First Danish SMS novel
Yesterday, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) introduced the first novel available via SMS text messages. The novel "Max and Tanja" by authors Dorph & Pasternak, was presented as part of the radio program "Kulturnyt" - a daily show about current, cultural events.
How to get hold of the SMS novel? The novel comes in two installments, each costing DKK 1 (~$0.20). To get the first part, text 'novelle a' to 1212. Text 'novelle b' to 1212, to get the second part.
The news story about the Danish SMS novel references Japan, were SMS books are both popular, and big business.
Tomi Ahonen has been been blogging about the Japanese SMS "book market" for well over a year - according to Mr. Ahonen, in 2007, "five out of the top ten bestselling (printed) books in Japan were originally released as mobile books" (see his post "Books on mobile? Five of Japan's top 10 bestselling books started as mobile phone books").
That is a pretty amazing statistic. Apparently, in Japan, SMS books are used as a way to introduce new authoring talent and like the Danish novel, books are offered in installments, generating $82 million in revenues per year. Also pretty impressive.
In Japan, publishers first attempted to simply make existing bestselling print titles available on mobile, but it did not catch on. The publishes were then clever enough to figure out that a new media warranted a new "book format". Thus, SMS books are not only read on mobiles, they are also written using mobile phones - not the same book as we know it from print or online - different, but a book nonetheless.
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