The Digital Age

We’re in it; deal.

Thanks to Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Android, and their promised descendents, digital publishing will eat its way like PacMan (remember PacMan?) into all areas of the book business, including children’s. This does not mean that the days of curling up on a cozy sofa with a beloved hardcover picture book are numbered–all experts agree that print books will never disappear. But with the rising costs of paper and labor, and the undeniable appeal of interactive buttons, the writing is on the iPad.

Here’s what I learned from a recent webinar on the subject, staffed by an editor from HarperCollins and two editors from small start-up companies who intend to specialize in e-publishing. All agreed it was a brave new world out there, with challenges, pitfalls, and potentially great rewards.

Here are the challenges:

• Among the first items in an order of business is the necessity of clearing up the pricing fog. Amazon caused a ruckus last year by setting a single price for almost all digital editions ($9.99, or lower in some cases), regardless of what the publisher wanted to charge. When MacMillan, one of the big houses, insisted on setting its own prices, Amazon simply removed the “Buy” buttons from all books on its website published by MacMillan. Though dramatic, the gesture didn’t change anything; the issue remains.
• With over 325,000 Apps out there, how are we going to make our apps stand out? Rick Richter, of the newly-established Ruckus Press brought this up, and I could see his point, but the question startled me nonetheless: he was referring to digital children’s books as “apps”? Hmm . . .
• The nature of the product will require new ways of reaching the market, and there’s a lot of competition out there–not just apps, but all the rabbits consumers can chase on their electronic devices. Mucho diversions make it mucho hard to capture attention for any one thing.
• Another requirement is new ways to order the creative process. The cozy relationship of editor and author/illustrator must make room for designer and tekkie. Often two or more of those functions will be combined in the same person, but new technologies will require some shifts in relationship.
• Picture book authors seeking to break in the business will have a tough row to hoe if they’re not digitally adept. Popular authors and illustrators will remain in print. Newbies and midlisters won’t. Period.

But with all the perceived advantages, challenges are no serious hindrance. And the advantages are what, again?

• First and foremost, the appeal of the product. A digital book doesn’t just sit there and let itself be read. It’s your pal! It talks to you, responds to you, plays music and eye-catching animations. Better than TV, even! Digital publishing seeks to “Invite the reader into the story.”
• On the practical side, the digital market is incredibly efficient: a publisher can define the market; shape his product for the market; design, develop, and deliver to the market with a minimum of overhead because it’s all done in cyberspace. Also much faster: an ebook takes one-tenth the time of a traditional picture book to produce.
• The speed and efficiency of digital publishing will work to the advantage of authors and illustrators in time, as the market grows. It will be to the advantage of the author/illustrator to have some computer savvy, but at this point, at least, publishers are willing to work with talented individuals.
• The ease of social networking makes it easier to form “communities” of readers. Kate Wilson, of the London-based Nosy Crow, says their focus is on parents–already they’ve developed “mum” communities on FB and Twitter (and others) where parents can critique, ask questions, and even make suggestions for other products.

There’s no point in going all Luddite; digital publishing is the wave of the future, and it’s not all bad. Just a little disconcerting, especially when a digital publisher says that their goal is not to “disappoint the child who’s used to touchscreen interactivity”–i.e., kids are going to be bored by plain text. Haven’t we been here before? Didn’t Neil Postman and others teach us that TV watching blunts rather than stimulates the imagination? Yes, I know–digital books are interactive, meaning that the reader doesn’t just sit like a cotton puff while images drip into his brain. Still, a lot is being supplied that the reader used to have to supply for himself: actions, sounds, images. Animations are clever and entertaining, but it’s hard to think of them as anything other than brain candy–supplying fun and simple responses but not the exercise needed to build intelligence. “Inviting the reader into the story” is the stated purpose of digital publishing–but didn’t good books always do that?

I’m convinced that good books will always be with us–and many of them will come in digital form. I’m just hoping that they will find readers.