The Bookseller.com

8th January 2009

Gary Cummiskey

Gary Cummiskey is founder, editor, and publisher of independent South African publisher Dye Hard Press.

Stories put to the text

25.09.08

South Africa faces the challenge of boosting a book--reading culture, but because new books are expensive, access to libraries in rural areas is limited and internet penetration is low, the task at times seems overwhelming. However, 80% of South Africans own a mobile phone, and an innovative concept launched in July looks set to bring short fiction to the masses via their handsets.

Novel Idea is an initiative of a company called MOBfest, which commissions short fiction written for a mobile phone platform. The stories consist of 28 episodes of a maximum of 900 characters, which are delivered to a mobile phone for 28 days. To receive the stories, the user simply sends a text message to the provider and registers on the WAP site via their phone.

The writers who have been commissioned have already been published in print. For the recently-completed first round of stories, the writers included Lauren Beukes, Sam Wilson, Sarah Lotz and this year's Caine Prize for African Writing winner, Henrietta Rose-Innes.

Readers are encouraged to vote for their favourite story and Wilson was the winning "mobilist" of the first round, netting a R8,000 prize sponsored by mobile service provider Vodacom. The second round will be launched by the end of the year.

As with any new concept, it hasn't been without teething problems. Commissioning editor Michelle Matthews, formerly of Oshun Books, admits there were a few technical hiccups. But, she says, it was mainly about educating people about the capabilities of their mobile phones. The phone has to be WAP-enabled and some people who had this capability were not aware that they could access the internet via their phone. "I sat with people who had no idea their phones were WAP-enabled and helped them to register, and they were thrilled," Matthews says.

She agrees that the concept could help to boost book reading in South Africa. "However," says Matthews, "I think that for now, fiction on mobile phones is a different experience to your traditional 300-page novel. Writers tend to write differently for the platform and readers don't want to read long texts on a small screen—at least not yet. I think it appeals to an overlapping market. It is always possible that someone will seek out a book by an author they've read and enjoyed on their mobile phone, so Novel Idea is a good marketing tool for established authors."

It can also be a good way to spot new talent. According to MOBfest's website, in Japan last year, five out of the top ten selling hardcopy novels were originally written for mobile phones.

Some might consider Novel Idea a gimmick, but it has potential—particularly in South Africa—to develop new readers, and this is not something to be dismissed.

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