Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Opportunity for Kids’ Books Writers

I was reading an article in Inc. and thought, hmm, this sounds like an opportunity for those who write childrens books. So, here’s the scoop.

In 2009, Lynette Mattke started PicPocket Books. This is not your ordinary publishing house, though. PicPocket sells books as apps. She publishes books in the form of iPhone apps.
In the past year, Mattke has put out 40 children's book titles, to critical acclaim and modest commercial success. 
So far, no one is getting rich, but they’re a young company.
Mattke splits revenue with the publishers and authors -- and, of course, with Apple, which gets 30 percent. Revenue runs from $2,000 to $6,000 a month. That covers costs and the production of new titles but doesn't yet allow Mattke to draw a salary.
Mattke continues to plow through a growing slush pile of manuscripts. What do you think? Would you query PicPocket Books?

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like something that just might take off in the near future.

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  2. Does it mean that we have to buy iPhones to the kids from age 3 yo?

    Cold As Heaven

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  3. I would definitely query them, if someone could answer Cold as Heaven's question - does that mean you buy kids i-phones?

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  4. If I wrote children's books, yes, I'd query them. It seems like a great opportunity to get books out there, particularly for new authors.

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  5. I have a kid’s chapter book coming out this month and have thought of doing something like this. I see it really catching on, especially with picture books.

    As for the buying your kids an iphone question, I have never meet a parent who didn’t let their kids play games on their iphone or ipad, so just let them read books on it instead.

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  6. Very interesting. How times are a changing!

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  7. I think she has a cutting-edge idea. Snappy publishing name too. ;)

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  8. I heard of someone buying their 3 year old a cell phone. Don't know if it was an iPhone, though. Kids are getting phones younger and younger now, although 3 seems pretty young to me. But parents have phones and can let their kids read or look at a book on it while waiting in the doctor's office or somewhere like that. I could see it happening.

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  9. Too bad I don't write kid books.

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  10. If I wrote in that genre, I probably would query PicPocket Books because I do think it’s the wave of the future. Too bad that Apple takes such a big bite of the proceeds.

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  11. It is the way the future is going...so why not?

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  12. I an see handing my child something like that to keep them calm while waiting in lines or on a drive--seems like a great option to me.

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  13. Because they're eBooks, it seems inevitable that publishers will add in features other than the written word. I rather hope they keep it atleast primarily written words. Get the kids centered on the written word before enticing them with videos and games and other book add-ons.

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  14. I like it. Oddly. Now I'm going to go write a children's book.

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  15. I just finished writing a children's mystery and wonder if Lynette Mattke wants all rights to submitted books. It's an interesting concept but sounds like a very limited market.

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