Eww! Is this your first time?

It's cool to be a new musician or a designer. But debut authors rarely get the same kind of love. To make every book count, readers and publishers have to work harder

- Christalle Fernandes

Don't judge a book by its... author. Especially if it's a first-time writer. In any other industry, undiscovered talent is considered a thing of pride.

New bands are celebrated at music festivals and concerts; emerging designers such as Nancy Tyagi walk the red carpet at Cannes; open-mic nights run to packed houses.

Debut authors, however, are avoided like they've broken out in boils – no one comes to their book readings. No one is excited about being the first to discover a great new voice. In Indian publishing, fame begets fame. Here's what needs to change.

Reading the room

“We're in a paradox: Business is booming but readership is declining,” says Thomas Abraham, managing director at Hachette India. “For the past six or seven years, over 95% of new books published have sold under 500 copies, across the Indian publishing industry, not just one or two houses.”

So, in a cluttered market, it's hard for an unknown name to get noticed, especially if the author isn't already a social media sensation, as with poet Rupi Kaur. “Readers also aren't as receptive to Indian debut authors as international ones,” says Ravi Singh, co-founder of Speaking Tiger Books.