Image courtesy of Joi Ito

In yet another blow to the publishing industries, Japanese author Ryu Murakami has gone directly to the iPad for his new book, A Singing Whale.

The acclaimed novelist of In the Miso Soup and Piercing has side-stepped the old-school publishing houses and will release his novel exclusively on the iTunes App Store. Slated to retail for 1,500 yen (US$17), the e-book is currently pending Apple's approval.


The end of the paperback?

But this is where the real magic of digital book forms comes in: Murakami’s latest effort will feature rich media such as video content and even a score by producer extraordinaire Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Other authors have also taken advantage of the e-book craze. In April, bestselling author Stephen King released the electronic version of his latest book, Blockade Billy, a full month before the paperback hit the shelves. He even had a short story, “UR”, written exclusively for the Kindle last year.

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