Welcome to our section on Real Women—where we bring you stories of and conversations with real women who inspire us, who have changed lives and given back to the community. Today, I’m here with Antara Ray Chaudhury—Development Editor at Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Watch the insightful session on generating authentic content, how print media will never go out of fashion & women making it big in publishing.
A FEW SNIPPETS FROM THE LIVE SESSION HERE
Adarsh: Hey Antara, how are you? Thanks for taking the time to join us!
Antara: Pleasure is all mine, Adarsh! Thank you so much for having me!
Adarsh: Please tell us a little about yourself.
Antara: Well, I work at Routledge as a Development Editor. There are different kinds of publishing houses—fiction, non-fiction, etc. I work in academic publishing where we cater to higher education. We’re also the biggest publishers of humanities & social sciences. It’s a behemoth of content basically!
Adarsh: That’s lovely! How do you see the future of print publishing panning out, considering the massive digitisation today?
Antara: The transition happened 10 years ago, with the invention of Kindle. This year (during COVID-19), however, thanks to the availability of E-books, we balanced it out as E-books could still reach readers with most print books being unavailable. I’m an optimist & I want to say that print will never go out of fashion. It might take the backseat for a while but will bounce back soon, as it’s catering to consumers’ needs at the end of the day.
Adarsh: We can be hopeful! Another thing, we keep hearing about plagiarism & fake news. How do you think authentic content can be supported?
Antara: It’s actually a tricky area, Adarsh. There are legal loopholes & copyright issues, which vary in different countries. Having said that, peer reviews play an important role in generating authentic content. Because it’s academic publishing, one has to cite the source of their research. You’ve to get permission to use somebody else’s research & give them credit. It’s as basic.
Adarsh: Makes sense. You know, as part a women’s work-wear brand, I’d love to understand how women are represented in the publishing industry & if there’s room for improvement.
Antara: Conventionally, the editorial team has been dominated by women & most positions are held by women, including that of CEO & Directors. Of course, there’s room for improvement, things can be better & more diverse. The trend is definitely encouraging, especially with more & more women joining the Board.
