The Digital Revolution in Children's Publishing.

The Digital Revolution in Children’s Publishing.

Print & E: Room for Both?

Cannibalization of print sales has often been the chief concern about the increasing foothold of e-books and other digital products, but none of the publishers PW spoke with expressed worry that digital products would supplant traditional print (a few large publishers declined to comment for this story). “It’s never been our intention for one to replace the other,” says Jeanne Mosure, senior v-p and group publisher of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “Our intent is that it’s always going to push the sale of our books.” Indeed, with Disney’s Kingdom Keepers app, readers must have the book to “unlock” the game. Scholastic’s 39 Clues series requires readers to both use the computer and read the books. “I have never believed in cannibalization,” says Nicholas Callaway, chairman of Callaway Arts & Entertainment, which created the iPad app for Miss Spider’s Tea Party, with enhanced narration, animation, interactivity, and sound effects. Author David Kirk has sold more than six million copies of his 1994 book, but the app has given his story a new lease on life. It currently sits at #16 on Apple’s list of top paid iPad book apps. “I also believe the nature of technology is both and not either/or. The print-based book is one of civilization’s greatest inventions,” says Callaway.

Publishers and authors typically say they want kids to be able to read (and interact with) a story in any form, including electronic devices. “They’re not so much competitors as they are companions,” says author Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whose Little Pea is the book of the month for Readeo.com, a subscription site that lets children and adults in different cities see live video of each other sharing digital picture books. “You might own it in both forms. One doesn’t preclude the other.”

Indeed, a child today may read a print book at home—and an app version of the same title on his mother’s iPhone in the grocery store. To tap into the new reality, publishers are taking some risks. “Everyone is experimenting to some degree—retailers, publishers, authors,” says Neil De Young, executive director of Hachette Digital.

Full article @ http://www.publishersweekly.com