Author & Illustrator Mike Austin Debuts With Digital, Then Shifts to Paper Books

Mike Austin is a children’s author in an unusual and fantastic position. His first book that came out was a picture book app with Ruckus Media Group called A Present for Milo. It was well-received, and Mike was quickly hit up to make two more books, only this time with paper and a spine. DotMomming talks to Mike about his experiences as an author-illustrator working in digital and print formats.

DotMomming: A Present for Milo was written originally as a picture book app for preschoolers, and then, after it was out, you were offered a contract to turn it into a print book. That's not the norm these days. Could you speak to that highly unusual experience and how it came about? When can we look for the paper books on shelves?

Mike Austin: It's funny but it actually began as a traditional book.

I came up with the story about 15 years ago when my daughter was around two. One evening at bedtime we were wondering what our cat, Milo, was doing all day while we were out of the house. So I grabbed my sketch pad and started drawing the story. I liked the simple concept and character enough that I decided to make a book about Milo and his adventures.

The finished dummy sat on my shelf for years before I was contacted last April by literary agent Rubin Pfeffer, who had seen my illustration portfolio and asked if I was interested in collaborating on some projects. I of course said YES!

A Present for Milo was introduced to a number of different publishers, but it was Ruckus Media Group who saw it and thought it would make a great iPad app. I knew nothing about apps and thought what a great opportunity to learn about the process, thinking how cool it would be to see Milo come to life in an animated, digital form.

I worked with a great developer and art director at Sequel Digital. The project took about three months from concepts to finished app.

The app was launched in early December, and shortly after I was offered a contract to create two new Milo books.



DM: You landed literary agent Ruben Pfeffer? That cannot come out of the blue. Had you been interested in breaking into children's book publishing and been shopping your portfolio around?

MA: I have been working as a graphic designer/illustrator for more than 20 years, my wife Jing Jing Tsong also. And I've been an illustrator full-time for 10. I have portfolios at the I Spot, Workbook.com, picture-book.com, and a bunch of other places. I've won awards and all that. The majority of my work is editorial (newspapers, magazines, corporate publications) for a very diverse cleintele: The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, MIT, Boy's Life, American Express, even the U.S. State Department.

Rubin had actually seen Jing's portfolio first and found me through her. I wasn't actively seeking representation, although I was very interested in children's book publishing from Day One. I have a bazillion ideas in my head, and when Rubin and I had our first conversation I almost exploded. Jing and I have always tried to present a positive, whimsical style in our work. Maybe that's what caught his eye -- I don't know exactly. But I have to say Rubin is a very brilliant and wonderful person who's helped us focus our ideas and make great decisions. It has been an incredible learning experience.

DM: How many print children's books have you done? And how many apps?

MA: A Present for Milo is my first children's book app. I'm currently working on two new Milo books that should be available the end of the year and a new series of apps for young readers that will also be available this fall.

DM: Traditional print books follow standard, 32-page formats, while apps seem to have no constraints. Do you prefer one medium to the other?

MA: I love working in both formats. I think it really depends on the story concept and how well the illustrations will work digitally. I love the flexibility that a digital format offers and also the instant gratification. It was so thrilling to send the page files to the developer and a few days later have a sample app with working clickables. Very cool.

DM: How do you feel kids experience your books? When you're creating a paper book, you have a reader in mind. And when you're creating an app, there are very different considerations. Could you share what your biggest priorities are when creating illustrations and text for the various readers?

MA: I hope that kids are having fun and enjoy spending time with the story and characters. If they are engaged, entertained and learning than I've succeeded. That's my goal, to create something that is meaningful.

DM: Some critics feel that picture book apps blur the lines between a book, a video game, and a movie. What do you say to that?

MA: There are all kinds of apps out there, just like different kinds of books, video games and movies. It's the parents’ responsibility to choose the content that's most appropriate and be engaged in the learning process. Is A Present for Milo a movie? No. Is it a video game? In some ways yes because of the way the reader has to interact and click through each page. Is it a new kind of book? Yes.

DM: How do you think picture book apps are impacting early literacy?

MA: It's an exciting new medium that gives early readers a very fun way to experience both new content and the classics. That's what it's all about, finding new and entertaining ways to help young readers learn. Judging from the popularity of children's book apps, I think it's positive.

DM: What's ahead for you after Milo? Both in terms of digital book making and traditional?

