posted
I think the idea of books being an "interactive experience" isn't new. Choose Your Own Adventure books were a cute little subgenre, but it's not like they took off. Pop-up books have been possible for a while, with pages delicately folded to produce interesting shapes and dynamic as you turn the pages. Books with tabs you could pull and change the content...
But they don't stick in the mainstream, because there's something inherently basic and lovely about simple words. I think it'll be the same way with interactive books. I got one book, Level 26, that is a novel experience that goes between online videos and the book. I couldn't get into it. The disconnect was too severe for me.
I could imagine trailers to a movie version being part of it, but not games or audio commentary. Audio commentary? The author would probably say "stop listening to me and read the freaking novel, please!"
I think eBooks will simply remain just digital versions of the books.
Now, in terms of non-fiction, I DO think there is room for some digital interactivity. Even though non-fiction is telling a story, I could see the ease of cross-referencing, of including studies or other facts and figures as a plus. Non-fiction is a different animal, that I think digital technology could enhance.
posted
This is very interesting to me as I start writing more YA fiction. I don't know that the multi-media thing will take off in a big way for adult fiction. Maybe a trailer at the beginning or one at the end for the author's next book.
But think of the possibilities in Middle Grade and YA fiction.
Hey, in my book, anything that gets kids reading more, has got to be a good thing.
But the prices of the e-readers will have to come way down first. While kids are often among the first to adopt new technology, I'm just not sure I see that many expensive e-readers in the hands of kids just yet.
posted
What a fantastic experience for children's picture books. I love the concept of interaction with a story, but don't need it for chapter books or greater.
Posts: 475 | Registered: Jul 2010
| IP: Logged |
posted
There's already quite a lot in the children's lit genre in interactive books. I think they're so-so. Some are meant just to read to the child the words on the page, which is a useful "waiting for a doctor's appointment" type of diversion for a non-reading little one. Some do some simple animation. Some build in little puzzle games midway through. My daughter was playing one I got for the iPad yesterday that's a Jack and the Beanstalk game/book. The full-color is gorgeous and she enjoys the way you swipe to flip the pages. She played some puzzles (mixed-up images) for a good 15 minutes.
I think this market will remain somewhat small and specialized, but that there will be breakout titles in there from time to time. And I think some really innovative authors will figure out some cool adaptations for some of their work for grown-ups or other age ranges, but I think that will be the exception, not the norm. And I think readers will adopt at low rates, in fact it's more likely that those types of apps or interactive books will be reaching into a different audience than the standard book-buying one, and that is the gaming audience. A lot of the really high-end Role Playing Games include a ton of storytelling in them, so I could see a vision of the future that includes interactive books that are the book-first, gaming-second view of that same thing (which the RPGs are currently game-first, storytelling-second.)
Might be an interesting way to reach more broadly. I also think some authors will find a way to do nifty marketing things with this sort of media.
And totally agree that the non-fiction market is where interactivity can really change the game. Think about a chemistry text-ebook with embedded videos and animations of experiments. Linguistic text with short audio clips of phonemes to illustrate specific points about vowel shifts. Cool, cool possibilities.
posted
If you are a reader, I don't see the interactive play important. We have video games and movies to give us that. When I pick up a book it is so I can let my imagination dive into the story being read. I want to see the characters in my head and visualize the story in my head. I don't want to play tic-tac-toe with the MC. Posts: 725 | Registered: Jan 2011
| IP: Logged |
posted
I haven't read the source article, but why shouldn't some books come with additional content?
Currently some music CDs include video content as 'extras'. The video content doesn't influence me to buy, but maybe some buyers are influenced. The video doesn't get in my way as a CD-user, it's just there if I'm interested. Generally, I'm not.
I learned about Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series through a video game. I don't even recall the name of the game but the instructions said that the magic system was based on that in The Wheel of Time. It outlined the magic system. I liked it. So I bought the first book in Jordan's series. In that case a video game hooked me on a book series.
Might such extra content detract from a book? Sure. Suppose that the extra content reveals facts not evident in the book, that the author holds personal beliefs or subscribes to a lifestyle that turns me off, or suppose the producers of the content make it intrusive to the reading experience. Both examples are avoidable and matters of poor judgment, not a function of additional content per se.
I'm all for anything that draws in more readers without altering the reading experience.
Will such additional content become normal? I don't know. It doesn't appear to happen the other way around, where e-books are attached to other media as additional content. For example, it would be a simple thing to include an e-book excerpt from Charles Portis's book True Grit when the movie is released on DVD. Will the studio do so? They could, and perhaps some people who didn't even know the movie was based on a book might find their way to a bookstore. I like that outcome.
posted
The coolest thing I can think of for extra content would be an optional soundtrack chosen by the author. A subtle soundtrack is one of the few things that I love in movies that is absent from books.
Posts: 456 | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Paper books are limited to still pictures, if there are any illustrations. How cool would it be to be reading, say, Lord of the Rings, and have a 3D flyby shot of Minas Tirith or Mount Doom? I don't know. It could be terrible. It could be awesome.
Or say you're reading an older piece of literature. It'd be cool to click on the margin, and someone would explain some obscure tidbit whose meaning has been lost over time. That way you don't have to interrupt your reading to search a footnote or page back to a glossary. Such notes could also just pop up in info boxes.
I can't see games or video trailers being in there. That's no longer a book.
quote:The coolest thing I can think of for extra content would be an optional soundtrack chosen by the author. A subtle soundtrack is one of the few things that I love in movies that is absent from books.
So if there's music in the book, you hear it too... Trouble is, all my other characters complain about my MC's taste in music. Likely the readers would too.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
