Vinod Kumar Shukla (pronounced without the a in the end: शुक्ल) is asking for the rights to his books back from his publishers. He is a multi-award winning writer, whose poems and stories have not just been celebrated, but are also a part of Hindi curriculum in many universities in the country. It’s a disturbing vision of the future for aspiring or even established authors.

Shuklaji, 88, is a doyen of Hindi literature, with acclaimed novels like Naukar Ki Kameez (1979) and poetry collections like Sab Kuch Hona Bacha Rahega (1992). He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 for ‘Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi’. He bagged the inaugural Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award for his translated book ‘Blue is like blue’ (selected by a jury panel including Dr Shashi Tharoor, Chandrashekhara Kambara and Dr Sumana Roy). He received the Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in 2019. He was conferred with ‘Aakashdeep’ (Hindi News group Amar Ujala], the lifetime achievement award for exceptional contribution to literature, culture, and society. 

His most prestigious international recognition was the 2023 PEN/Nabokov Award for Lifetime Achievement in literature (PEN America). 

{Finished your manuscript, but worries about plagiarism stopping you from sharing it with people? Here’s How to copyright your book in India (or your story).}

How it started

In March 2022, Shuklaji went public with his request to take book rights back from his longtime publishers, Vani Prakashan and Rajkamal. His allegations were –

• He was being paid a pittance in royalties.
• Publishers had not disclosed timely data of actual sales (so he could corroborate royalty amounts).
• Publishers had repeatedly ignored requests to not publish some of his books (on grounds of proofing mistakes cited by the author).
• New editions were being printed and sold without his knowledge.  
• He was made aware much later that ebook and Kindle versions had been published and distributed without his knowledge.
• Even on being notified of these allegations, the publishers delayed or ignored correspondence and showed no inclination towards an audit.

Shuklaji, blaming his advanced age for his limited knowledge of social media and ebook trends, said, “I have been cheated.” In his viral video clip, he admitted to not fully understanding all the legalese in his contracts. “I did not understand that books are held prisoners in these contracts, which are far more favourable to publishers than to authors.” (translated from his video on X and Instagram.)

How word got out: Social Media

Manav Kaul, a prolific writer who draws much inspiration from Shuklaji, discovered this when he visited him at his home in Chhattisgarh. “In the last year, he has received only Rs 6,000 for three books published from Vani Prakashan, and only Rs 8,000 for the whole year from Rajkamal. It means that the biggest writer in the country is earning only Rs. 14,000 for the year. He does not get any reply to his letters for months. He has written to Vani to not publish his book but nothing has been done on this.” Kaul shared on Instagram, drawing attention to the issue from his well-appointed platform. “This has happened because of people like us. We should die of shame,” wrote Manav, in a tone of sheer despair.

“I didn’t even know. Manav Kaul alerted me to this.” Shuklaji said in his video (translated).

(Manav also teaches a Writing Masterclass at the Himalayan Writing Retreat)

{Are you wondering whether to try and get a Literary Agent or approach publishing houses on your own to get published? It is important to understand – What does a Literary Agent do?}

Current state of affairs

A little digging unearths similar complaints from regional authors over many years, claiming to have been duped out of rightful dues by their publishers. The regional language industry has been known to be less professional and organised compared to English-language publishing. Publishers often have the corporate muscle to be one-sided in contracts and may be opaque in their dealings. 

This may be a function of the unorganised nature of the regional language industry. A 2020-21 publishing sector study from the British Council states that “marketing and distribution for regional language books was often inadequate. Publishing practices in Indian languages differ considerably from the Anglophone publishing industry. The latter has clear distinctions between different departments such as editorial, marketing, sales and so on, whereas regional language publishing relies on informal networks and relationships between authors and publishers. Even today, formal, enforceable contracts between authors and publishers are far from commonplace.”

According to a 2021 article by Porter Anderson, called “A New Report Evaluates the Indian Publishing Industry’s Prospects”, the industry is also marred by distribution channel inefficiencies: “The book distribution system in India is complicated. The lack of a formal distribution network for most regional language publishers results in them selling through friends and family-based retailers or book fairs and, thus, limiting their reach.”

