Kenyan literary network Kwani Trust has started publishing e-books - launching a digital system to reduce distribution costs and reach a potentially wider market.

Kwani joins a growing number of publishers in offering online books, allowing shoppers access to buy e-books by even using mobile money transfers.

Kwani says that online publishing will give it extra freedom to price its books, and reach a wider readership.

The cost of distribution and retail is central to the new portal, according to executive director Angela Wachuka, hard-copy books typically retail for Sh1000 and the costs of distributing abroad are high.

“Sending a package that weighs five kilograms to Europe costs us between Sh13000 and Sh20000,” she said.

“However, with the e-books, we will not have to incur such costs. Locally, getting our materials into bookshops has not been easy as most prefer to deal in schools textbooks,” Wachuka added.

Mainly known for its “Kwani” series, the trust has partnered with Digital Divide Data (DDD) to offer its digital platform.

The platform would start by offering five books including The Stone Hills of Maragoli by Stanley Gazemba, The True Story of David Manyekei, The Life of Mzee Ondego and The Tales of Kasaya.

The trust is targeting readers looking to read books on Kindles or in PDF format. Bought via mobile money transfer or credit cards for readers in the Diaspora, the e-books cost between Sh350 and Sh500.

It says the added reach of e-books and lower costs will increase its earnings and make it less reliant on donor funds.

"Our e-book platform is a new way to distribute content through local, regional and international literary, artistic and cultural consumption networks,” said Wachuka.