Author Alex von Tunzelmann with Karan Thapar at the book festival

Jaipur, Jan. 24: The sprawling Diggi Place in the Pink City has turned into a happy hunting ground for writers and publishers.

All those hoping to strike just the right book deal are seeking to make their presence felt at a festival that has been touted as the most happening literature event ever.

Deals are already being struck at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, which winds up tomorrow. Publishing house Roli Books is happy with one such contract. Author Manisha Rajesh, along with her literary agent David Godwin, has closed a deal with Roli.

“I had earlier met the author and her agent in London,” said Priya Kapoor, editorial director, Roli Books. “But at this festival we could all sit down and chalk out our plans.”

Rajesh’s book is expected to be out by the year-end.

The Jaipur festival, which was attended by 14 people in its inaugural year of 2005, has now grown into the biggest literary event in the subcontinent, with internationally celebrated authors and newcomers jostling for space with literary agents and publishers. Not surprisingly, it is also becoming a venue for inking deals.

Although most publishers said they looked at the festival as an opportunity for networking and a launch pad for new authors, they admitted they kept an eye out for new talent.

“I met a young writer who has till now not been published and it seems we are going to work for many years together,” said V.K. Karthika, publisher and editor-in-chief of HarperCollins India.

An unpublished writer, who doesn’t wish to be named yet, has closed a three-book deal with a leading publishing house.

Last year, too, informal meetings between publishers and would-be writers often turned into contracts.

Zac ’Yeah’s Once Upon a Time in Scandinavistan, for instance, was finalised by Hachette India in Jaipur. “He had given us the manuscript earlier but the deal was closed at the festival last year,” said Nandita Aggarwal, publisher, Hachette India.

A literary agent from Munich, Bettina Nibbe, also hoped to strike a deal or two with publishers. “It’s just a stepping stone but in the coming months I hope to find an Indian market for German publishers,” said Nibbe of the literary agency Nibbe & Weilding.

One of the sponsors of the festival, Penguin India, has put up a merchandise stall at the venue. The makeshift kiosk is doing brisk business, selling mugs, bags, bookmarks, books and a lot more. Ananth Padmanabhan, vice-president, sales, Penguin India, stressed that the festival was a medium for creating brand awareness.

“Though it’s too small in the larger sense of business, we are still selling close to 500 items everyday from this little kiosk,” said Padmanabhan. “The merchandise we are selling here isn’t available outside so it makes it quite attractive.”

Bookstores are happy too.

Delhi’s Full Circle has set up shop at the venue with over 65,000 titles. “Last year, we did business worth Rs 17 lakh. This time we hope to touch Rs 25 lakh,” said Priyanka Malhotra, director, Full Circle. The shop has already sold out all books by Nobel laureates J.M. Coetzee and Orhan Pamuk and Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz, all of whom attended the fest.

Signing sessions by authors, clearly, are translating into good business.

A serpentine queue, for instance, wound its way outside the store when Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City, was expected to make an appearance and sign books for buyers. “Our sale is four times more this year than last year,” said Malhotra.

William Dalrymple, one of the directors of the festival, however, said he was not looking at making the festival generate business deals. “It’s not a trade fair where big deals would get signed. But if it gives a platform to publishers to meet their authors then we have followed our instinct well,” he said.