PORTLAND — An e-book publishing company founded by a former Falmouth resident is giving back to a program that encourages reading in developing nations.

Publerati was founded by Caleb Mason after he saw the first iPad.

“I had a hunch that e-books were going to be very transformative so I decided to start an e-book publisher to see what sort of fiction was out there and not getting published,” Mason said.

Most of the books Mason’s company publishes are not ones you would find in a traditional book store, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t artistically worthy of being published, he said.

The book publisher recently expanded its offerings to India and sub-Saharan Africa by partnering with the World Reader organization.

World Reader is a non-profit organization that provides students and teachers in developing nations with Kindles so that they can have access to a global library of e-books.

Mason said that with this partnership, Publerati will donate no less than five percent of its profits to World Reader to help bring its e-books to readers around the world.

“When I started the business I wanted it to have a charitable, socially responsible angle,” he said. “(What we are trying to do is to get people to) read e-books, spread literacy, and attempt to create digitally responsible reading.”

Amber Cronin can be reached at acronin@theforecaster.net or 781-3661 ext. 125. Follow her on Twitter @croninamber.

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