Friday, November 15, 2013

What is a book?

Carl Sagan, Astronomer (original photo here)
“What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made

 from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of

 funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside

 the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for

thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is 

speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. 

Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding

 together people who never knew each other, citizens of 

distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is 

proof that humans are capable of working magic.” ― Carl Sagan


Children's Book Trends 2013

As we approach the end of 2013, what trends can we see in the world of children's books? What does the future hold for 2014? Are ebooks sales reaching a plateau? Will apps & ebooks merge into yet another new kind of hybrid? How did predictions hold up & do they even matter? Here's what I'm reading as I create my digital strategy for 2014:

Slide decks from Dominique Raccah, Independent Publisher & CEO of Sourcebooks. 





You can find Dominique Raccah on twitter here.

Slides from Kristen Mclean's keynote speech at TOC Bologna 2013.

 

Kristen McLean is the founder and CEO of Bookigee, an innovative tech startup for the publishing industry that connects authors & content creators, publishers, and consumers.


RELATED READING


What trends did you see emerge? Do you follow trends? 
Let's chat about it on twitter: @cynthiajabar 


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Robot Turtles: Teaching Kids To Code



Robot Turtles is the most backed board game in Kickstarter history. Dan Shapiro invented the game to teach his kids to program a computer, "the single greatest superpower" he could give them. Shapiro goes on to say,
"I made Robot Turtles so that my kids could learn programming basics without needing a computer. In fact, they don't even need to be able to read!I've been told that this would never sell in the toy aisle.  I've shown it to board game designers and manufacturers; they told me this would never work on store shelves. Learning programming just sounds too complicated. But I disagree.  I think programming can be as simple as playing with these four turtles."
Turtle Robot Board Game, invented by Dan Shapiro 
Find out about the Robot Turtle board game on Kickstarter here. 
Visit the Robot Turtles website here.
Read about  the first Turtle Robot developed by Seymour Papert at MIT here.
This was Valiant’s first product and was probably the most successful Turtle robot.  Designed by Dave Catlin in 1983 the Valiant Turtle was included in the Best of British Design and Photography published in 1987 by the Design Council.  It was produced until 2011. (from RoamerRobot.tumblr.com)


RELATED READING

This Board Game Aims To Teach Preschoolers How To Code, Elise Hu, NPR
Seattle dad Strikes Gold With Board Game That teaches Basics Of Code, Monica Guzman, Seattle Times
Want To Learn The World's Most Powerful Language?, Monica Guzman, Seattle Times

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Kindle Comic Creator: Another Way To Create Fixed Layout Ebooks


"Comics and graphic novels are among the fastest growing content categories in the Kindle Store."- Amazon

Earlier this year Amazon released a free tool called Kindle Comic Creator that does just that - allows authors and publishers to create multi panel comics, graphic novels & photo/illustration books without knowing HTML/CSS. This is great news for artists and publishers.

I agree with Ben Zachheim, the Kindle Comic Creator "is a big deal" because of MATCHBOOK a "program that offers customers who purchase, or have previously purchased, a print book from Amazon.com the option to purchase the Kindle version of that title for $2.99 or less." If the publisher created the ebook first, then they could create the print version of the book using Amazon's CreateSpace. This is REALLY interesting for independent publishers. Which comes first, ebook or print book? Will this make publishers more creative with their publication dates? 

If you want to try out the tool, R. Scot Johns gives a great analysis here.

You can download Kindle Comic Creator here & the Kindle Comic Creator User Guide here.

RELATED READING
Kindle Your Comics-A Guide To Amazon's New Comic Creator
The Challenge Blog: Kindle Comic Book Creator
Get Ready for Amazon to Cyber - Punch the Comic Book Industry
Photo Novels How To With Kindle Comic Creator
Creating Fixed Layout Ebooks For Kids


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Brooklyn StoryMakers MAKER PARTY!

I'll be with Laura Fleming & Inanimate Alice at the Brooklyn Storymakers Maker Party organized by the Brooklyn Public Library and Hive NYC Learning Network. Come make something with us!

Other organizations offering activities include Brooklyn Public Library, Hive NYC, Coder Dojo NYC, Iridescent Learning, Institute of Play, New York Hall of Science, Inanimate Alice, Eyebeam and others.

