Three Indian publishers compete for top honours at LBF Awards

Three Indian publishers, namely, Duckbill, Rupa, and Aadarsh, the Indian creators of Purple Turtle, have been shortlisted for this year’s LBF International Excellence Awards. The London Book Fair (LBF) awards, held in partnership with The UK Publishers Association, celebrate success in 18 categories, representing the breadth of the international publishing industry.

30 Mar 2015 | By Dibyajyoti Sarma

Publisher of Children’s books Duckbill will compete in the International Trade Children’s category against Clavis Publishing, Belgium and Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico. Last year, India’s Tara Books had clinched the awards.

Rupa & Co has been shortlisted for International Adult Trade Publisher, and will compete with Fraktura from Croatia and People’s Literature Publishing House, China.

Aadarsh, the Indian creator of Purple Turtle, the popular franchise of books, apps and YouTube videos is up against Minecraft in battle of the IP giants.

The shortlist, which spans the globe with companies from 21 countries being recognised, showcases some of the biggest talents in the industry from the hotly contested Award for Best Use of IP where Mojang, the Swedish developer of video game sensation, Minecraft, take on Aadarsh, the Indian creators of Purple Turtle, the popular franchise of books, apps and YouTube videos.

In the highly-acclaimed International Literary Agent Award, a global race is on between renowned agents from Germany, Spain and the US. The UK (11 shortlisted companies), the US (8), China (6), The Netherlands (4), India (3), South Africa (2) and Belgium (2) all have received multiple entries.

“These awards, now in their second year and designed to showcase innovation around the world, cover a fantastic breadth of ingenuity and creativity in the international arena. The ceremony promises to be a real treat at which we honour these amazing nominees and shout loudly about what a talented, resourceful and inspirational industry the book world is,” Jacks Thomas, director, The London Book Fair, said.

Richard Mollet, chief executive, The UK Publishers Association, added, “This shortlist should leave no one in any doubt as to the exciting developments occurring in publishing around the world. It highlights the amazing innovation taking place as well as the way in which publishers are pushing their traditional boundaries, moving into apps, video games and other forms of multimedia.”

On the awards night, to be held on 14 April 2015 in London, the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Peter Usborne, founder and managing director, Usborne Books.

The awards, which celebrate international excellence in the book industry, cover the whole scope of international publishing, including academic and scholarly publishing, children’s publishing and digital innovation. In each award category the judging panel was made up of experts in that sector.

The London Book Fair (LBF) is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. LBF 2015, the 44th Fair, will take place from 14- 16 April 2015.

The Publishers Association is the leading trade organisation serving book, journal, audio and electronic publishers in the UK. Membership is comprised of 117 companies from across the trade, academic and education sectors.

The shortlisted nominees in all categories are

The International Literary Agent Award
Anna Soler-Pont, Pontas Literary & Film Agency (Spain)Nicole Witt, Literarische Agentur Mertin Inh. (Germany) Pierre Astier, Astier-Pecher Agency (France) Tom Colchie, Thomas Colchie Agency (US)

The Award for Best Use of IP across Multiple Media Platforms
Aadarsh Pvt Ltd (India) Mojang (Sweden)

The International Literary Translation Initiative Award
Asymptote Journal (Taiwan) Dutch Foundation of Literature (Netherlands) Paper Republic (China)

The International Academic and Professional Publisher Award
IOP Publishing (UK) Sage Publications (US) Princeton University Press (US)

The International Education Initiatives Award
Book Aid International (UK) Library for All (US) Via Afrika (South Africa)

The International Educational Learning Resources Award
Caramel Tree (US) CJ Fallon (Ireland) Uigeverij Van In (Belgium)

The Bookseller International Adult Trade Publisher Award
Fraktura (Croatia) People's Literature Publishing House (China) Rupa & Co. (India)

International Trade Children’s and Young Adult Publisher Award
Clavis Publishing (Belgium) Duckbill Books (India) Fondo de Cultura Economica (Mexico) The Publishers Association Copyright Protection Award FILCOLS (Philippines) IPCC (China) Nigerian Publishers Association (Nigeria)

The Market Focus Achievement Award
China National Import and Export (Group) Corporation (China) Dorling Kindersley China (China) Sharjah International Book Fair (UAE)

Accessible Books Consortium Award for Accessible Publishing – Initiative
BooXtream, a division of Icontact (The Netherlands) Libri Italiani Accessibili (Italy) Syndicat national de l’edition (France) Young Power in Social Action, YPSA (Bangladesh)

Accessible Books Consortium Award for Accessible Publishing - Publisher
Cambridge University Press (UK) Elsevier Science Direct (Netherlands) HarperCollins (US) Sage Publishing (UK)

The Publishers Weekly International Book Industry Technology Supplier Award
BooXtream (Netherlands) Copyright Clearance Center (US) China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation (China) De Marque (Canada)