MA: My wife, illustrator Jing Jing Tsong, is currently under contract for a new children's book due out later this year, and we're working together on a bunch of new children's book apps that should be out before Christmas of this year.

DM: Many children's authors and artists are itching to break into this wild and unknown frontier of apps for kids. What advice do you have for them?

MA: It is a time-consuming process, and the development costs can be very high depending on the complexity of the project. For example, if you have 15 pages and each page has backgrounds, lead-in animations, and five clickable elements that each do five random things, you now have more than 500 illustrations! It's a lot of work, but if you have a strong story and a great developer, then go for it!

Nosy Crow's Kate Wilson on apps, print books, and the wisdom to know the difference

We heard from Loud Crow’s CEO and founder Calvin Wang a few weeks back. So it’s only fair that we jump the pond and speak with the other Crow on the children’s app landscape, Nosy Crow. Managing Director Kate Wilson, who had the wisdom to publish The Gruffalo at PanMacmillan back in 1999, took a few minutes out of what must be an insanely busy schedule to talk to DotMomming about apps, reading, and the shape of books to come.

But first, let’s get up to speed about Nosy Crow, one of the many new publishing ventures on the scene in this rapidly changing world of books – specifically children’s books. Nosy Crow took wing in February 2010 and published its first traditional book in January 2011, the YA Small Blue Thing by S.C. Ransom. By the end of the year, the company plans to have 24 books for sale in the UK and five apps for sale throughout the world. The books are available in the United States and Canada under the Nosy Crow imprint from Candlewick Press, who will begin publishing Nosy Crow’s illustrated books in August 2011.

What sets Nosy Crow apart from many new app producers is the experience of its staff. While many houses see their top talent drawn from gaming and entertainment fields, Kate Wilson brings twenty-five years' experience as an editor.

DotMomming: How many of your books will be apps, how many traditional? And will you produce apps from paper books? And paper books from apps?

Kate Wilson: Twenty-four books will be either print only or (when they’re novels, print and e-book) and five will be apps only. There won’t be any overlap between the print books that we publish and the apps we bring out this year. This is because we believe that there’s little point in squashing a book that works well on the print page onto a phone or a tablet device: We think it’s much better to commission books that work on the page for that medium, and commission new kinds of reading experiences from scratch for digital media.

DM: Most apps on the market right now are digital versions of popular titles – the Dr. Seuss books, Sandra Boynton’s menagerie of board books. But Nosy Crow plans to release new authors and illustrators along with established names. There is some risk in launching new titles, as parents have a hard time wading through the sea of apps to find quality. What’s your strategy for getting the word out about unknown artists and authors?

KW: We really believe that this is a market in which really good products – well thought-through and well-produced, with a strong sense of the child and parent who will be reading the app – will shine out. We are active on Twitter and Facebook, and we talk about apps in general as well as our own on our blog. Our blog posts Appy Days and Digital Natives: Kids and Apps, for example, outline some of our app thinking. At the moment, there aren’t many people making apps that are reading experiences. While we are, to some degree, competitors, and while we have a range of philosophies and priorities, we are, broadly, mutually supportive, amplifying one another’s messages through social media.

DM: How do you find your talent – whether debut authors like S.C. Ransom or well-established names like the prolific Philip Ardagh and illustrator of the Gruffalo books Axel Scheffler?

KW: We accept submissions of writing, art, and concepts directly from authors. We have guidelines on our site. A number of our publications have been and will be the result of authors, etc. approaching us. S.C. Ransom is a good example. We receive submissions from the many agents  – mostly U.K.-based as that’s where we are – who represent writing and illustration talent. We know them because several of the people who work at Nosy Crow have been in the children’s publishing industry for many years (25 in my case). And because of our long experience in the publishing industry, some authors and illustrators have had good experiences working with us in the past and want to share the excitement of a new publishing venture. Philip Ardagh and Axel Scheffler are good examples of that kind of talent.

DM: Nosy Crow was in the news in March for signing with Candlewick Press to co-publish the majority of its titles in the U.S. and Canada. Could you talk about what this relationship means for Nosy Crow?

KW: Candlewick Press will publish the majority of our illustrated titles, starting in August. It’s a great thing for our authors and illustrators: They have, on the one hand, the personal, hands-on relationship they have with us in the UK, and, on the other hand, the highly professional advocacy, market understanding, and credibility of Candlewick, who sees the publication of its book in the United States and Canada not as a one-off title but as a longer-term connection. It’s great for us because it gives Nosy Crow a print presence in the United States. And it’s great for Candlewick, who have access to a range of talent that they wouldn’t have access to, while they can make good use of our social media engagement – many of the people who follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and visit our website are from North America.

