP & WSP Academic list.

Akhil Goyal
G.M. – Marketing, Goyal Brothers Prakashan

Akhil Goyal is a qualified publishing professional and has led his company’s market penetration efforts in Africa, Middle East, South East Asia and India and has tailor-made over 100 publications for these territories. He is involved in strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting and reviewing business projections. Akhil has played a stellar role in business promotions, recoveries and reducing overhead expenses. His company has been involved in an e-testing portal called Testlabz.com for educational boards across India

Alaham Anil Kumar
Director – Circulation, Sales & Marketing, Creative Work Limited

Alaham Anil Kumar did his schooling in Bangalore High School and attended college in SSMRV Bangalore. After graduating from college, he joined The India Today Group in March 1997 as a Sales officer and went on to become Area Sales Manager. In 2008, he joined Creative Work Limited as Director – Circulation, Sales and Marketing to launch what has become Asia’s number one literary magazine Asia Literary Review. The experience of setting up distribution, sales and marketing activities worldwide has been an enriching experience for Anil.

Anil Ahlawat
CEO, MTG Books

Anil Ahlawat is B.E. Civil, MBA Finance and has been in this industry since 1992. He is into educational publishing, reaching out to school students and also preparing aspiring engineers and doctors. MTG Books publishes India’s largest-selling monthly educational magazines for students, namely ‘Mathematics Today’, ‘Chemistry Today’, ‘Physics for You’ and ‘Biology Today’.

Anil Kumar Shah
Director, BSP Books Pvt. Ltd.

Anil Kumar Shah has a B.Sc. and B.L.I.S. from Osmania University. In 1985 he joined the Book Syndicate, now a unit of Shah Book House (P) Ltd. One of the oldest reputed book stockists and suppliers, their customers include all major R&D labs, universities and higher learning institutions. In 1999 they started their publishing programme, now called BSP Books Pvt. Ltd. BSP Books publishes textbooks and reference books on areas including engineering, technology, mathematics and science.

Ankit Gupta
Director, Good Luck Publishers Limited

Ankit Gupta is the Director of Good Luck Publishers Limited. Schooling from Lawrence School Sanawar and a BA (Hons) in Print Media Management from the London College of Communication have moulded him into a flexible and on-time performer. Ankit loves to meet people from different environments. He believes that the need of the hour is to create globally aware citizens and that there is no such thing as the impossible – if we do our homework well, we can always crack it.

Biju Ganesan
Tata McGraw Hill Education, Marketing Manager

Biju Ganesan was born in Kerala. He did his schooling in Chennai and his graduation (B.Sc. Ed-PCM) and MBA at the University of Mysore. Although he was trained to be a teacher, he eventually found his calling in the publishing industry. Tata McGraw-Hill gave him his first and only job to date – he started there in 1999 as a sales representative and is now the Marketing Manager. The opportunity to rotate between departments has enabled him to look at publishing in a holistic way.

Chandra Sekhar Ramachandruni
Executive Publisher: Professional, Tata McGraw-Hill Education Private Limited

Chandra Sekhar Ramachandruni leads publishing initiatives for the Professional Division of Tata McGraw-Hill Education. He has been with Tata McGraw-Hill for 12 years and has published over 350 trade business, science and technology and computing titles. A graduate in History from Delhi University, he holds a Diploma in Marketing and Advertising from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and an MBA from IMT-DLP. He is an enthusiastic golfer and loves reading.

Debarshi Mandal
Consultant, Tata Consultancy Services

Debarshi Mandal holds a B.E. degree from Bengal Engineering College and has over 11 years of IT industry experience. He is currently working as Presales Lead for the Publishing and Information Services segment under the Media and Information Services industry vertical within TCS. Working in this industry vertical for more than ten years, Debarshi has helped win customers and successfully completed DD discovery and information architecture for several huge initiatives.

Koushik Chakraborty
Tata Consultancy Services, Senior Consultant

Koushik Chakraborty is currently working as Client Partner for a large US-based trading book company. He has 15 years of experience in the industry (with Tata Consultancy Services), including seven years in the publishing domain. Koushik was also fundamental in establishing TCS as an innovation partner for its customers, providing many cutting-edge digital and cloud solutions in the digital publishing domain.

Krishan Chopra
Chief Editor& Publisher, Harper Collins Publishers India

Krishan Chopra began his career as a journalist with The Times of India in 1978, saw the corporate side of things at Wimco and later at Penguin Books; and now Harper Collins have made good use of these learnings for some good, in-depth non-fiction and business titles. As a person born and bred in Delhi, Krishan says the changing face of the city, its evolution and challenges are fascinating from the perspective of the ordinary citizen.