Now, a novel in SMS format

Tired of reading content in a book format? Now, mobile phones can be an alternative as a leading publisher has come up with, what it claims, to be the first work of fiction in the Indian subcontinent in SMS format.

According to HarperCollins India, Pinki Virani's "Deaf Heaven" is the first literary cell-novel and an adult audio-mobile book in the subcontinent.

The literary cell-novel will be made available in 90 SMSes and the adult audio-mobile book in two short-duration downloads by Reliance Mobile.

"As publishers, we are always looking to expand reach and to find innovative ways of creating synergy through related media, so this is a first which will hopefully lead to several other experiments in the field," says HarperCollins India CEO P M Sukumar.

"Our cell phone novel will introduce an interesting element to how novels are read; readers will get the entire book condensed into a few SMSes. The concept that a novel can also be 'read' via SMS and 'heard' at any time via voice portals is itself an unique and innovative idea," says Krishna Durbha, head (VAS) of Reliance Communications.

The novel, also published in classic book format, is a story of optimism over a life-changing weekend, culminating on the day of a total solar eclipse.