HOW CAN WE HELP
Everything between a manuscriptand a bookshelf.
You have the story. We have the people to lay it out, translate it, format it for Kindle and put it in front of readers — writers, translators, illustrators and designers, all under one roof.
Layout of comic books & novels
01
Books that looks professional
Good layout is invisible — readers only notice it when it's wrong. We design and typeset comic books and novels to print standards, in Malayalam and English.
Malayalam is where most layout goes wrong: broken conjuncts, awkward line breaks, fonts that fight the text. We set it the way a Malayalam reader expects to read it.
Worth knowing: we get your book ready for print, but we don't publish it. The finished files are entirely yours, to take to any printer or publisher you choose — so you stay in full control of your book.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Interior page design and typesetting
-
Comic panel layout and balloon lettering
-
Cover design — front, spine and back
-
ISBN and barcode placement
-
Print-ready PDF to your printer's specifications
YOU RECEIVE
Print-ready files and editable source files, yours to publish wherever you choose.
RIGHT FOR
Authors with a finished manuscript, and creators with completed comic artwork that needs pages built around it.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Translation by native speakers
-
Cultural localisation — idiom, names, humour
-
Independent proofread by a second translator
-
Re-lettering translated text into the balloons
-
Series glossary to keep names consistent
YOU RECEIVE
A translated, proofread and lettered comic, ready for print.
Comic translation & localisation
02
Two directions, one standard.
Malayalam to English — so Kerala's comics reach readers who can't read the script, including a generation of Malayali children growing up abroad.
English to Malayalam — for comic publishers who want their titles read properly in Kerala. Localisation, not word-for-word: jokes that land, names that sound right, and dialogue that still fits inside the balloon.
We've done this at scale. We translated and published 42 chapters of the Mahabharata in Malayalam during two years of publishing Amar Chitra Katha's Malayalam editions. We also translate our Malayalam titles into English.
RIGHT FOR
Comic publishers and comic creators, in either direction.
Distribution of books
03
A book in a warehouse sells nothing.
We list your book on the Malay Publications website, sell it through our store, and promote it to our readers on social media.
People who already come to us for Malayalam comics and books find yours right alongside them — an audience you don't have to build from scratch.
RIGHT FOR
Authors and small publishers looking for a place to sell and readers to sell to.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Listing on the Malay Publications website
-
Sales through our online store
-
Promotion on our social media channels
YOU RECEIVE
Your book in front of our readers, with a shop that sells it for you.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Character creation
-
Regular strip production
-
Placement with publications
YOU RECEIVE
A comic strip that arrives on schedule, every time.
Syndication
04
Characters that keep appearing.
We create characters and comic strips for regular publication — in newspapers, magazines and online — and look after where they appear.
RIGHT FOR
Publications wanting a regular comic strip.
Kindle-ready publishing
05
Your book, ready for Kindle.
Send us your manuscript — or your artwork, if it's a comic book — and we'll send back a file ready to upload to Kindle.
Formatting for Kindle is fiddly, especially for comics and for Malayalam text. We handle all of it, so the only step left for you is pressing upload.
As with layout, you publish it yourself under your own Kindle account — we prepare the file, and the book stays yours.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Manuscript formatted for Kindle
-
Comic pages converted to fixed layout
-
Malayalam text set correctly
-
Cover prepared to Kindle specification
-
Checked in Kindle preview before handover
YOU RECEIVE
A publish-ready Kindle file, ready to upload.
RIGHT FOR
Authors and comic creators self-publishing on Amazon Kindle.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
High-resolution scanning
-
Restoration and cleanup
-
Colour correction
-
Digital editions for reading
-
Archive masters for future reprints
YOU RECEIVE
Clean digital editions, and archive files that will outlast the paper.
Digitalization of old comics
06
Old comics, given a second life.
Out-of-print comics and archive collections, scanned, cleaned and turned into digital editions that can be read again, reprinted, or simply kept safe.
Newsprint yellows and fades. A good digital master outlasts it — and lets a comic that went out of print decades ago find new readers.
RIGHT FOR
Comic publishers with a backlist, collectors, and families holding comic archives.
Comics for schools, NGOs & campaigns
07
Nobody reads the leaflet.
Literacy, health, waste, road safety — most campaign material gets thrown away unread. A comic gets read, taken home, and passed on.
Tell us the message and the audience. We'll write it, draw it and print it in Malayalam, English or both.
RIGHT FOR
Schools, NGOs, health programmes and government departments.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Script written from your brief
-
Custom characters for your campaign
-
Malayalam and English editions
-
Print and digital versions
YOU RECEIVE
A comic your audience will actually read.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Rights negotiation and contracts
-
Translation rights deals, in and out
-
Representing Malayalam titles abroad
-
Story acquisition — outright or royalty
-
Licensing characters for other media
YOU RECEIVE
Clear written agreements, and a publisher on your side of the table.
Rights & licensing
08
Stories should travel.
We buy and sell publishing rights, negotiate translation rights, and represent Malayalam-language titles to publishers outside Kerala and outside India.
If you're a writer with a strong story, we'll also consider acquiring it outright — for a one-time payment or on royalty — after reading it properly and telling you honestly what we think.
RIGHT FOR
Authors wanting their work taken further, publishers buying or selling Malayalam rights, and writers with a story to sell.
Comics for brands
09
Stories people finish.
A brochure gets skimmed. A comic gets read to the end. Product stories, training material, founder stories — told as comics, with characters you can keep using.
RIGHT FOR
Companies with something to explain, and material nobody currently reads.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-
Story and script
-
Character design you keep
-
Illustration and lettering
-
Print and digital formats
YOU RECEIVE
A finished comic, and a character your brand can keep.
HOW IT WORKS
Whatever you choose, four steps
1
Tell us
Send the manuscript, the brief, or just the idea. An email is enough to start.
2
We quote
A written scope and a clear price before any work begins. No open-ended hourly billing.
3
We make it
You see it at every stage and can change direction before it becomes expensive.
4
You receive it
Finished files, the rights you agreed in writing, and printing or distribution if you want it.
Tell us what you're making.
A finished manuscript, a school campaign, or a half-formed idea for a character — send it over. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right people for it.