Ebooks & Kids: Notes From #LaunchKids & Digital Book World 2014

My number one mind blowing take away from #LaunchKids, Digital Book World 2014:

"67% of U.S. children aged 2-13 are now reading digitally. That's up 54% from last year according to PlayCollective & Digital Book World."

Graphic: Digital Book World

Graphic: Digital Book World

Related Articles

What Social Media & Marketing Tools Are Publishers Using SuccessfullyDigital Book World

What Is A Digital Book Worth?
Carisa Kluver, The Digital media Diet

Digital Engagement Is key Say Children's & Young Adult Publishers

"Dominque Raccah, CEO of Sourcebooks, agrees. The Naperville, Ill.-based publisher’s “Put Me In The Story” program met with tremendous success since launching in November 2012, enjoying a 100% increase on its revenue goal last year.
But Raccah said the more significant statistic is the 85% of customers surveyed who intend to come back. “That’s when I knew we had a business,” she said.
Raccah attributes that to a fully integrated digital ecosystem. Some 40% of significant user interactions with “Put Me In the Story” products are app-based, and key app titles are driving conversion of print."

Teens Don't Read For Fun Anymore
Digital Book World

10 Things You May Not Know About Ebook Pricing
Techcrunch, Rachel Willmer @rwillmer

Shifting Family Dynamics Give Kids More Media Purchase Decisions
Digital Book World

Amazing Apple Stats & Facts
iPad Facts quoted during #LaunchKids by Rick Richter @RickatRuckus

New Study: Number Of Kids Reading Ebooks Has Doubled Since 2010
Press Release, Scholastic

All About The Kids: Launch Kids 2014

Kimberly Lew, Publishing Trends @publishingtrend

RELATED SLIDES

From: Stacey Matthias Co-CEO, Insight Strategy Group

Sizing Up the Kids’ Media Market: Trends in Digital Media Usage Among Toddlers, Teens, and In-Betweens (Stacey Matthias, Insight Strategy Group) from Publishers Launch Conferences

Kids Books Online & Off: Changing behavior In The Digital World by Jonathan Nowell, President, Nielsen Book & Jo Henry, Director, Nielsen Book Research

Kids Books Online and Off: Changing Buying Behaviors in the Digital Age (Nielsen - Jo Henry - Jonathan Nowell) from Publishers Launch Conferences

From Page Flip to Screen Swipe: 10 Keys to Ebooks & Learning by Jeremy Greenfield

From Page Flip to Screen Swipe: 10 Keys to Ebooks and Learning (Digital Book World and PlayCollective) from Publishers Launch Conferences

Let's Be Friends: Being A Social Writer & How Publishers Can Help Authors Connect With Readers (good platform building information)

 

Let’s Be Friends: Being a Social Writer—and How Publishers Can Help Authors Connect with Readers (Sarah Mlynowski) from Publishers Launch Conferences

Moving To Mobile: Developing A Key Strategy For Children's Publishing by Kristen McLean, Bookigee

Moving to Mobile: Developing a Mobile Strategy for Children’s Publishing (Kristen McLean, Bookigee) from Publishers Launch Conferences

The State Of The Art for Illustrated eBooks by Ron Martinez (Publishers launch 2013)

Ron Martinez - The State of the Art for Illustrated eBooks from Publishers Launch Conferences

In The Niches: market Verticals Reap The Rewards Of Scale by David Nassbaum, @dnussbaum (Publishers Launch May 2013)

David Nussbaum - In the Niches: Market Verticals Reap the Rewards of Scale from Publishers Launch Conferences

Enjoy the read! If you have links to interesting posts, please let me know.

 

Let's Do This: Inspiring Kids To Tell Stories & Code

2013 appeared to be a tipping point for the importance of teaching kids to code. Robot Turtles became the most highly funded board game on KICKSTARTER. Edutopia listed 7 Apps For Teaching Children Coding Skills. Fast Company & Wired and others wrote about the Google & Apple alums who created the "adorable robots" that teach kids to code. Computer Science Education Week's HOUR OF CODE initiative was backed by President Obama:

"Don't just play a video game, make one." 

22,470,816 people participated. 737,999,347 lines of code were written by students.
So why is this important to the publishing industry? Metadata, ebooks & user generated content.
By 2020 computer related employment is expected to rise by 22%. Some of those jobs will be in publishing. Publishing needs digital storytellers & editors. The world needs stories.

“Thus I rediscovered what writers have always known (and have told us again and again): books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told.” ― Umberto Eco, Postscript to the Name of the Rose

In order to meaningfully participate in an ever increasing digital world, kids need to become creators of content and not just passive consumers. Kids need to be more than data, they need to be able to tell their own stories digitally by learning how to code. They're the future of publishing. Let's inspire them. Let's do this.

You can download this doodle page here: CynthiaJabarKids.com. Happy New Year!