Mobile telecommunications provider Etisalat Lanka recently conducted the BookHub Publishers Forum in Colombo with the aim of financially compensating local publishers on board BookHub, for their past year e-book sales on the platform.

Sri Lanka’s first-ever online e-book store and e-book reader ‘BookHub’ was launched in 2012, as a joint venture between Etisalat Lanka, respected publisher M.D. Gunasena and technology provider Microimage.

Saraswathi Publications, Shaakya Publications, Sarada Publications, Sumitha Publishers, Samanthi Publishers, Senarath Publishing, Sadeepa Publishers, Ashirwada Publishers, Warna Graphic, Gayaa Creations, Mihira Book Publisher, Udaya Publishers, Biso Publishers, Samayawardhana, Samudra Publishers and Saranga Publishers were some of the publishers (out of 30 attendees) who attended the first BookHub Publishers Forum.

The publishers will receive a 60 percent revenue share for every book sold on BookHub and they would be entitled to an individual account on the portal, to monitor the sale of their books and also know how much payment is due from their e-book sales. E-books will be sold at 75 percent of the physical book market price as there will be no distribution costs or storage costs borne.

Publishers who wish to display their publications on BookHub could do so by sending their personal contact details and bank account details (for payment) to M.D. Gunasena. To publish an e-book, a hard copy of the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) registered book along with the current market price and a soft copy of the book in the PDF, Word, Page Maker, or Indesign file format should be handed over to M.D. Gunasena to commence the process.

Readers have the ability to shop through the BookHub portal, choose the books they want and directly download them to their smartphone, tablet or PC. Readers pay for the books through an e-wallet, where money can be inserted using Etisalat reload cards, eZ cash and credit cards, regardless of the mobile service provider.

BookHub can be accessed by all users free of charge, regardless of their mobile network. The platform hosts English, Sinhala and Tamil books in e-book format and currently hosts over 300 e-books and also features publications by Sri Lankan writers. The range of titles found on BookHub includes novels, children’s books and biographies.