The Hubhawks Story: Inside a Book Fair Stall That Rewrote the Rules of Engagement

Bringing Vision to Reality at The New Delhi World Book Fair26, - The success story of Kevin Missals Literary Ecosystem, Hubhawks When you notice something missing in an industry, you can choose to point it out repeatedly or attempt to build an alternative, and Kevin Missal chose the latter after spending years navigating the gaps and inconsistencies of book publishing and marketing as a national bestselling author.

Bringing Vision to Reality at The New Delhi World Book Fair'26, - The success story of Kevin Missal's Literary Ecosystem, Hubhawks When you notice something missing in an industry, you can choose to point it out repeatedly or attempt to build an alternative, and Kevin Missal chose the latter after spending years navigating the gaps and inconsistencies of book publishing and marketing as a national bestselling author. Hubhawks emerged from that lived experience, shaped less by abstract vision and more by practical exposure to where authors were often left uncertain, gradually taking form as a publishing and marketing platform designed to address the many stages of an author's journey rather than isolating them. The structure supporting this effort comes from a balanced collaboration with his father, Maj. Leslie Missal, whose background across the corporate sector and the military brings a sense of order and process to ideas that might otherwise remain aspirational. The contrast between creative impulse and operational discipline is not stated outright, but it becomes evident in how the organisation functions, particularly in spaces where execution matters more than intent. That balance was visible at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2026, where Stall D-09 in Hall 5 at Bharat Mandapam remained consistently active without feeling hurried or transactional. Sales took place, but they were rarely the opening move; instead, readers lingered, browsed, and returned, often continuing conversations they had started earlier about books they had picked up and not quite put down. Hubhawks brought the full catalogue of its traditional publishing imprint, Nu Voice Press, to the fair, placing it alongside a selection of international bestsellers and an unusually broad range of titles for young readers, a mix that encouraged families, first-time readers, and habitual buyers to share the same space without being funnelled toward a single kind of book. The arrangement allowed visitors to move freely across genres and age groups, creating a browsing experience that felt exploratory rather than directive. Authors from the Hubhawks list were invited to spend time at the stall, not as part of tightly managed appearances but through extended, informal interactions where conversations moved easily between the books themselves and the realities of writing and publishing them. Interviews and book launches took place throughout the day, yet it was often the unscheduled exchanges, questions about revisions, rejections, and research, that held people's attention the longest. For aspiring writers, the stall offered a degree of access that is often missing at large book fairs, with a dedicated Hubhawks team speaking openly about publishing pathways, timelines, and expectations without framing the interaction as a pitch. Many stayed longer than planned, some returned on subsequent days, and a few left with clearer ideas about where they stood and what steps might follow. By the close of the fair, it was clear that the stall's momentum came from treating books as the start of a relationship rather than the end of a sale, an approach that drew in readers and quietly signalled to writers what publishing can look like when access and visibility are taken seriously. For authors who do not want to remain on the outside of that conversation, Nu Voice Press is currently open to submissions through its website, offering a chance to enter a publishing ecosystem that is already in motion rather than waiting for one to be built.

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