Editorial by Robin Birtle, Sakkam Press, Japan
Robin Birtle of Sakkam Press
TOKYO: The publishers of novels have it easy. Despite all the hoopla over digital, the creative process and the immersive reading experience remain unchanged. For picture book publishers, though, all bets are off. A straight e-book facsimile of a picture book pales in comparison to the print original and using one of these to compete with the various gorgeous iPad apps for children is like taking ink and paper to a video editing fight.
The reason why even technically superb digital renderings of a picture book can fail to excite is that they do not enable the same experiences that picture books provide. Although children sometimes read picture books by themselves, most of the dearest picture book experiences arise from an activity shared between parent and child. The parent is an actor, performing for the child; the two are teammates as they jointly explore illustrations. If the mood is right, the parent can be a teacher, using the text to reinforce a point relevant for that particular child. Before a single word is read, parents convey the message that the printed word is to be respected by the careful way in which they handle each book.
Even in the hand of an enthusiastic parent, the current crop of picture e-books rarely give the same experiences. The oft touted magic of the iPad steals the child’s attention and there is no tingle of excitement when the first digital page is turned. The iPad is not a good prop for the performing parent and illustrations not designed specifically for a tablet do not work well.
Publishers, conscious of these shortcomings, have enhanced picture e-books with the addition of “read-along” capabilities that seduce potential buyers with the promise of children learning as they play. Typically, though, a read-along book’s playback speed makes it comfortable to listen to, but too fast for a child to read along. Even proficient early readers will pause on harder words as the voice-over races ahead of them. Some publishers compound the problem by pairing voice-overs with text in highly stylized fonts which are nearly illegible for emerging readers. A small number of publishers attempt to address these issues but the overall standard of read-along is low.
Publishers may eye the success of the “Gorgeous Apps” for kids with a tinge of envy, but these apps have been a long time in the making. At least fifteen years before the first iPad was sold, software companies started churning out interactive books for the PC, and doting parents paid high prices for software of vastly variable quality. The software, when a parent could find a supplier of it, actually seemed to age. Not many companies kept their software ranges current and as parents upgraded their PCs, fewer and fewer of their titles still worked. The best titles were very good but the process was expensive and nerve wracking.
Along came the iPad and, with it, apps that are easy to find, easy to buy, affordable and reliable. Although developers have become very adept at converting printed picture books into interactive apps, the most impressive of the Gorgeous Apps on the iPad are original works with no print legacy. This hints at the root of the malaise surrounding the production of picture e-books — moving a work that relies heavily on visual and spatial elements from one medium to another is extremely hard to do well.
Fortunately for picture book publishers, there is an alternative to expensive to produce apps and lackluster e-book reproductions. This alternative, though, is not a particularly easy one. Publishers must commission some digital-only picture books to explore what the creative possibilities are when print is not the starting point. Research is needed into how children interact with the new medium and effective ways to include read-along voice-overs. Finally, publishers should analyze what parts of the reading experience are not well addressed by Gorgeous Apps and ensure their new creations go some way to filling the gaps.
These creations need not be isolated e-books; they may be e-books that include components based in the web or other media. A challenge for publishers embarking on these projects will be assembling teams which combine strong technical as well as creative skills. Indeed, it is likely that these teams will start to resemble software start-ups that iterate rapidly and employ usability testing to verify whether a given technique is working or not.
For the publisher prepared to experiment with new content forms, the payback will be a clear vision of the future of digital publishing. Furthermore, these publishers will be best equipped to turn their backlist of treasured picture books into equally compelling e-books.
Robin Birtle is the founder of Sakkam Press Ltd and can be contacted at robin dot birtle at sakkampress dot com.
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10 Comments
Interested to read this. Nosy Crow is a new publisher of print books and highly interactive multimedia reading experiences created for iPad and other iOS devices. Our Cinderella app has just won iLounge’s Kids App of the Year Award and a Children’s Technology Review award.
So I agree that creating reading experiences specifically for the new devices is a better way to go than squashing existing picture books onto a phone or tablet. They don’t tend to stack up well against other more interactive apps.
However, while we’re experiencing app success, we aren’t experiencing the print picture book publishing malaise that is referred to. We’ve reprinted all but one of the six picture books we’ve published this year, and have enjoyed really great co-edition sales: I write this in the US (we’re London-based) where I’ve been visiting Candlewick Press, who’ve publish our print illustrated books under a Nosy Crow imprint in the US. 3 months in, they’ve requested reprints on two titles. The right print picture books are still selling, in our experience… as are the right apps.
Interesting article, but I agree with Kate from Nosy Crow. The good children’s print books are still selling well, just like the good apps. It’s not about the format, or delivery platform, it is all about good products. At duopress we publish regional and niche paper children’s books and our sales are well.
Kiwa Media specialise in taking print-to-screen. While we are digital publishers we do encourage our clients to think of their digital version as complimenting their print version.
An interesting new company has launched this week called uTales (www.uTales.com) which is an online store and subscription business for digital picture books by new and established authors and illustrators from around the world. These books are digital only and are not apps, nor are they simply electronic copies of existing picture books — these are brand new digital picture books uploaded by authors and illustrators. It’s a new model, a new platform for children’s picture book authors and illustrators who are interested in testing the digital waters.
Full disclosure, I freelance consult with uTales and currently head up the uTales editorial quality panel, casting an eye over every submission before it goes live on the site. We look to encourage new talents while also maintaining a level of quality and standard we feel is essential for picture books.
Convince customers to buy them both – print and e-book…
You might like this article in The Atlantic:
How to Build the Pixar of the iPad Age
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/11/how-to-build-the-pixar-of-the-ipad-age-in-shreveport-louisiana/247749/
I completely agree that major publishers must begin to employ development teams that strongly represent startup companies. If they are going to compete in a digital environment with companies such as Amazon, they must employ developers, just as Amazon does. Until publishers begin to do this, Amazon will continue to take advantage of them simply by having a better understanding of the digital space.
Full Disclosure: I own a startup company called DiscoverLit that focuses on short-form fiction publishing.
JP
It’s fascinating to watch this all unfold. I wonder how many top NY publishers will start doing straight-to-digital publishing of picture books in the near future and whether they’ll go it alone or partner with an existing company (like Ruckus and Scholastic, for example).
As enthusiastic as I am about the ipad, I haven’t found any picture book apps that come close to the print reading experience. Like you said, most hinder that essential parent-child interaction that is so special. The ones that offer a little more flash and interactivity usually just come off as bad games. I think we’ll need bigger tablet computers and a kindle type picture book app before digital has any chance at overtaking print in children’s books. The ipad screen is great, but it still can’t reproduce great children’s art.
Purely text books are another matter though… My kindle app is quickly replacing most of my paperback purchases.
Very interesting discussion topic! I’m currently creating and putting together the illustrations for a series of children’s books and my client is looking for recommendations of publishing houses that handle both e-books, apps and physical print. Have/do any of you work for such publishing houses and/or can you make any recommendations?