Penguin Metro Reads

       At DNA Deepanjana Pal reports on The hunt for the next Chetan Bhagat -- i.e. the search for the next truly mass-market author in India. (Several Bhagat titles are under review at the complete review; see, for example, One night @ the call center.)
       As they note:

The bestselling novels that Bhagat wrote delivered an epiphany: one need not be well-versed in literature or display sophistication in one's use of English to write a book. This led to writers coming out of the woodworks. Most had no literary background, no agents and no big publishing houses to back them. But their books became quick bestsellers, much to the delight of small publishers like Srishti, which entered the fiction market in 2006 and cheerfully accepts unsolicited manuscripts.

       Interesting to note also that the market seems to be growing at a good pace, and:

Just three years ago, a bestseller was a book that sold approximately 5,000 copies but today, to be considered a bestseller, a book has to sell upwards of 10,000 copies, which shows a robustly growing market.

       They also write about Penguin's attempts to break into this market, with Penguin Metro Reads -- touted as: "books that don't weigh you down with complicated stories" ..... Check out also their current titles.
       I am curious about these ... but do have my doubts.