S&S India steps up local publishing with new hire

Simon & Schuster is stepping up its local publishing in India and has hired an editorial director to head up a new list.

Dharini Bhaskar will join S&S India from Rupa Publications where she is currently acquisitions editor, publishing titles such as Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star by Aseem Chhabra, Modern Parenting by Zirak Marker and A State of Denial by B G Verghese, among others.

The first of Bhaskar’s fiction and non-fiction acquisitions are set to be released in 2017.

Bhaskar will report to S&S India m.d Rahul Srivastava.

Ian Chapman, chief executive & publisher of Simon & Schuster UK and International, said: “Simon & Schuster India has seen sustained growth over the years and a good part of our success there has come from publishing localised content for the Indian market, to which we have had a very positive response.   This is an exciting strategic move that will build on that success: our international territories are performing strongly with their local publishing and we are confident that Simon & Schuster India will continue that trend.”

Srivastava added: "We are extremely pleased that Dharini will run our local publishing programme, which will offer readers distinctive, imaginative books from a range of talented authors. We have already established ourselves as a publisher with a strong international list and Dharini will add considerably to that success as we continue to grow our business.”

Bhaskar will join S&S from 1st August.

Simon & Schuster expanded to India in 2011.