Program: Storymakers Maker Party
Date/Time: August 23rd, 1-4pm
Description: Brooklyn Public Library and Hive NYC Learning Network are teaming up to host an event for youth ages 10-18, featuring hands-on activities that celebrate the fact that stories are as much fun to read as they are to make! Create an online comic strip, design and playtest video games, make a stop-motion animated short, or retell/remix your favorite story using digital media and the web. The goal is to make something awesome and share it with others! This event is part of the Mozilla Maker Party campaign – it’s one of hundreds of events around the world where people realize their creative potential and become active makers of the world around them.
__________________________________________________________________________________
*I made this postcard for my #teachtheweb MOOC with Mozilla. Check out the rotating version here. Have fun and learn a little code with your kids by making your own at Webmaker.org.


Friday, April 26, 2013

Building & Sharing 21st Century Digital Literacy Skills With Mozilla



Dear MOZILLA, Thank You! I just signed up to work with my small crew of teen girls in NYC & attend a free online course (May 2 - June 30) powered by MozillaThe initiative teaches 21st century digital literacy skills through making & learning together. Awesome!
"Teach the Web (#TeachTheWeb) is also the pre-game for the Mozilla Maker Party, which was announced earlier this week at the White House Science Fair. It's a global party to celebrate all the things we can make thanks tothe collaborative power of the web! Many Hive members and partners have already signed up to join this campaign that Mozilla is running with the National Writing Project and with support from the MacArthur Foundation." -from the Hive NYC blog, EXPLORE + SHARE + CREATE
I'll be tweeting (@cynthiajabar) & writing about it here on my storytelling blog. Join us! We're going to experiment, write & share our digital storytelling adventure.

twitter: #TeachTheWeb, @MozTeach

RELATED READING (suggestions welcome!)

Thanks for reading. Come say HEY on twitter!

Inspiration: Creating More Meaningful Content With Less

Law of Subtraction by Mathew May
I'm reading The Laws of Subtraction by Mathew May.
A reminder of the power of less.

If you're crafting any kind of UX/story experience, reading this book might help you whittle down your content in a more meaningful way.

This is my favorite quote so far & it's informing what I'm creating now: "When you reduce the number of doors that someone can walk through, more people walk through the one that you want them to walk through."

May distills the power of subtraction into 6 laws.

1. What isn't there can often trump what is.

2. The simplest rules create the most effective experience.

3. Limiting information engages the imagination.

4. Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints. 

5. Break is the important part of breakthrough.

6. Doing something isn't always better than doing nothing.

Here are a few more gems.

"To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day." 
-Lao Tzu

 "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful."

"When you remove just the right things in just the right way, something good happens."

"It is the experience that makes something meaningful. Focusing on the experience puts us in touch with the more emotional side of ideas. Understanding the human factors involved in producing an experience that fundamentally improves how we think, feel, or behave is what makes the design of any particular thing interesting."

Inspiring ideas to keep in mind as you're creating story experiences across platforms.

Twitter: @MathewEMay
Web: MatheweMay.com

RELATED READING

7 Design Principles, Inspired By Zen Wisdom by Mathew May, Fast Company
The Art of Adding By Taking Away by Mathew May, The New York Times





Tuesday, April 23, 2013

World Book Night 2013

What fun! I gave away books around the neighborhood today, thanks to WorldBookNight.org, a literacy initiative "spreading the love of reading from person to person."

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

World Book Night Spreads the Literacy Love


Books changed my life as a kid, which is why I try to do my small part by volunteering with as many literacy initiatives as I possibly can. I know first hand that reading saves lives. Being unable to read can set a child up for unimaginable struggle. How can we sit by & let this happen? We all have something to give-no matter how small.

Read these 11 facts from the DoSomething.org website.


  • 1.  Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Over 70 percent of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level.
     
  • 2.  1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read.
     
  • 3.  As of 2011, America was the only free-market OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) country where the current generation was less well educated than the previous.
     
  • 4.  Literacy is a learned skill. Illiteracy is passed down from parents who can neither read nor write.
     
