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Vintage Books and Aimer Media have released a Haruki Murakami diary app containing six new exclusive short stories by the Japanese author, as well as a selection of quotations from his 13 backlist titles and latest novel, 1Q84.
The app, for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, is priced £1.99. Other material and features include the cover artwork from the author's newly-designed backlist, the ability to add, organise and delete events quickly and easily, share favourite quotes via email and social media, and access to iBooks without leaving the app to purchase and download Murakami e-books and samples.
The app's launch is planned to coincide with the paperback publication of Murakami's 1Q84, Vintage's repackaging of his backlist, and Murakami's birthday on 12th January.
Digital publisher Dan Franklin said: "This idea came from [editor] Frances Macmillan at Vintage. They had produced a Murakami print diary in 2009 and wanted to bring it to digital life. This time we crowd-sourced fan favourite quotes on Facebook and wanted to use a diary format to showcase the backlist cover re-designs, and the six very short stories that we’ve included.
"Apple's iOS6 operating systems also allows for a really seamless purchase of the iBooks edition in-app so it's a good marriage of new content and backlist marketing. And it being an app allows for these possibilities that are simply impossible in print."
He added: "It's a pleasing alternative to the New You New You fitness frenzy, and it's for the fans but we hope will ease new readers into Murakami’s world literally day-by-day."