Parragon to expand reach, to bring out 100 Disney titles

UK-based Parragon Publishing is looking at increasing its presence to another 25 cities across the country this year, besides bringing out around 100 titles from the Disney stable.     

The company, which specialises in books which have more visuals than text for both kids and adult categories, also plans to make a foray into bilingual medium as it seeks to reach out to more readers in the country.     

"We are already present in 42 cities through both bookstores and modern retail lifestyle outlets and we plan to penetrate deeper into the country by adding another 25 cities to our list," Parragon Publishing India Managing Director Vineet Sharma told PTI.     

Parragon, which will soon complete its third year of operation in the country, has tied up with Walt Disney under a licensing arrangement.     

"In the last three-four months, Disney titles have done quite well. We will be bringing out around 100 more titles of Disney in 2009-10," Sharma said.     
The company is looking for more such licensing agreements with Indian and international brands.     

"We believe that licensed books has a great potential and two years down the line it will contribute about 25 per cent to our business," he said, adding that the company is venturing into bilingual books this year.

"The bilingual segment will be mostly for educational products, work and activity books," Sharma added.     

Parragon is present in over 35 countries in 18 languages. In India, the company markets its publication from book retail chains like Odyssey, Landmark and Crossword, besides modern retail chains such as Reliance Retail, Pantaloons and Archies.