HarperCollins on Tuesday announced the acquisition of bestselling author Amish Tripathi’s new book, War of Lanka, the fourth book in the Ram Chandra Series, along with world English-language rights to Amish’s backlist, including the Shiva Trilogy. Amish was earlier published by Westland Books, which recently shut shop.
When contacted by Financial Express, Amish said: “I am delighted to join the Harper family, one of the global five publishers. I am sure that with their drive and support, my books can be taken to the next level. They will be publishing my entire backlist, and also my upcoming book, War of Lanka.”
He, however, refused to divulge any monetary details, citing confidentiality clauses. Reportedly, Amish was paid Rs 50 million advance in 2013 for the south Asian rights to his series published after the bestselling Shiva trilogy, which was the biggest deal struck by Westland. Amish Tripathi is one of India’s most-read and highest-selling authors with more than 6 million copies of his books in print in English and 19 other Indian and foreign languages.
Commenting on the deal, Ananth Padmanabhan, CEO, HarperCollins India, said: “Twelve years ago, when The Immortals of Meluha was first published, it created a revolution and announced the arrival of a significant new voice in Indian fiction. Since that first book Amish, with his fantastical storytelling, has created multiple parallel universes and has entertained millions of readers.”
Udayan Mitra, executive publisher, HarperCollins India, said: “As publishers, we are delighted beyond measure to now become a part of the adventure ourselves, as we bring War of Lanka, along with Amish’s entire backlist, to the many, many readers who, like me, have been waiting with bated breath.”
While the release date for War of Lanka is not announced yet, the book talks of a war for dharma. The first three books of the second-fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history – the Ram Chandra Series – explore the journeys of Ram, Sita and Raavan. In this fourth book of the series, all narrative strands crash into each other.