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

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Last night’s #storyappchat was full of tips on how to find music for your storybook app–attendees shared their favorite resources and everyone seemed to agree that music should not be added to any app unless the ability to adjust volume and mute tunes and sound effects is provided. After all, nobody wants music to interfere with the story, right?

Details provided in the transcript above for those of you who weren’t able to join us. PLEASE NOTE: we’ll be taking next Sunday off due to the Academy Awards, but will be back in full force on March 3, when we’ll talk about taking advantage of social media beyond Facebook and Twitter. Make plans to pop in, and in the meantime, enjoy the break!

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!

Topic for the 10/21/12 #storyappchat: Animations and Interactivity

Why turn a kid’s book into an app? There seem to be a lot of people asking this question, and for good reason. After all, print books are wonderful in and of themselves. Why create book apps at all?

Obviously those of us here at #storyappchat have strong opinions on this, mostly in favor of creating for tablet and mobile devices. But I believe the following question should be asked at the beginning of the creation (writing, illustrating, designing, coding) process: Can this story best be told in app form? And if so, what interactive features should be included in order to enhance/uplift/further the story? Here’s a good post which talks a bit about how the process of creating an app is different from creating a print book–from the ground up.

We’ve all seen book apps that feature an already-beloved print book with some extra animations, sounds and/or puzzles included, in now familiar, expected and distracting ways. I wonder if the app-buying public isn’t already a little tired of this approach. App publishers seem to be listening, too, based on the new features added to several of the Oceanhouse Media titles.

What are those features that really belong in a storybook app–those features that engage, surprise and delight children (and parents), instead of just existing as an excuse to crank out yet another story in app form?

Let’s discuss, debate and hash out this issue during the next #storyappchat on Sunday, October 21 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific. Just start using the #storyappchat hashtag in your tweets around then to join us!

Transcript for 2/5/12 #storyappchat: Standards

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We shared opinions on standards during the February 5 #storyappchat–in other words, the features/controls that ought to be present in all storybook apps. In spite of the simultaneous drama on the football field, this chat was very well attended and LOTS of good opinions and information was passed around.

Enjoy the 24-page transcript, and make plans to join us NEXT Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time for the next installment of #storyappchat!

Topic for 12/11/11 #storyappchat: App Trailers

App trailers (short videos about your app, designed to generate interest and excitement) are becoming a very important part of the marketing phase of app development. In fact, many app review sites are now making an app trailer a required part of the review.

But how easy are they to create? Is it necessary to contract with a big-budget media group to produce one, or can you spend a few hours with iMovie (like I did) and put one together at almost no cost?

Let’s talk about app trailers at the next installment of #storyappchat THIS Sunday (December 11), at 9:00 p.m. EST. Bring links of your favorite app video trailers, including your own (if you have one). Let’s share the elements that go into a good app trailer, and how they can be used to promote a storybook app. Be prepared to ask and answer questions, and in the meantime, check out these book and app trailers below!

A Present for Milo by Ruckus Media Group

Tracks in the Sand by Loreen Leedy

Touchybooks

Peterkin Meets a Star by PicPocket Books

JibJab Jr.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Bartleby’s Book of Buttons by Monster Costume

Cinderella by Nosy Crow Apps

Topic for 10/30/11 #storyappchat: The Kindle Fire!

Amazon releases the Kindle Fire on November 15–and will most likely disrupt the iPad’s dominance in the tablet computer category.

For creators of children’s interactive ebooks and apps, this promises to be an important new platform. Built on Kindle Format 8 (which replaces Mobi 7) and including HTML5 support, this platform will allow content creators fixed layouts, embedded fonts, scalable vector graphics and many other CSS3 commands (full list available here).

Here’s a related article from The Future Book, a British blog about ebooks and the future of reading.

Let’s discuss what this may mean for those of us who create storybook apps and ebooks during this week’s #storyappchat: TOMORROW night (10/30/11) at 9:00 p.m. ET. Are you as pumped up as I am?

Transcript for 10/16/11 #storyappchat: Liz Castro

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We were grateful to have @LizCastro serving as guest host for this mind-blowing, fantastic chat–full of pithy opinions, terrific information and timely, appropriate questions. If you didn’t get a chance to check out Liz’s site and blog earlier, now’s your chance. AND, Liz gave away a copy of her complete ePub creation suite–what a deal even at full price! Pore over the 25 pages in the transcript above if you don’t believe me–and remember to join us every Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time for the next #storyappchat installment.

Speaking of the next installment, for the 10/23/11 #storyappchat we plan to cover the ins and outs of Social Media for Content Creators, a topic you won’t want to miss. Plus, we are planning to have a giveaway on a just-released storybook app–more details in a few days. See you there!

Special Guest Host for 10/16 #storyappchat: Liz Castro

We’ve got someone special lined up for this week’s #storyappchat: tech writer and ePub expert Elizabeth Castro! She authored the book that taught me (and scores of others) HTML more than a decade ago, and her recent EPUB: Straight to the Point book is a godsend for designers and independent publishers tasked with creating ePub documents for the iBookstore and elsewhere. Read more about Liz at her site, blog and Amazon page. Here’s her Twitter profile too.

Of special interest to those of us who want to create electronic storybooks for kids is Liz’s recent ePub miniguide titled Read Aloud ePub for iBooks, which walks readers through the process of creating narrated books for the iBookstore, complete with word highlighting. As far as I know, this book is the only resource of its kind now available.

Bring your questions, comments and good humor for Liz. We will kick things off at 9:00 p.m. EDT this Sunday night–just use the Twitter hashtag #storyappchat to participate.

P.S. First-timer? No worries. Just check out this fantastic Twitter chat cheat sheet by Debbie Ohi–it’s a piece of cake!

Transcript for the 9/11/11 #storyappchat: Sound!

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Great chat last night–in which we discussed the pros and cons of using audio in storybook apps–specifically three main categories: background music, sound effects and voiceover narration. Thanks to all who stopped by to share opinions, links and information.

Also a big thank-you goes to Piccolo Picture Books, who gave away FOUR promo codes for stories within their app. If you missed the chat, feel free to peruse the transcript above–and make plans to join us next Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern for the next one!

Topic for 9/11/11 #storyappchat: Sound

The stories in the new JibJab Jr. app have none.

The Loud Crow, Ruckus, and Nosy Crow story apps are full of ‘em!

We’re talkin’ about sound. Voiceovers, background music, sound effects, and any other audio that makes sense to include in storybook apps, iBooks and other electronic books.

We will also have two promo codes from Piccolo Picture Books to give away, so don’t miss this chat!

Join us tomorrow night (Sunday, September 11) at 9:00 p.m. Eastern to share your opinions on storybook audio or the lack thereof. Remember to use the #storyappchat hashtag, and we’ll see you then!