DM: When you spoke at the Bologna Book Fair’s “Tools of Change” conference on March 28, you addressed the cost considerations publishers must weigh in app production. Could you speak to the issue of quality and the factors Nosy Crow evaluates before taking on projects?

KW: This is an evolving market, and we want to produce apps of the highest possible quality. At the moment, we are making the best apps we can, and we are not skimping on the quality of illustration, audio recording, or music. We are packing the apps with a high-level of interactivity – and we do our coding in-house. It is expensive, but I think that what matters is that you see every dollar we spend in the quality of what we do.

DM: Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson, whose book has sold gajillions of copies, recently nixed the idea of a Gruffalo picture book app. Donaldson is not alone in rejecting apps, as many authors, artists, and parents worry about the impact of digitizing libraries on kids’ reading and learning. Can you speak to that?

KW: We believe in the importance of reading for pleasure. We love the smell and feel of print books and don’t take any less pride in the terrific print books that we make than in the apps we are creating. We think, though, that there are circumstances in which the portability and interactivity of books on a screen are appropriate, and that, if a child is using a screen, we think that it’s important that there are really engaging reading experiences available on it. I was quoted in the article that Julia Donalson contributed to. I said that I entirely understood Julia’s view. Having published The Gruffalo, I think it’s perfect for the page.

However, I also said, "If parents and children are moving towards screens, I feel really profoundly that it is our responsibility as publishers to provide really compelling reading experiences that are at least as interesting as games. I think it's luddite and refusenik not to embrace where your readers are going. We can't be a worthy antique as an industry – we have to go where people are. If we turn our backs on that, other people will fill the space, and they won't be people who've had 25 years' experience writing, illustrating, and publishing the best children's books."

DM: Some app producers are comfortable blurring the lines, and when they are asked whether their product is a book, a game, or a movie simply reply, “Yes.” Your first app, The Three Little Pigs, shows great restraint in the number of whistles and bells included to tell the story. How do you decide how much interactivity a book needs?

KW: I think that’s a great question, and one we give really careful thought to when we are creating our apps. I think that what we are interested in is creating a reading experience, not a game. So, in The Three Little Pigs, for example, we didn’t want to interfere too much with the linear flow of the story, so there isn’t a point, for example, where you can break away to play a game. Instead, the additional layer of non-linear comments from the pigs deepen the reader’s sense of the character of the individual pigs. And many of the things that you can do progress the story – by tapping, you can help the pigs to construct their houses, or run away from the wolf... though you can also help the wolf to blow down the houses by blowing on the screen too.

DM: I live in a house with three young readers of books, the youngest of whom is learning to read via a screen as well as on paper. These children are digital natives, and they don’t share the same affinity for ink-and-paper books as their parents. They move fluidly from one medium to the next. Would you gaze into your crystal ball and share what you see for their reading futures?

KW: I don’t mind how they read; I mind that they are reading. Our role as publishers is to provide material that is really engaging to young readers, to motivate them to learn to decode as a necessity (it’s one of the key skills they need to be educated and successful) and as a pleasure.

Book 'Em, Danno

Interesting story in Publisher's Weekly's Industry News today about "dynamic, interactive multimedia content" for kids. Or in other words, the picture books of tomorrow.

Speaking at Digital Book World, four publishers who have already staked a claim in the great digital book frontier talked about rapidly changing technology and what it means to the publishing world as more and more books are going digital.

I found humor in how each identified himself on the panel. Are they book publishers? Not in the traditional sense. More like a “mobile and tablet publisher,” as one defined his business.

The question of quality is always what interests me, and Rick Richter of Ruckus Media Group has the most interesting comments. He referred to picture book apps and this new medium as "books you can play with and games you can read."

Richter said, “there are 30,000 kids’ apps in the App Store, and about 27,000 of them are horrible. We hope to take that curator's role and let parents know what’s makes a great app and an excellent experience for their kids. We want people to take this space seriously and respect kids.”

Let's hope he puts his money where his mobile, interactive body opening through which food is taken in is.

Mom, Will You Read Me a Bedtime App?

It's a pivotal moment for picture books, and traditionalists might find themselves shouting, "No, David!"

Here come the picture book apps.

