Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Children’s E-book Industry

I know the market for adult e-books is growing, but I wasn’t sure about the e-book market for children’s books. I came across an interesting article though that addressed this market.

The article starts out by explaining what an e-book is and how to find e-book publishers to download an e-book. One thing Jennifer Bond Reed, the author of the article, points out is:
Children who don't like to read print books, might be more interested in reading off the computer. Because kids today are being raised on computers, it makes sense that literature for them would be accessible in this format. E-books for kids simply offers another solution to get them to read.
She points out that the number of children’s e-books has been slow to grow because of the difficulty of making the graphics and illustrations user friendly and quick to download. But she does provide a list of reputable e-book publishers who publish children’s books, along with the link to E-Book Connection, which she says is a great site with lots of information on e-books and e-publishers.

So if you write children’s books and are interested in making them e-books, link over and check out her article.
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22 comments:

  1. I would think Ebooks for kids, especially if, as the article indicatates, the graphics and links can be incorporated, would be a perfect fit. Kids these days are born with an "e" gene - natural computer whizes and they adapt to new technology at amazing speed. So yeah - makes total sense.

    Hey Helen - I'm acquiescing to your tag game today (wink)


    The Old Silly

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  2. Well, now, Marvin - I would not miss reading your blog today!

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  3. Interesting. Computer screens are big draws for kids, so I can see how e-books might appeal to non-readers.

    Elizabeth
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  4. I haven't given this much thought but it makes sense and if it gets a kid to read, I'm all for it.

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  5. I wouldn't think kids would choose reading over playing games when it comes to the computer. My kids love Noggin.com and Sprout.com because of the games. They math games too. I'll have to try a few reading exercises.

    Steve Tremp
    http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/

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  6. Something else on my list of things to do. I still want to get out a book or two about Rascal after Killer Career excitement has waned.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
    http://www.morganmandel.com

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  7. It would be nice if we could use a medium that kids love and know how to use - and encourage kids to read more.

    Morgan, no grass grows under your feet, girl.

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  8. Interesting to think that a book might be more appealing virtually. Technology's influence is far reaching! All the more reason to keep our thinking open to new ideas as we write on.

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  9. I remember being fascinated with pop-up books. Imagine all of the bells and whistles you could put on an ebook.

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  10. I was thinking that also, Lauri. Pictures and words could link to other adventures. There could be sounds or songs, etc.

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  11. Maybe there's a future in this market for ebooks, but I wouldn't buy ebooks for kids. How can you snuggle a child on your lap or read them a bedtime story from a computer screen? At the price of ebook readers, I seriously doubt anyone is going to allow a small child to handle one of those more portable items themselves, although they might allow a parent to snuggle or read a good night story to a child.

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  12. Maybe you could do a mix of ebook and paper books to young children, introducing them to a new medium, and see which one they take to as they get older.

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  13. Where was this when I was a child??? Oh, yeah, we were still using candle light and whale oil lamps.

    Nonetheless, I'm thinking there's a big future for ebooks. If it encourages a child to read...it's all good.

    Best regards, Galen
    Imagineering Fiction Blog

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  14. My six year old grandaughter loves Kindle. She adapted to it faster than I did, especially the notes feature. Sitting on the couch with her and a Kindle is not much different than sitting with a book.

    She has been an internet/computer user since she was two. We forget that games and other internet activities require reading and, in some cases, writing skills. I think the most successful e-books for kids will blur the line between books, games and other activities.

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  15. Mark, I'm writing a book on game technology and am being astounded by what the experts expect to happen in the future. The future sounds pretty dang amazing.

    Galen, back in my day, we used cod liver oil lamps. Whales were too hard to drag inland.

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  16. Thanks for the article, Helen. I'm just finishing my first children's book, a mystery for 9-12 year-olds. I never considered ebook publishers but those who also publish print copies might be a good choice.

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  17. Yeah, I can't imagine the B&W Kindle offers many children's books - LOL!

    L. Diane Wolfe
    www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
    www.spunkonastick.net
    www.thecircleoffriends.net

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  18. It's an excellent point. My youngest started her computer training at age three and does much of her "reading" there, though we still make our weekly jaunt to the public library. And it's a good way to help encourage them to care for the environment, since eBooks are "greener."

    --Lisa
    http://authorlisalogan.blogspot.com

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  19. Thank you for sharing this, Helen. I'm very much interested in this, both as a writer for children and a grandmother of 3 little ones! I believe ebooks will continue to grow more popular, and there is so much potential in them for children.

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  21. Interesting. I would have thought the electronic books for children would be selling more that e books for adults, but it makes sense that there is an issue with the graphics.

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  22. If they can get the graphics figured out, e-books for children could take off. My kids are grown, and although neither of them have an ebook, if they'd been available back when they were young, I have no doubt they would have embraced them.

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