Kanishka Gupta is a literary agent, writer and publishing commentator best known for his hugely acclaimed series in Scroll.in called "Publishing and the Pandemic". He is the founder of Writer's Side, the largest literary agency and consultancy in South Asia. Gupta has single-handedly popularized literary representation in the subcontinent. His first novel was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2009 and was published in 2010. We caught up with him on the third day of Dhaka Literature Festival for a quick conversation.
You've spoken about how what started as a search for manuscript assessment back in 2010 led you to a deeper involvement with publishing. What contributed to your decision to become a literary agent?
In the early 2000s, when I was writing, I struggled to find any sort of help for my manuscripts. At the time, I did not find any professional support for struggling or aspiring writers. You did not have many literary agencies in India then, and there were hardly any literary festivals around where you could potentially meet editors or pitch books. There was very little knowledge about how publishing works, or what authors need to keep in mind before sharing their manuscripts with a publisher. We did not have too many publishers either. There was Penguin India and HarperCollins, but we did not have the Indian branches of many multinationals like Hachette, Simon and Schuster, Bloomsbury etc. The options were limited. The gatekeeping was strong, and you didn't know what to do.
There was a huge gap that needed to be addressed. I got in touch with two or three people from the publishing world, some of them very senior, who provided more insight into the industry. I was encouraged to set up this venture, initially in a small, disorganized manner, wherein I just spoke to a couple of editors and writers who decided to freelance for us. The reason why I switched to the agency model a few years down the line was because the quality of [some of] the books was so bad that no amount of hand holding or even intensive editing could have helped the author in a substantial way, both in terms of improving their craft and their chances to get a deal for their books. I wanted to work with, discover, own, and promote real talent. Around the same time, I received a manuscript from a major writer and decided to take it on. One thing led to another. So I built this agency from scratch and without any godfathers or godmothers, or even any academic knowledge of publishing.
Isn't it a challenge when so many of the writers are already directly in contact with the publisher?
There are two sides to this. One is to get authors to sign up with an agent, and the second is to get authors to continue the association with agents. For instance, if you found an author a good publisher and they had a good experience with the publisher, they will naturally expect something much bigger for the next book. But if you cannot promise to get a better deal, why would they continue the association? The agent after all gets a share from the author's earnings. Which is why it's challenging for me.
I devote a lot of time to my major writers. In fiction for instance, Daisy Rockwell, who just won a prize, and some big nonfiction writers who sell in large numbers and thereby get bigger advances. If I don't perform, I don't add value. I have to do things outside of just pitching manuscripts and getting contracts. You must be very hands on. You have to be like a literary manager, get them invites to festivals, make sure their books are entered for all the prizes that they are eligible for. You have to think outside of the box. You have to be involved to sell OTT deals. India now has a fairly big readership for audiobooks. You need to exploit clients so that your author can make more revenue. So it's not easy. Agenting is not just about direct commissioning, which is such a strange thing. You're competing with your own clients. The publisher is your client. And if the publisher approaches the author directly, then that's an unusual sort of business ecosystem.
Let's talk about Daisy Rockwell and The Tomb of Sand
Daisy was introduced to me in 2018, I think, by Vivek Menezes. At the time, she was represented by a US agent. But we decided to meet in Delhi, and she came home for a meal. The two of us then decided to work together on Krishna Sobti's final book A Gujarat here, a Gujarat there. Daisy was very happy with the experience. Since then, we have worked on several books. And then there was Tomb of Sand. I now represent Daisy globally. I placed the rights with Penguin in India and Tilted Axis in the UK. [The translator] Arunava Sinha introduced Deborah Smith, who founded Tilted Axis, to Geetanjali Shree and Daisy. Daisy wrote a sample and Deborah was happy with it. That's how the book happened. It was published in the UK first end of 2021, and then it came out in India a month before it was nominated for the International Booker Prize.
Could you share your experience of working with Bangladeshi writers?
I have worked with several Bangladeshi writers. One of the big books that I did was Babu Bangladesh by Numair Atif Choudhury. Unfortunately, he passed away before the book could be contracted, so it didn't even have a publisher at the time. But thankfully, I had a meeting with him while he was in Delhi with his mother, Lubna Choudhury, who has now become a close friend. During that same trip, he met his future publisher, the editor of HarperCollins. They were always interested in Numair's book, so that's how it happened.
This is a book I really love and admire, and I hope it gets more attention in and outside Bangladesh. I did sell the rights to a UK publisher, so the UK edition of Babu Bangladesh should be out soon. I feel that the book has not gotten its due. I'm told it's being taught in a lot of courses in Bangladesh and a lot of academics are using it as reference material. But in terms of sales and other things, it needs a lot more love. But I think it makes a difference if the author is available for promotions.
I've also worked with Nadeem Zaman, who introduced me to Numair.Nadeem is coming out with a new book called The Inheritors. I've worked with Iffat Nawaz, who launched her debut novel at DLF this year. Recently, there was a good review of her work in The Hindu as well and it seems to be getting a lot of attention. Sharbari Zohra Ahmed is based in the US, and her novel was published by Westland. The most exciting thing I can share with you is that I have signed up a 20-year-old Bangladeshi writer, Shah Tazrian Ashrafi, who's written a brilliant debut collection of short stories.
How are you feeling about being back at the Dhaka Lit Fest?
I think it's very well organized. I really like the venue where it takes place. I found all the sessions to be absorbing. The moderation was excellent and it's a very interesting setting. The festival directors, by virtue of being writers themselves, are closely involved in the making of art, literature, and books, so the curation reflects the kind of people they invite and the access they have. DLF is a big festival now, and they have brought in some big names. It has created a legacy.
