Digital books are a growing trend and require a change in publishing strategies, say publishers.
This follows an announcement by Mxit, which says its first instant mobile book is available for download on its network. In a step up from Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader, the company claims its digital book is a world first, as it uses a mobile phone as a platform.
The company says that, as mobile mediums become the primary means of communication, it made sense for Mxit to expand its content offering to include literature.
Juan du Toit, international marketing manager for Mxit, says: “This is a very exciting project for us because it allows us to add online reading to the already broad online social networking and chatting model that encompasses the Mxit lifestyle offering. As Mxit is so widely used by the youth as their preferred communication tool, we hope to encourage the youth to develop a love of reading. We will, therefore, look to provide our users with more titles in the future.”
Local publishers have also stepped up their efforts to keep up with digital trends. Publishing group Penguin previously announced it would publish all new titles both as printed books and e-books, and will digitise its backlist. Locally - where the mobile phone is a more cost-effective option - Penguin has said it has started preparing content for mobile phones.
Internationally, sales of electronic readers such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader have showed good growth and prompted publishers to digitise their titles. However, due to the high costs of these readers, cheaper alternatives are needed for local consumers.
Cutting cost
Mxit users will be able to download teen title “Emily and the Battle of the Veil” on the Mxit network for R13.50. This is the first book offered on Mxit's MBooks platform and is a fantasy novel written by Karen Brooks.
“MBooks is the evolution of eBook. I thought that access to books via a digital medium was a great way to give everybody access to my novel. More importantly, Emily and the Battle of the Veil is suited to teenagers and I wanted to make it accessible to them, hoping that it will foster a love for reading and writing,” says Brooks.
Du Toit notes that the big winners with digital publishing are the authors and agents who can begin to sell rights, or get involved in the process of publishing.
“With the launch of Emily and the Battle of the Veil, we saw an opportunity to assist authors in breaking the status quo of the traditional publishing industry, as well as giving young readers and aspiring writers an opportunity to read new literature or showcase their work,” says Du Toit.
International trends
PanMacmillan states that “pretty much every large publisher has an e-book program”. The publisher adds that everyone's talking about e-books, and content and design have become increasingly important.
Sony and Google recently signed a deal where Google would provided 500 000 books to the Sony Reader. Google stated it would encode the books in a free, open electronic publishing format - ePub - which makes them easier to read on devices like the Reader.
Research In Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, also signed a deal with publisher Barnes & Noble to make 60 000 e-book titles available on the BlackBerry.
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