Bit by Byte

Waiting in a long queue? Getting bored on a train? Now,you can simply download a story to keep you company. Penguin India has announced the launch of its innovative short reads — e-singles. These short pieces of literature are designed for the audience with an ever-increasing predilection to spend time on personal digital devices.

The e-singles are digital-only reads meant for people who,while sometimes short on time,are fond of reading and would like to catch up with their favourite authors in convenient,byte-sized stories,which can be completed in the course of a daily commute or during lunch hour. “We have begun by providing 47 much loved e-singles as of now. We will continue to expand our catalogue to include poetry,non-fiction and plays for our readers on-the-go,in a format which is affordable and convenient,” says Ananth Padmanabhan,VP,Sales,Penguin India.

The e-singles are exactly like e-books,except they are much shorter in size. They can be downloaded for a “price that is less than the cost of a cup of coffee” from Flipkart,Google Play as well as the Kindle app. “Right now,we have fiction and short-stories section. Later,we are planning to expand to non-fiction and reference books as well. For example,people can download certain chapters relevant to their interest from reference books as well as non-fiction books,” says Padmanabhan.

Works by authors such as Sudha Murthy,Reuben Kumar Lalwani,Vinayak Nadkarni and Arka Dutta are currently available for download,costing between Rs 25 to Rs 99.