Jeffrey Archer's books released in India before hitting global bookshelves?
What's the story
Jeffrey Archer, the best-selling British author who passed away on Monday aged 86, had a special connection with India. He once revealed that his publishers would release his books in India before anywhere else due to rampant piracy. In a 2016 interview with The Times of India, Archer said pirates would get hold of new books and have them on the streets before bookstores did.
Market strategy
'Best Kept Secret' was launched in India before the UK
To combat this, his publishers decided to launch his books in India first.
The last book of the Clifton Chronicles was released in India two days before its UK launch and four days before its US release.
Similarly, Best Kept Secret, the third book in the series, was launched in India ahead of its global launch.
Piracy encounter
A young boy offered him a pirated copy
Archer had a first-hand experience of how quickly pirated copies of his books could be sold on the streets.
He once narrated an incident where a young boy approached him in traffic, asking if he wanted the latest Jeffrey Archer book.
The boy was only six or seven years old and was selling pirated copies on the streets of Mumbai.
Cultural impact
Archer was often amazed by the crowds at his events
Despite the piracy issue, India became Archer's biggest market. He was often amazed by the crowds that turned up for his events in the country.
During a 2016 book tour, he spoke about how around 3,000 people attended one of his events in India.
At the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2019, thousands turned up to hear him speak.
Literary influence
India's presence in Archer's fiction
Archer's relationship with India also found its way into his fiction.
The short story Caste-Off in And Thereby Hangs a Tale was inspired by a dinner party in Mumbai where he met a Hindu couple from different castes who had fallen in love.
In Cometh the Hour, published in 2016, Sebastian Clifton falls in love with Priya, an Indian woman, and part of the novel moves to Mumbai.
Cultural admiration
Other connections Archer had with India
Despite his affection for India, Archer never set an entire novel there as he felt he didn't know the country well enough.
He admired Indian writer RK Narayan and called Malgudi Days a work of "genius."
Cricket also provided another connection for him with India; he knew former India captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi from Oxford and spoke admiringly of watching Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman bat.