AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. SANIYASNAIN KHAN

“Writing is the by product of reading. When you read, only then will you write.” You are a leading publisher of high quality Islamic books for adults and children. How and when did you come into publishing? In 1976, my father, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, started a magazine, entitled Al-Risala. At that time I was in the tenth class. I used to go to the Chawri Bazar to buy paper and would also visit the printers in the Jama Masjid area quite often. Somehow these visits influenced my choosing to make publishing a full time career—which I did in 1983. In 1996 I founded Goodword Books. From 1983 to1996, I was engaged in publishing books written mainly by my father in Urdu and English. Did you start the publishing house primarily for your father’s books? The aim was to print good quality Islamic books. As there was a vacuum in this area at that time, I decided to launch Goodword Books. You are a postgraduate from Delhi University and belong to a family of Islamic scholars—father, sister, brother. What attracted you to publishing? I believe I was inspired by my father’s writing, especially his interpretation of Islam in terms of peace and non-violence, communal harmony and mutual understanding. I wanted to spread this message, so I selected publishing as a career. You publish quality Islamic literature. In the initial stages did you have any difficulty in marketing your books? If so, how did you overcome those difficulties? I never faced any difficulty as such. People were appreciative of the quality and content of our books. Moreover, the publishing fraternity and book distributors helped me in marketing the books in India and abroad. You started publishing children’s books in 1999. How is that faring and which are your primary markets? Our primary markets are the US and the UK. Our books are well received in the western world. But there is a good market in India too, particularly South India.