Indian readers mourn Amazon’s sudden closure of beloved publishing house

Founded in 1962, the publisher was acquired by Amazon in 2016 from a Tata group subsidiary

Amazon has announced the closure of Westland Books, one of the largest publishers in India (AP)

Indian readers and authors are bemoaning e-commerce giant Amazon’s decision to shut down Westland Books, one of the most popular publishers in the country.

In a statement on Tuesday Amazon said: “After a thorough review, we have made the difficult decision to no longer operate Westland.”

“We are working closely with the employees, authors, agents, and distribution partners on this transition and we remain committed to innovating for customers in India.”

Amazon had acquired the publishing company in 2016 from the Tata group subsidiary Trent Ltd.

Founded in 1962, its publications include bestsellers by Indian authors including Amish Tripathi, Chetan Bhagat, Ashwin Sanghi, Rashmi Bansal, Rujuta Diwekar, Preeti Shenoy, Devdutt Pattanaik, Anuja Chauhan and Ravi Subramanian.

A staff member who did not want to be named said they were only informed about the closure on Tuesday, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

Some authors said that they were informed about the impending closure.

Amish Tripathi, author of the bestselling The Shiva Trilogy said that while he was informed about the closure, he is yet to work out how his previous and upcoming books will be published, reported Mint Lounge.

“I assume the rights will revert back to the author,” Nisha Susan, author of The Woman Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories was quoted as saying to the newspaper.

“This is really sad. Not just for authors like me but for the publishing landscape in India. Westland has a small and extremely dedicated team of editors, publicists etc and it has been a joy working with them.”

Author Ashwin Sanghi told PTI that he was sad to see the publication shut down.

“It is sad to see the exit of a publishing institution. The Westland team is one of the finest in the business and there are many emotions and memories of my publishing journey with them that shall always remain with me,” he said.

Readers took to social media to express their shock and sadness about the publisher’s closure.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said he was sad to see it fold “for no good reason.”

Westland publisher Karthika VK thanked readers for their support in a statement on Twitter.

Some of Westland's key publishing imprints include 'Context', which publishes award-winning literary fiction and non-fiction; 'Eka', which publishes the best of contemporary writing in Indian languages.

It also publishes translations in 'Tranquebar', which brings new fiction from the Indian subcontinent along with the eponymous Westland Sport and Westland Business; and Red Panda.