Transcript for the 3/31/13 #storyappchat: Ron Martinez

View this document on Scribd

Illuminating chat last night, not just about the capabilities of Aerbook, but also about the current state of children’s app/ebook publishing in general, and where we might be headed. Huge thanks to @RonMartinez [Aerbook's founder] for helming our discussion–I think Aerbook is definitely a platform to keep an eye on over the next several months.

Remember, we hold our little roundtable every Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific, so clear some space in your calendar for the next chat, OK?

Guest Host for the 3/31/13 #storyappchat: Ron Martinez

The tools available to writers/illustrators of interactive books continue to evolve. One of the most exciting new packages to come out recently is Aerbook Cloud Publishing, a browser-based platform which allows you to export content in a number of different formats, including iBooks, Kindle, and iOS/Nook/Fire app projects.

The founder of Aerbook is Ron Martinez, and we’re thrilled to have him host this Sunday’s #storyappchat. Among other things, he’ll answer our questions about the migration of app-like experiences to the eBook store, the differences in discovery and pricing, and what the limitations and opportunities are across the various platforms. And if the topic isn’t enough to interest you, Ron will be giving away some export credits for those who are able to pop into the chat.

Don’t miss this one! We’ll kick things off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific this Sunday, March 31. Looking forward to seeing YOU there!

Topic for the 2/17/13 #storyappchat: Music

Back in the olden days of, say, about five years ago, the idea of music in a book mainly consisted of board books with oversized sound chip buttons for toddlers, interactive stories on CD-ROM and proprietary systems like LeapPad products. But things have changed, haven’t they? Nowadays storybook apps and even ebooks can be greatly enhanced with the right soundtrack.

A good example of this is the brand-new storybook People Are Like Lollipops by Annie Fox. The music chosen for the read-aloud iBook version is both appropriate (Far East music to go with the wise shaman in the story) and unobtrusive, so it doesn’t detract from the book’s message. Nicely done!

How did you choose music for your electronic story? If you decided to leave it out, why? Let’s talk about the use of music in interactive storybook apps and ebooks during the next #storyappchat on Sunday, February 17 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific. Bring along your favorite resources for royalty-free tracks, high-quality composers for custom work, and everything in between!

Transcript for the 2/10/13 #storyappchat: Discoverability

View this document on Scribd

The general consensus from last night seems to be that we’re in a bubble of sorts, with lots of people crowding the app and ebook marketplace. Adam Winsor said it best when he summarized the chat in this tweet:

Thanks all! Conclusion: Wait out the gold rush, make high-quality apps, seek international and niche markets. #storyappchat

— Adam Winsor (@drawbeard) February 11, 2013

For those who might like a little more detail, feel free to peruse the transcript of last night’s chatter above.

And don’t miss next week’s chat about… Music! It’ll kick off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific time next Sunday, February 17. See you then!

Topic for the 2/10/13 #storyappchat: Discoverability

If you’ve published anything in the last couple of years, you’ve no doubt discovered that the big issue facing content creators is not staying under budget, writing high-quality stories or actually getting published. In the vast sea of stuff out there making up the Long Tail, the hard part is getting discovered by your target audience.

While related to marketing, I’d like to focus the topic of discoverability on the ability (or lack thereof) of the digital storefronts to help connect customers with the content they are ready to pay for, and what we can do to assist or augment this ability. In other words, let’s talk about the pros and cons of the iTunes Store, Amazon’s Kindle Store and Google Play (and any others you’ve worked with). Do these media providers help or hinder both content creators and customers?

Let’s get the party started next Sunday, February 10 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific time. Just cap off all your chat tweets with the #storyappchat hashtag to join us. We’ll save a seat for you!

Transcript for the 1/27/13 #storyappchat: the iBookstore

View this document on Scribd

Judging by the high-quality chatter we enjoyed last night, many of us see the iBookstore as a viable option for producing interactive books for kids. Be sure to study the transcript above for links and other valuable industry information from @LizCastro, @RonMartinez, @DrawBeard and @TheiPodTeacher. A lot of people who joined us last night had nice things to say about Book Creator, a WYSIWYG (graphically-based) ePub editor which makes it easy to create files for the iBookstore.

Remember, we convene every Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific to talk about creating storybook apps and ebooks for kids. Join us next and every week, OK?

Topic for the 1/27/13 #storyappchat: the iBookstore

While it’s true we’ve done chats before on the topic of the iBookstore, we thought it made sense to revisit it, given the rise of one-stop DIY tools like Book Creator and excellent technical resources like the tutorials and how-to books from Liz Castro. With a little bit of help and an entrepreneurial spirit, anyone can create robust and very app-like titles for Apple’s iBookstore.

Of course, others are using Apple’s free iBooks Author tool to create content, and that’s pretty exciting too.

So: let’s talk about it this Sunday (January 27) at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific. Just start using the #storyappchat hashtag on Twitter about that time, and we will look for you then!

Transcript for the 12/9/12 #storyappchat: Will Terry

View this document on Scribd

So glad to welcome Will Terry back to #storyappchat, and based on both the stuff he’s posted to his blog and the amount of high-energy discussion last night, he’s had his hands in a bunch of very cool stuff lately.

Catch it all in the transcript above, and remember: we do it every Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific. Make it a weekly ritual, how about it?

 

Guest Host for the 12/9/12 #storyappchat: Will Terry

Way back in the spring of 2011 (seems so long ago, doesn’t it?), Will Terry graciously agreed to be the very first guest host for #storyappchat. So it’s with a fair amount of nostalgia and a high dose of appreciation that I announce he’s agreed to guest host again: this Sunday!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Will and his considerable talents, he’s a writer/illustrator of children’s picture books. My current favorite is The Three Little Gators (written by Helen Ketteman and illustrated by Terry), now available as an app. However, his art has appeared in tons of other books for kids. Will’s one of my favorite artists, and my kids like his stuff too.

Aside from being a wonderful traditional and digital artist, Will keeps up a very informative and inspirational blog, which fits the very definition of ‘giving back.’ Will does have a few tutorial videos he’s posted for $$$ (and as a purchaser, I can promise you they are well worth the cash), but he’s also shared tons of other opinions, advice, sales figures and other great stuff that you can’t put a price on for FREE.

He recently used Talespring to create a new kid’s story app: I Eat You! and created a free video with some information about the process.

A lot’s changed in the year and a half since we had Will with us last time–so bring your questions for him, and we will look for you Sunday (December 9) night around 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific!

Topic for the 12/2/12 #storyappchat: Blogging Best Practices

Conventional wisdom says: if you write, illustrate, or code in this technological age, it really helps to have a blog. While not an absolute must, a well-positioned, well-written and interesting blog can generate lots of buzz around your projects, help you build a brand, and keep people coming back to find out what’s new with you.

But it’s pretty easy to become paralyzed with the sheer enormity of the task. What should I call it? Who is my best audience? Which platform (WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, etc.) should I use to host it? What should I write about? Do I really need a blog anyway?

Carisa Kluver, host of the comprehensive Digital Storytime app review site and creator of the Digital Media Diet blog, has the answers to these questions and many others. Let’s discuss this topic in depth during the next #storyappchat, this Sunday (December 2) at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Just start using the #storyappchat hashtag on Twitter to join us!