Tara Books: Director

I was one of the earliest members of the publishing collective at Tara Books, joining the group when only a handful of titles had been published. Starting as Editor, I went on to become one of two Directors and was a major shareholder of the company until 2009. Through this journey I was instrumental in steering the company’s growth to become one of India's most awarded publishing houses, with an international presence.

Tara Books made (and still does) some of the most distinctive books in the world. Although specialising in the visual arts, Tara’s books defy strict genre classification, ranging from children’s picture books, through graphic novels, to photography and art.

Known for its experiments with the form of the book, Tara is unique for its handmade editions - beautifully silk-screened or letterpresses onto handmade paper, treating the book as a democratic art object. This has led to co-publishing relationships with international museums including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Museum of London, and Musée du Quai Branly.

As Director, my responsibilities included overall organizational strategy, program design, author relationships, partnerships, sales, marketing and financial management.

I worked with authors worldwide to curate a distinct and unique publishing programme. In particular, I was responsible for expanding the program from being focused on children’s books, to include art and photography, bringing in artists like Andrea Anastasio, Avinash Veeraraghavan and Shahid Datawala. I also negotiated an agreement with the Embassy of France in India to publish a series of books titled ‘French Focus’, publishing the work of outstanding French authors in India.

I set up Tara Books’ UK office, and was responsible for managing and expanding worldwide distribution and foreign rights representation. I represented the publishing house at three international trade fairs annually (Frankfurt, Bologna, Paris) and negotiated more than fifty foreign rights deals with leading publishers around the world.

The most exciting and rewarding part of the work by far, was the privilege of working with a group of writers, artists, designers and bookmakers who approached bookmaking as a labour of love, and saw the book as a sanctuary for the imagination.