“Those who have some faith in the publishers give away their manuscripts without going for any agreement. We also did this at the initial stage of our career. Authors are often being cheated by publishers,” says novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay in this article.

As Shuklaji has cautioned, the contracts are often confusing, complex and heavily skewed towards the publisher. Trusting or careless authors may not read clauses of long-term retention of book rights, and related assets like film, digital, audio and other potential income streams. Contracts may also have clauses to prevent authors from working with other publishers, self-publishing, or make it difficult to get rights back. In addition, authors may have to spend on author copies, marketing and publicity. 

In Shuklaji’s case, there is a lack of transparency: no clear sales data, regular communication and annual audit information are offered. 

Lesson for authors

Much of this problem originates in our reluctance, as artists, to educate ourselves in the business end of our craft. It can be messy, confusing and straight-up boring. Artists convince themselves that the technicalities of the craft are all the skills they need, and that the business bits are the dirty work that can be relegated to others. 

With information easily available online and in various forums and sources, authors are left with no excuse for not understanding their rights and responsibilities. Authors need to learn how to decode the legal language of their contracts and demand information and transparency from their stakeholders. The Latin phrase Caveat Emptor, or “let the buyer beware” applies to authors.

{Before you start approaching literary agents, read our guide on How to pick the right Literary agent and approach one.}

What steps can an author take to prevent exploitation?

A thorough understanding of your contract is a gateway to not only getting correct, timely information and payments, but also a tool for making informed decisions, protecting yourself and your work with a voice rooted in logic, data and facts, and recognising opportunities arising from the evolution of the industry.

1. Educate yourself. Thoroughly study your publisher’s reputation. Reach out to other authors they work with, ask questions on writers’ groups on social media, and request for experience sharing in your personal writers’ community. Ideally, your research should reveal that the publishing house upholds a basic standard of ethics. This includes simple, obvious things like accurate, truthful information,  appropriate credit to authors, fair practices and transparency on sales, payment and rights issues.
2. Take the time to understand your contract. Read through it carefully, look up terms, and ask questions. If anything looks vague, flag it and demand to get it in language that is clear to you. Check sample publishing contracts on the internet, or from a published author (either from the same publisher or others) to compare. Ask someone experienced – from the publisher’s author list, in your writing community, or a lawyer – to explain the legal jargon and help you understand the implications of each clause. YouTube and even Instagram might have videos and channels on particular topics you are looking to research. 
3. Find out standard royalty rates, or what other authors in the same genre are paid by the same publisher. This is a common practice in all other fields – to compare employment or freelance contracts and understand each heading (or clause) distinctly.
4. Understand the proposed sequence of activities, and build periodic updates on progress and sales into the contract. Understand how your work will be used and distributed further, and insert clauses to obtain this data from the publisher at regular intervals. We understand from Shuklaji’s case that sharing this information with authors regularly may not be a general practice – sales data wasn’t shared with him and new editions and even Kindle editions of his books were distributed without his knowledge. He did not have any idea because his original contract itself seemed to have vanished. If there had been a strong original contract, none of this would have happened. It would be good practice for authors to anticipate such changes and make provisions for such contingencies in their contracts. 
5. Ask many, many, many questions – of your agent, of the publisher, of your support group, of anyone who can help. No question is stupid. Don’t hesitate. Don’t delay.
6. Push for an Audit Clause that allows you to audit your book sales and verify business numbers. 
7. Take your time before signing anything.

Develop a business mindset

Publishing is a business, an industry. As an author, you have to engage with it. ‘Business’ may be a dirty word for the artist, but the “starving artist” is an obsolete trope. Chetan Bhagat, arguably India’s #1 selling author in recent history, is more famous for his business acumen than his literary merit. Amish Tripathi and many others are also known to be smart business people. 

Let’s be real – we want the artistic as well as the economic recognition, the rightful compensation for our dark days of self-doubt and all-nighters of staring at the blank page.

Online forums like the First Draft Club and many other public platforms offer authors opportunities to learn the business side of things. 

Join writers’ associations and communities – there are a reasonable number of India-specific channels as well now across platforms like Linkedin, Facebook, WhatsApp, X etc.  These groups can provide advice, support and answers. Some forums just try to sell you stuff, but the better ones offer good insights. Such forums may help you make contacts in the industry as well.

