One of the top trends in 2010 was the growth of electronic books. According to the Association of American Publishers, from January to August 2010, growth of e-book purchases was up 193 percent. Recognizing this surge by the public to acquire digital books, Deseret Book Company recently announced a software application called Deseret Bookshelf that will allow customers to access more than a thousand digital LDS titles, many of which are out of print.
"This is a remarkable era for publishers when content can be made readily available in whatever format suits your personal tastes," said Sheri Dew, president and CEO of Deseret Book Company. "We now have the capacity to publish books that can literally be accessed anywhere in the world in a matter of moments."
A report by Forrester Research indicates that e-book sales in 2011 could reach $1 billion. An eBook is an electronic version of a traditional book read on an electronic device (e-reader) like an iPhone or Amazon Kindle. Instead of owning and storing a traditional book, e-readers can store hundreds of titles on the same small electronic device. It's convenient and e-books are often less expensive than their counterparts.
Deseret Bookshelf is like the combination of a digital library and bookstore. To use Deseret Book's new e-reader you will need an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and access to the Internet. From the Apple applications store, search for Deseret Book and click on the install application button. It is free. As soon as you download the application, you can log in by creating an account with Deseret Book and view the following free books that are immediately part of your library:
Free Deseret Book Titles:
Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt
Discourses of Brigham Young
Gospel Doctrine, by Joseph F. Smith
History of Joseph Smith, by Lucy Mack Smith
Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage
Lectures on Faith by Joseph Smith
The Miracle of Forgiveness, by Spencer W. Kimball
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith
The LDS Standard Works
Monthly issues of the Ensign, New Era and The Friend
Additional book titles can be purchased right from the application. More than 1,500 titles are available, including out-of-print titles from the Maxwell Institute and early leaders of the Church. Additional features include following scriptural cross-references, searchable content and book suggestions based on your purchases. "Bookshelf is the only e-reader on the market that offers instant full-text search of your entire library," said Matt McBride, Digital Product Director for Deseret Book. "It makes finding favorite quotes and passages much easier."
The only thing that was challenging about the application was the slow loading times.
The app is only available for Apple products. An Android version is in the works and should be availble by the end of summer.
Deseret Book also plans to have a version available in the future that works on any Internet browser. Overall, this is a fun and exciting app, and it's free!
