Celebrating 10 years of Jumpstart

The 10th edition of Jumpstart was hosted in Mumbai on 23 November 2019 in collaboration with Avid Learning at Essar House.

The day-long congress, themed Beyond the Book, brought together writers, publishers and content professionals from the film, illustration, publishing and marketing domains. It featured interactive sessions such as workshops, masterclasses, presentations and panel discussions.

Neeraj Jain, MD, Scholastic India gave an overview of the Indian landscape of children's literature and looked at growth, tech-advances, content trends and our place in international markets.

Neeraj Jain, MD, Scholastic India

“What most authors do is they create a book and find a market. Instead, according to me, they should find a market before writing or publishing the book,” he said. “People visit Amazon website only to buy a particular book they need. But, discoverability of books happen only in small bookstores and exhibitions," he added. 

Storytelling community Wattpad India's country head Devashish Sharma discussed the importance of digital platforms. Furthermore, a panel featuring author of Bard of Blood Bilal Siddiqi, Story Ink's Sidharth Jain, Mrinalini Khanna of Endemol Shine, and Ashutosh Parekh of Viacom 18’s Voot Kids, discussed the opportunities OTT platforms and other digital avenues create for good content. 

Animator Shilpa Ranade and award-winning author Paro Anand conducted masterclasses for writers and illustrators. The conclave concluded with a series of three knowledge-sharing sessions on three different areas of marketing. 

The Delhi edition of Jumpstart will be hosted on 29 November at the India International Centre.

Jumpstart has completed 10 editions with over 181 speakers from 13 countries and over 20 industries and has conducted 30 masterclasses on various topics pertaining to children’s content since its inception.