Here are two ugly facts about the Indian book world that are smothered by publishers.

First, many bad books get published every year even when publishers know that their language, style, subject matter and sales potential — the criteria to justify publication — are way below the mark. Second, a number of books would have been twice as good at half their size had editors excised all the fat and brought them close to the bone.

There are three reasons as to why bad and oversized books continue to be churned out every year: commercial pressure to produce more and more titles; peer pressure to publish for a niche market of specialists; the celebrity culture, which believes that the works of celebrated authors sell on their own steam.

Revolutions in print technology and the communications industry, combined with the computerization of the entire production process, have speeded up book production. They have also made books cheaper. Globalization has also led to cost-sharing of expensive pictorial books.

These changes apart, publishers now believe that the more titles they produce, the higher their sales and profitability. Higher sales, however, does not always mean higher profitability, which is the bottom line for all business. In fact, it could mean just the opposite because more titles require higher investments that could be recovered only if a minimum number of copies are sold. If the break-even point is not reached, it would result in loss.

But, quite apart from the financial implications, it is the editorial quality that suffers the most. Editing implies an eye for detail — fact-checking, consistencies in the presentation of the matter, and, above all, purging sentences of useless words and paragraphs of useless sentences. All this cannot be done with the help of a computerized spell-check only. Sadly, the prevailing philosophy seems to be that ‘more is beautiful’. This has taken precedence over editorial quality and the marketability of books.

Many publishers believe that books sell when they cater to the standards of the peer group. This belief goes against the criterion that it is market-share that determines the quality of a work. It does not mean that publishers need to pander to low public tastes, but it does indicate that a book must fulfil the needs of the market. The making of a book is not an intellectual exercise only; and neither does this mean that it has to be kept on the shelves to be finally written off as dead weight.

The celebrity culture has ruined quality publishing. An impression has gained ground that if an author is famous enough, his book would take off on its own. Nothing of the kind happens after the party is over and the candles have been blown out.