Another development transforming the industry in ways that are hard to anticipate is AI. Educate yourself on AI and how it is affecting the book and publishing industry. Stay informed and up-to-date on these technologies, and keep abreast of how contracts are addressing AI-generated content and evolving tech impacting the industry. See if you can attend courses or workshops (or even just read books, news articles, tweets, watch videos) on AI, or even the publishing industry and its process, Intellectual Property and rights management or other legal aspects of the book business. 

The more you know, the better poised you will be to ask relevant questions, stay alert and be prepared – so add these to the lineup of must-do courses you have already bookmarked! 

Many authors would rather write than spend time on social media, but it’s a fact of our world. And it has its uses – Shuklaji’s plea came into the public eye thanks to social media.

Social media is more fun than the contracts for sure. It can feel overwhelming. It can also seem frivolous and superficial, hence unnecessary. But its impact is too far-reaching and significant to ignore. Leverage it: for your personal brand, for sharing author news, for networking, for scouring for information, for industry news, to connect with your audience, and to raise awareness and garner support.

{Here is our list of 15 Top Literary Agents in India.}

The efficiency and ethics of publishers are questionable not just India

Such problems are not unique to India.

Writers rights and issues led to the creation of the Writers Guild of America. Its historic victory in 2023 will help protect and improve the conditions of those providing creative labour. While related more to writing for cinema and TV, Unions, Guilds and similar creative communities can band together to take up common issues. They can help define and raise standards for everyone. Since it is an ‘industry’, a union format may not be far behind.

“I’m on the record as stating that publishing isn’t a particularly civilized business. The ethics I’ve seen some publishers display are worse than some other industries I’m familiar with, but author fears about publisher cheating are compounded by the lack of publicly available sales data,” writes Morris Rosenthal in his blog. Rosenthal is the founder and moderator of the Yahoo! Computer Business group for independent computer business owners and the author of McGraw-Hill’s bestselling “Build Your Own PC” series. ”In my own experience, when publishers make errors in paying royalties, they are as likely to err in favour of the author as the publisher. In other words, it’s probably incompetence rather than cheating. Even in cases where large publishers behave unethically in business, I wouldn’t expect them to knowingly cheat on sales reporting because the damage to their reputations would be very real, and the increase in profits would be marginal – they already take the lion’s share.”

While malpractices may be less common in the West, they underscore the onus on the author to ensure they get their due. And while it involves a cost and may denote tedious procedures, working with a lawyer who specialises in related law – and gaining a good understanding ourselves –  may still be our best bet.

A final word

As authors, some of us tend to have an aversion and anxiety towards anything that gets us out of our comfort zone – marketing, public speaking and appearances and such. 

Business, however, is a learnable skill and gets better with time and practice. So while we tend to shy away from these, turn up our noses and eyebrows and run away in horror, we need to learn to face our fears. Many of us feel unequipped, under-qualified, undeserving and almost apologetic while discussing the harder facets of art. 

This can be done like any other acquired skill – read, practice, and let the learning develop and perfect our voice and confidence. Building confidence as an author needs to be channelled not only into writing skills but into our influence, brand, self-assuredness and conviction in ourselves as artists and professionals. Apart from many of the above points – seeking mentorship, finding writing buddies and like-minded professionals, tracking your projects and staying organised, and maintaining an online and shareable portfolio and presence – will make it easy to celebrate wins of all sizes and shapes, and help in firming up this confidence, which in turn will make you an unapologetic, confident negotiator and client.  

{If you are planning on self-publishing your book, read our post on Amazon or Self Publishing in India: 3 important options}

Update on Shuklaji

Shuklaji, however, isn’t wallowing. Hind Yugm has published three of his disputed books. He continues to write. Westland Books has announced the release of Treasurer of the Piggy Banks, translated by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. It is the fourth book in the Literary Activism series (the publishing imprint of Westland Books) and is published in collaboration with the Centre for the Creative and the Critical at Ashoka University. This bilingual edition is the first selection of his poems to appear in English, drawing from all his previously published books and covering 60 years of Shukla’s poetic career.