Still on Interactive Story Apps as a viable option for self-published authors to reuse assets from their published print books, this piece examines its benefits and downsides.
Benefits
Readers/End-Users
The main benefits of Interactive Story Apps to readers come from its characteristic features.
- More Engagement. Interactive features make your story come alive, making it much more engaging to a reader. Features such as games, highlighted texts with pop-up screens that explain certain words, ability to record one’s voice, multiple reading modes etc., can spur the interest of a reader to continually spend time on your Interactive Story App.
- Complementary Resource. While I do not view Interactive Story Apps or any form of digital books as replacement for traditional print books, having complementary products also plays to the benefit of readers. As a parent myself, I now see the value of print and App book in different situations. I could have my daughter engaged in an App version of my print book during lengthy car rides or when she is plain bored of the print version. One of the things I also enjoy is having her hear my voice read out a story which is possible when I’m not present to read along with her.
- Push Notifications. Interactive Story Apps can include notifications to remind you to pick them up to read. It could even be a way to remind yourself to spend some reading time with your kid. The choice between reading the print or App book then becomes a matter of preference but reminder notifications via the App would have served a good purpose.
- Ease of access. As a reader, apps are readily accessible from the comfort of your device. With all the concerns about screen times for kids, I’d rather the limited time spent on their tablets be on valuable content such as a story book.
Self-Published Author
As a self-published author, the benefits of having an Interactive Story App are as follows:
- Ability to reach more audiences across other platforms. Every time I take my daughter to the GP, I’m fascinated by the presence of a screen with children’s games in the reception area. Your Interactive Story App could easily be one of such bundled content as explained under the section Where can my Interactive Story App be sold or downloaded? of my last piece.
- Cross-promotion and Upselling opportunities for other products. Your App forms part of your product offering thereby increasing your earning sources.
- New business model options. The world of Apps involves new business model options including In-App purchase, subscription, licensing to mention a few. Even more, these options do not have to be confined to the App stores – Google Play and Apple Store. In my experience, I’ve had licensing deals with independent content distributors that give me a guaranteed revenue stream monthly.
- Ease of distribution. Unlike books which have to be printed and shipped or require physical stores to distribute, Interactive Story Apps can easily be distributed globally to a wider audience. As long as there’s a Smartphone or Tablet in any part of the world then your App is within reach.
- Secure. Google Play and Apple Store are relatively secure in terms of piracy. There’s little to no risk of having your apps pirated.
- Reusable assets. Just like we leverage existing assets from our print book for the App, the app itself can be re-packaged to work across different platforms online and offline. Going from a mobile app to a web app, desktop or TV app is relatively easier. The transition curve is made easier if you use a tool like Unity3d which provides options to publish to multiple platforms.
- Control over distribution. Distribution of apps is wide and there are different avenues for getting your app out there. The choice is yours so you could combine different distribution channels to make the most of your App in terms of revenues.
- Creative Possibilities. Beyond the basic interactive features, you could take your App to new levels by incorporating Virtual Reality whereby the App is used alongside the print book to make certain features come alive e.g. play short videos related to the story when the App is placed over the print book.
- Language Localization. An interactive story app could easily be made available in multiple languages without having to develop separately for each language. In other words, the reader could have the option of selecting from a number of languages. This has the potential to reach more users across the world. Note that the story would still have to be translated to these languages and then incorporated into the App by the developer.
Downsides to Self-Publishers
As with every product, Interactive Story Apps have their disadvantages as follows:
Development Cost
The cost of developing an App is relatively high. As mentioned in my previous post, this cost largely depends on the scope of the project. As a developer, the number of target platforms (iOS, Android), the level of interactive features (games, etc.) are factors that determine how much work there is to do which in turn determine the work hours. Even though assets from the Print book are reusable, there usually will be more assets required like sound recordings, edits to the illustrations to make them interactive etc.
Maintenance
An App, like all software requires updates for different reasons. This could be:
Operating System Updates – The underlying platform the App runs on such as Android and iOS may require updates to your Apps to meet new features e.g. an updated version of the OS to target devices that support these features.
App Store Changes – The App stores also change frequently to reflect changes in security etc. To meet this requirement or standard, you may need to update your app.
App Changes – As a self-publisher, you may want to upgrade your Interactive Story App because you’ve just added a new feature – activity page etc., which also enhances the value or benefit to users.
The foregoing updates to your App will likely incur extra development or maintenance cost depending on the agreement in place with your developer.
Distribution/Publishing Fees
Distribution of Apps via the two major platforms Google and Apple comes at a fee. For Google Android, you register as a developer for a lifetime fee of $25. For Apple, it’s an annual recurring fee of $99. Apple’s is similar to having a website domain or hosting. You have to renew your annual membership otherwise the app will be taken down. Alternatively, you could chose to outsource this component such that your App is distributed via another company which takes care of the fees.
Split Revenues
App stores usually take a commission for every paid earnings on your App. This can vary from 15% to 30% for the Stores.
Final Thoughts
As authors, it can be tempting to get caught up in debates of whether digital books damage the credibility of traditional books and what not. That debate has been going on since smartphones and tablets entered the mainstream. However, as a self-published author myself, I’m reminded of my primary goals which include making the most of my investments to drive value. With a great story to tell, I want it told in as many medium as possible, hence why I started this series. Interactive Story Apps are one of other mediums to ensure that I reach as many people as I can with the same assets in varying forms possible.
With this, I conclude the background series on Interactive Story Apps. I hope it presents enough information to make an informed choice on making Interactive Story Apps an option for your print books. Should it be of interest, I’m happy to discuss further so feel free to contact me. Next, I’ll commence a practical series where I’ll develop an Interactive Story App for an existing children’s book.
