Mxit gets e-reader app

Developed by Levon Rivers, authors can now launch their books to an audience of 7.3 million monthly active users and do it three weeks before the real-world launch in bookstores.

Publishers Random House Struik and Modjaji Books have stepped up as partners creating an appropriate focus on serialised South African novels.

Rivers explains how it works, "The app creates a virtual library on a cellphone, allowing users to browse books by name, author or genre. It has all the features of other electronic readers on more advanced devices. It saves your progress after each session and you can create your own virtual bookshelf of favourite reads."

While offering a wide variety of books is important, Rivers is adamant that it will appeal directly to educators by providing access to books that pertain to the school syllabus. "From an education viewpoint, we are starting with the classics and planning to extend to set works and textbooks in the future. The most effective way to address South Africa's poor literacy rates is to ensure that schoolchildren have access to books. Imagine if every child had their own library on their phone. The app will elevate general reading and literacy rates in South Africa. It is the cheapest and most accessible way to get books. We've also added a layer of gamification to encourage reading amongst the youth."

A new way to read and be read

Colleen Higgs of Modjaji Books said it was an easy decision supporting the app. "We are thrilled to join Mxit via bookly. It's a new way to read and be read."

While most people know Mxit as a chat and mobile gaming platform, it now affords users with ordinary feature phones access to a vast library and the opportunity to read books with ease anywhere, at any time - all they need is a cellphone and some airtime. In addition, by utilising open source platforms such as Project Gutenberg, the list of available books is growing by the minute.

"We wanted to create an app that could accommodate unlimited reading material," continues Rivers. "At the company we create work that has a meaningful impact on people's lives and have invested in South Africa's future. We feel that smart phone functionality shouldn't be limited to the rich, especially when such technology could influence the lives of millions of people."