In 2004 she founded and (until 2013) ran Pratham Books, a nonprofit publisher that distributes free books throughout India, including Nilekani's own children's stories written under the pseudonym Noni. In 1998, her novel, Stillborn, was published by Penguin Books; in 2011 Penguin also published Uncommon Ground, a nonfiction work based on her reporting as anchor of the 2008 Indian television program of the same name.