The New York Times writes about e-readers with color and the new push from publishers to bring these books out. Most readers and writers of picture books knew that day was coming, but it still seemed "a ways off." Many hung tight to the thought that the purity of the 32-page book as we know it might remain unthreatened.

Well, those days are over, and it remains to be seen how the youngest readers respond. Our kindergartener has a paper-thing-with-a-spine kind of book under the Christmas tree. I plan to download a new picture book app after school today to see what he thinks. We'll see which one he goes back to again and again during the holiday break.

While the early picture book apps out of the chute have been with smaller publishers, the heavyweights have now arrived. Apple is pushing more than 100 titles to its iBookstore starting today with incredibly popular titles like the Olivia series by Ian Falconer. And Fancy Nancy has been available on Nook Color for about a month.

Most publishers have been eager to jump onto the e-book bandwagon, but there were a few obstacles in the way for picture books. The largest being that pesky problem of color. But now that that's taken care of, off we go!

"It finally gives us the opportunity to have our picture books join the e-book revolution,” says Jon Anderson of Simon & Schuster in the Times article. “It gives us a great opportunity to monetize our content in a way that we previously haven’t been able to.”

And monetize they will.

This is the turning point. Anderson says that by early 2011, S&S hopes to release picture e-books at the same time as the print versions. Just like the grownups.

Daphne, Dressing Up, and Parenting Online

Parenting is hard enough. Taking it to the Web? That's a whole different can o' worms.

A Missouri mom's recent post about her 5-year-old son's Halloween costume has drawn a tremendous response from parents and others -- and not just for his choice in being Daphne from Scooby Doo.

On her blog Nerdy Apple Bottom, the Mo Mom wrote,

"If you think that me allowing my son to be a female character for Halloween is somehow going to ‘make’ him gay then you are an idiot. Firstly, what a ridiculous concept. Secondly, if my son is gay, OK. I will love him no less. Thirdly, I am not worried that your son will grow up to be an actual ninja so back off."

The post, which features a photo of her son in his bright orange and purple costume complete with pink boots, has gone viral, generating over a million hits and more than 38,000 comments. Mom was interviewed by phone on CNN’s “American Morning,” saying she and her husband were “flabbergasted” by the response.

Various media outlets have now weighed in, not to mention all the mothers and others with strong opinions.

Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams hilariously addresses the mom's post, saying "This is how it's done, folks."

"It should be a no-brainer that 5-year-old boy who dresses like Daphne one day a year is not automatically gay or transgendered -- although obviously, if he had wanted to be Velma, he'd be a lesbian. The point is, as the mom blogger beautifully expresses it, so what?. . ."

But Carline Howard over at Forbes.com isn't so supportive.

"Her anger at the mean mommies is valid. But she’s taken to the blogosphere with her rants (people can be mean, even to children! traditional gender distinctions aren’t fair!) and his photo at the expense of her “worrier” son’s privacy."

This entire kerfuffle reminds me of a children's picture book called "King & King" (Tricycle Press, 2002) that was attacked for "promoting a gay agenda" and sexualizing characters for children. But what the book boils down to for me is less about homosexuality than about teaching tolerance. Buy it now.

I agree with Nerdy Apple Bottom that her son did "rock that wig." And obviously her post struck a chord across the country. So while many of us support the notion that "it takes a village," this Missouri Mom seems to have gotten a much larger village than she ever dreamed possible.

A New Form of Storytelling, Both Online and Off

The New York Times Sunday Book Review takes an interesting look at a new beast on the scene in children's literature: books that use an online component to engage and expand the reading experience.

These books are bridging the online and off-line reading experience, in some cases using the Internet to propel the plot forward. Readers go to websites mentioned in the book's pages for information or "bonus" material.

The concept sounds engaging, but it seems a little clunky in many ways.

If your child is still reading the paper page, she's going to have to shift from traditional book to computer and back again. But if she has made the move to an e-reader, the experience seems to be more fluid.

Says the Times:

". . . with the rise of e-readers and other tablet devices like Apple’s iPad, I have to imagine that some author is hard at work creating a fully digital experience that combines text, video, animation and data. Books, movies and video games will all contribute to this new form of storytelling, and I would not be surprised if it happens to children’s and young adult literature first. We may scoff at so much gimmickry, but what adults call gimmickry kids call something else: awesome."

