e-books A MEDIA RELEASE FROM FRED STEWART OF READINGIT.COM

A Tauranga businessman and author has broken new publishing ground in New Zealand.
Fred Stewart of Papamoa Tauranga formally launched
http://www.readingit.com/ and his own novel ‘The Corporate Web’ at an Auckland function last Friday [May 18]. His pioneering site brings readers and authors together for the first time, presenting a wide range of literature including some previously unpublished works available in ebook, CD, and print formats.

Guests at the function included publishers, media, leaders from national NZ Writers groups, Microsoft and prominent authors.

“readingit.com has opened the way up for New Zealand authors to reach the international reading public with their books, and will be a launching pad for new authors” he said. The US Organisation for Digital Publishing reports a total of 12 million works were accessed by paying subscribers last year.
“Print publishing has limitations of cost and now ecology to consider. Ebooks are able to offer more choice to readers and there are no cost risks for authors using the new website as all sales are paid by credit card through a secure site”.

Mr Stewart created the business when he learned that only 3% of manuscripts submitted to publishers made it to print. He purchased a number of relevant dotcom websites and is promoting his own book, “The Corporate Web”, as an e-book.
Since readingit.com went live last year, New Zealand publishers and authors have submitted a variety of titles.

Nigel Newton, chairman of Bloomsbury Publishers in the UK of Harry Potter fame, forecasts that within a decade, e-books will represent 50% of all fiction sales.

Readingit.com promotes books through its website for free, retaining a commission on each sale to cover costs. It is a joint venture with Publishme, a division of Zenith Publishing, New Plymouth.

For further information, contact:

Fred Stewart 07 542 0979