New Zealand-based publishing startup Pear Jam Books is teaming with MyLi.com, a U.K.-based online startup e-book and reading site for school children, to release its list of titles to young readers in Britain. MyLi offers online access to online e-books using virtually any mobile device.
Pear Jam Books is a new publishing house founded in December of 2011 by bestselling YA author Jill Marshall, a British citizen who resides in New Zealand. PJB was originally formed to publish a benefit book in the wake of the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake, but has now been launched as a full-service publishing house. Pear Jam Books launched in December with eight titles offered in print, e-book and audiobook formats, and the house plans to follow with games and apps based on them to come. The books will be available in the U.S. market.
Marshall said the deal with MyLi, which has not yet launched, is intended to target the more than 8 million primary and secondary school students in the U.K with both academic and social reading. Using MyLi, students can earn free reading credits from participating in a variety of activities on the site. “I’m thrilled that our books will be made available in this way, so that children of all ages across the U.K. can access great stories and be encouraged to read both in school and out.”
MyLi is currently working with several schools in Manchester and South East England in its pilot program. MyLi founder Eric Stevens said, “MyLi will gather feedback to ensure the service complements the curriculum in school while providing reading for entertainment beyond the school gates.”
Pear Jam’s is partnering with digital vendor Ebooks2go to provide its conversion services, digital distribution, technical infrastructure and app development. David Aubrey, director of Ebooks2go said, “we have stories written in New Zealand by Pear Jam authors, converted to e-books and distributed by EBooks2go, a U.S. company, and read by kids in the U.K. who know where else this may go as others adopt this wonderful idea.”