Quick Draws: iStoryTime's Picture Book Apps Come Hot Off the Presses

Toy Story 3 set box office records this weekend, which wasn't too surprising. But what did come as a surprise was that Buzz Lightyear and the crew were heading toward infinity and beyond with the release of Toy Story 3 apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch -- all on the film’s launch weekend.

The digital book publishing business is turning around books quickly enough to tie in with movie releases, which hasn't always been the case. Two other recent big-screen hits, How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After, also launched picture book apps the same day the films hit theaters, allowing kids to walk out of the movie house and download the story for the drive home. Both were published by iStoryTime, which is part of FrogDogMedia.

“It was less than eight weeks from the finish of the movie to our book being published,” said iStoryTime founder Graham Farrar. “It used to be that you could not publish a book at the same time as the release because they were finishing just weeks before the films hit theaters.”

As we’ve learned from previous interviews with picture book app producers, the turnaround time to make a picture book app for iPad or iPhone is just a matter of weeks.

“Certainly someone could send us a fantastic Halloween app book today,” Graham said, “and it would be a non-issue to get that out by Halloween.”

iStoryTime has been on the scene for about a year and a half and has 35 books in their catalog – making them one of the largest picture book app publishers. They have worked with DreamWorks on the movie tie-ins, but they also publish little-known authors and illustrators, such as their popular Binky the Pink Elephant, written by Sonowa Jackson and illustrated by Jaclyn Mednicov, which has sold upwards of 10,000 copies.

“That's the beauty in books,” says Graham, a father of two young children, who used to tote bags of picture books out to restaurants but now totes their books in his iPhone. “If you look on the bookshelf in kids’ rooms, there’s plenty of room for Dr. Seuss and Binky the Pink Elephant and How to Train Your Dragon. And it’s constantly evolving as they get older.”

That matters a lot to picture book authors and illustrators trying to break into the market, so it’s great to hear a publisher like Graham leaving the door open to new talent.

iStoryTime accepts submissions from authors, but the story has to be illustrated – which is completely different from what traditional book publishers want. And while they are open to retellings of the classics or original stories, they are only interested in buying the rights for electronic distribution – meaning an author with iStoryTime could sell his or her digital book to a traditional publisher.

“The value is in the content these authors create,” said Graham, addressing skeptics who are still leery of digital books. “Michael Jackson’s Thriller was just as good on CD as vinyl.”

MeeGenius and Picture Book Apps: An Interesting Story

I had picture book apps on my mind after attending a meeting up at my kids' school last week. A learning counselor was talking about summer activities parents could do to keep kids' math and reading skills alive. One mother said her daughter wanted to read books on the Kindle, just like Mom and Dad. But she was worried about her daughter learning to read in an electronic format. What about the act of turning the page? Basic literacy skills? Engaging with a real book?

I contacted David K. Park who, along with Wandy Hoh, is founder of MeeGenius, a publisher of digital picture books for the iPad, iPod Touch, and the iPhone. MeeGenius has been listed on the New and Noteworthy section of iTunes, the What’s Hot section, and a staff favorite for the iPad.

“We launched our beta site and introduced the iPhone and iPad app on April 1st of this year,” says David in an online interview with dot.momming. Remember that the iPad hit the market on April 3, so they’re off and running.

“We’re ultimately creating these beautiful works to be read and enjoyed by children, so whatever medium they enjoy the most, we should adapt and provide it for them,” says David, who is the father of two young boys. “Furthermore, a digital platform will allow so many more talented authors and illustrators to get their works out there in the hands of children.”

Okay, sure, but let's get to the point: Change is bad. Everybody knows that, right?

What does an app publisher like MeeGenius have to say to calm parents and authors who are quaking in our collective boots? For authors and illustrators, we want our books to stand the test of time – in a library, on a bookshelf, under Junior’s bed! What are we supposed to do with all these changes in book publishing?

“We think you should embrace it and will be pleasantly surprised by it.”

I can see what it means for parents like me: I’m driving on our annual 11-hour roadtrip to Grandmom’s house, only this time, instead of toting a bag full of bulky picture books to keep the troops happy in the car, I download an entire library of them. In app form, those picture books are accessible at all times – whether we’re waiting in line at the St. Louis Arch, waiting for lunch at yet another Cracker Barrel, or trying to fill the endless miles.

As parents, we want our kids reading and engaging with books. So as iPad and other platforms enter the market, are parents ready for this new medium? Will they believe that their kids are getting the same out of this new experience as they are from traditional books?