Pre-order sales for Rowling’s new book, “The Casual Vacancy” show a lack of interest among readers in India
The Casual Vacancy is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is her first novel published since the Harry Potter series and her first novel for adults. It was published on 27 September 2012 by Little, Brown and Company.
Casual Vacancy which is reportedly sold one million copies in pre-order sales in the UK, is predicted as one of the best sellers of the century by critics. However, Indian readers are far from being interested: offline and online pre- order sales range between 400 to 800 copies.
HomeShop18, has so far sold 400 copies of Rowling’s latest novel. Chetan Bhagat’s “What Young India Wants” had 5000 pre-orders! As reported to newspapers, Sundeep Malhotra, CEO, HomeShop18 says, “We have received more than 400 pre-orders in the last ten days; the number is expected to increase to 600 till the final launch, this Thursday.” Crossword Bookstore has managed to sell 800 copies so far, says Kunjal Shah, COO, Crossword Bookstores.
The publisher’s parent company, Little, Brown Book Group, described the plot on their website:
“When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?’
The plot focuses on class and other social tensions surrounding “the Fields,” a public housing project on the outskirts of the suburban middle class community of Pagford Parish following the unexpected death of parish councilor Barry Fairbrother. The publisher says that The Casual Vacancy is “blackly comic, thought-provoking, and constantly surprising.”
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To surprize many, A Sikh family plays an important part in the novel, and the description of the character Sukhvinder sparked some controversy amongst followers of the Sikh faith.
Avtar Singh Makkar, the head of India’s Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, commented that Rowling’s book would be banned in India if the scrutiny board of SGPC found anything objectionable in it. Rowling stated that she admires the Sikh religion and had done a vast amount of research on Sikhism. Other members of the Sikh community appreciated the fact that Rowling portrayed Sikhs and Sikhism in a favourable light and actually draws attention to the racism that Sikhs can face.
The Book has Desi contribution as the Book gets printed in Manipal.The global publishers of the book handpicked only three printers globally for this release and Manipal Technologies Ltd is one of them.
It seems that the book is not marketed well and nobody is mentioning on social networks. Chetan Bhagat sells like hot cake due to the marketing strategies.
– Kidsfreesouls News Service
