Indian fiction isn’t flying off bookshelves like it should. It’s time we asked why

While the fiction landscape in India struggles to gain the attention it deserves, it continues to flourish globally, particularly in the US and UK, with novels consistently topping bestseller charts and fueling cultural conversations. But given the developed literary infrastructure in these regions, it’s not exactly a fair comparison. “Theirs is a more mature market with centuries of access to language, form, styles, genres and a long publishing tradition,” explains Thakkar. So, the real question is: what will it take for the Indian fiction market to catch up? Does it simply need time to mature or are there ways we can accelerate its growth?

The rise of social media has supercharged fiction in the West and it’s a trend that can—and should—be harnessed in India as well. With over 200 billion views on TikTok, communities like #BookTok have become powerful catalysts for books like A Court of Thorns and Roses and Fourth Wing. While we may not have TikTok in India, the Indian Bookstagram community is beginning to play a significant role in bringing fiction into the spotlight, with readers and influencers sharing book recommendations, reviews and discussions that help foster a vibrant literary community. In my own experience, when a celebrity posted about my novel Red Flags and Rishtas on Instagram, the impact was immediate. The book’s Amazon ranking shot into the top 100, and it quickly went into reprint.

Building awareness through social media, however, is just one piece of the puzzle. If the reception to shows based on Indian novels like Sacred Games, A Suitable Boy, Paatal Lok and Murder In Mahim is anything to go by, there’s definitely an appetite for storytelling that breaches the borders of believability. But to genuinely broaden fiction’s reach beyond our screens, we need to address issues around accessibility and the availability of books in regional languages. A major chunk of bestselling fiction by Indian authors like Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri and Ruskin Bond is published and marketed in English. It’s crucial to remember that most Indians do not read in English, so publishing houses need to back regional-language fiction that will introduce native readers to the joys of fantastical worldbuilding. “We also need a much better distribution mechanism and ecosystem to reach out to remote and rural regions,” Thakkar agrees.