DC Books is a publisher in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

publisher of books in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

, and one of the publishers in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It also operates one of the largest book store chains in

, with a network of over 45 bookshops under the DC Books and Current Books brands as well as more than 50 agencies in Kerala.

DC Books

DC Books is a

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and bookseller with headquarters in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

. It published over 6500 titles, mainly literature in

, but also including children's literature, poetry, reference, biography, self-help, yoga, management titles, and foreign translations. DC Media, is the media division of DC Books. DC Media publishes 5 magazines namely, ''Education Insider'', Asia's leading magazine on education, ''Future Medicine'', magazine on Asian medical industry and ''Emerging Kerala'', Kerala's fastest growing magazine on business, economy and society, Money Indices and Travel and Flavors. DC Books was founded in 1974 by Dominic Chacko Kizhakemuri, known as D. C. Kizhakemuri or just DC amongst literary Kerala. At that time, DC was Secretary of the

Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society (SPCS) or Sahithya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham is a cooperative society of writers in the south Indian state of Kerala for publication and sales of books. It was founded in 1945 by a group of twelve wri ...

, a cooperative venture of Malayalam writers. The society helped writers with the business and publishing details and instituted a standard royalty of 30-40%, as well as the system of an 'advance' payment for their books, financially enabling them to devote themselves to writing full-time. When he turned his attention to founding DC Books, DC began promoting and creating markets for its books by organizing festivals, clubs, and pre-publication subscriptions, and installment schemes. Their successful bookclub scheme allows buyers to build a library of their own by buying books on installments. In 1977, Current Books became its sister concern. In 2001, DC Books launched dcbooks.com, an Indian local language bookstore with over 4,000 titles. In 2004, DC Books partnered with Corner Books to open a

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

branch for Keralites in Delhi. DC Books is the publisher of several translation dictionaries used by professionals and South Asian Linguists, such as their: * "English-English-Malayalam dictionary" by T. Ramalingam Pillai () * Malayalam English Dictionary by M. Varier, et al.

Imprints

DC Books is the parent company of the following imprints: *DC Books: non-fiction, literature, translations, and reference books *Kairali Mudralayam: popular fiction, including children's books and translations *Kairali Children's Book Trust: produces children's literature and gives annual awards for best works in Malayalam *

Mango Books Mango Books, known as children's imprint in English, is a subset of DC Books. Mango's publications fall into every category such as fiction, children's literature, poetry, reference, classics, folktales and biographies. Mango has also licensed co ...

: Children's imprint in English. Winner of Awards for Excellence (2014) constituted by the Federation of Indian Publishers.

Achievements

* In 2004 alone, won five awards in the General, Reference, Paperback, House Magazine, and Catalogues categories for their: Malayalam Encyclopedia, Thesaurus, Charithrakaandom, Pachakuthira. * In 2004 alone, D.C. Books brought out 531 titles, the maximum number among Indian publishers * DC Books was the first publishers/book sellers in India to get

ISO 9000 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 90 ...

Certification.

Controversy

In 2004, DC Books published a translated version of Britannica Concise Encyclopædia into

in the name Britannica Malayalam Encyclopedia. The book won an award from the Federation of Indian Publishers in 2004. A Consumer Court banned the sale of the book because it was found to be an erroneous reference with many factual errors. The court also found that there was unfair trade practice on the part of the publishers, which are DC Books, Kerala and Encyclopædia Britannica India Pvt.Ltd, a subsidiary of Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.

DC Books Clubs and Festivals

The DC International Book Fair offers book releases and exhibitions. The Fair also features youth contests in Spot Poetry Writing, English Quiz, Malayalam Quiz, Street Drama - Malayalam, Declamation, Pen A Story, Special Schools Only, Film Appreciation, English Reading, Malayalam Reading, Painting, and Readers Theatre.

Headquarters

The headquarters of DC Books on Good Shepherd Street in

houses an art gallery, hosting exhibits of modern and traditional paintings and

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

DC Media

DC Media, the media wing of DC Books was launched in January 2011. DC Media publishes ''Education Insider'', a pan-Asian magazine for the education sector; ''Future Medicine'', a global magazine on health and medicine;''Emerging Kerala (Magazine)'', a magazine which focuses on the socio-economic development of Kerala; and ''Pachakuthira'', a magazine which intervenes into the socio-political space.

References

{{Authority control Book publishing companies of India Bookstores of India Companies based in Kottayam Publishing companies established in 1974 Retail companies established in 1974 Indian companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in Kerala