  • 5.  Nearly 85 percent of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60 percent of all inmates are functionally illiterate.
     
  • 6.  53 percent of 4th graders admitted to reading recreationally “almost every day,” while only 20 percent of 8th graders could say the same. (2009 study)
     
  • 7.  75 percent of Americans who receive food stamps perform at the lowest 2 levels of literacy, and 90 percent of high school dropouts are on welfare.
     
  • 8.  Teenage girls ages 16 to 19 who live at or below the poverty level and have below average literacy skills are 6 times more likely to have children out of wedlock than the girls their age who can read proficiently.
     
  • 9.  Reports show that low literacy directly costs the healthcare industry over $70 million every year.
     
  • 10.  In 2013, Washington, D.C. was ranked the most literate American city for the third year in a row, with Seattle and Minneapolis close behind.
     
  • 11.  Long Beach, CA was ranked the country’s most illiterate city, followed by Mesa, AZ, and Aurora, CO
  • I'm both honored and excited to be an official BOOK GIVER for World Book Night 2013. 

    I'll be giving away HOUSE ON MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneros, one of my all time favorite reads, at the Fort Washington Library located at 535 West 179th Street between Audobon and St. Nicholas Avenues April 23, 2013. Come say hello and get a free copy of this brilliant book.


    World Book Night Books for 2013
    "World Book Night U.S. is a celebration of books and reading held on April 23, when 25,000 passionate volunteers across America give a total of half a million books within their communities to those who don’t regularly read. In 2012, World Book Night was celebrated in the U.S., the UK, Ireland, and Germany and saw over 80,000 people gift more than 2.5 million books."

    RELATED LINKS
    Twitter: @wbnamerica



    Wednesday, March 27, 2013

    Making Fixed Layout Ebooks for Children's Books

    “If children are the future, then Ebooks are the future of the publishing industry,” 
    - The ABC's of Kids & Ebooks

    Ready to make an Ebook? 
    Fixed-layout seems to be the best format for children's books because they contain so much non-flowable content (i.e. illustration,photos etc). The Ebook Architects give non coders a generous explaination of what a fixed layout might look like here and why you might need one.

    Here's a free epub produced by BISG (Book Industry Study Group) called a Field Guide To Fixed Layout for E-Books. Published February 2013, it's a wealth of information about creating fixed layout Ebooks. You can download it here.

    Field Guide To Fixed layout for E-books, published by BISG

    Ebook Architects: Great information about what authors & illustrators need to consider before creating Ebooks
    CircularFlo: Circular software that converts InDesign files to the fixed layout format "in one click".
    Lynda.com: Creating a Fixed-Layout EPUB with Anne-Marie Conception
    Liz Castro: Fixed Layout EPUBs For iPad and iPhone
    MobileRead Wiki: Fixed layout ePub
    R. Scot Johns: Kindle Fixed layout Tutorial & Book
    Tim Vandevall: Create a Fixed Layout Book Without Coding

    A Fantastic Resource: Going From InDesign to Ebook
    By Colleen Cunningham, ebook developer, F + W Media here.

    FIXED LAYOUT CONVERSION SERVICES


    Fixed Layout Book Design Template from Joel Friedlander $27.00
    Here's a video of Joels template in use from TrainingAuthors.com



    Publishgreen.com $499.00
    Bookbaby.com $199 (iPad only) + $199 standard or $299 premium packages
    Ebook Architects Quotes available upon request


    ***********************************************************************

    RELATED READING LIST: CHILDREN'S EBOOK NEWS 2014

    E-Publishing & Nimble Thinking from Publishers Weekly
    Rizzoli Launches First Immersive Narrative Ebook Collection for Kids at Bologna Children's Book Fair from Digital Book World

     


    RELATED READING LIST: CHILDREN'S EBOOK NEWS 2013

    Trajectory Inks E-book Deals with Chinese Publishers at Bologna Book Fair
    Frederator Hires David Wilk To Run New E-book Unit
    Scholastic Adds HarperCollin's Children's Books to Storia Platform
    More Than Half U.S. Kids Reading Ebooks, New Report Shows

    Follow me on twitter: @cynthiajabar
    ebook hashtag: #edprdctn on WEdnesday at 11:00 am EST