The children's eBook space is evolving so quickly and changing so fast, this is almost Part 3 of my look at digital books for kids. Last month, GeekDad looked at a number of different models and typesof eBooks that are out there and explored a little bit about how that shapes the way we tell stories and access books for our children on mobile devices. And we can now add one more to that list.
uTales is a web-based start-up offering another option in how we tell stories and find picture books for our children. uTales offers a wide range of digital picture books for kids through a subscription model. The subscription model, like others, provides parents and children unlimited access to an entire library of digital picture books that can be read anywhere and anytime in the uTales iPad app and on uTales.com. I have not spent enough time looking at the quality of the books on offer, but they charge $9.99 per month for subscriptions which seems quite reasonable for parents who are increasingly turning to their mobile devices at storytime.
What is interesting, though, is the way that uTales wants to use their subscriber community.
The point of difference for uTales is that their books are created by a growing worldwide community of more than 1,000 professional authors and illustrators (referred to as uTalers) - and the company is looking to an editorial panel and in some ways readers to help make decisions about which stories and ebooks to publish. They want to make the way they publish ebooks more social, engaging and modern and help provide parents with the ability to access great quality books for reasonable prices.
So, how is this utilizing crowd sourcing?
The company is attempting to make sure there are no bottlenecks like in the traditional publishing world, but still we need to secure the quality of books and make uTales safe for kids (so this is not a pure self-publishing platform).
The approval of the books feels to me like the most aligned crowd sourcing element of uTales. There is an editorial panel lead by children's book editor Emma D. Dryden. Emma sets the guidelines for this panel and panel members then get to vote and give feedback on books awaiting approval. If a book gets enough votes it gets published, and if it is voted down the uTaler receives feedback on what to improve before resubmitting it. This all takes place through the online portal. What would be even more interesting is how you could design this to allow all readers and subscribers to vote for stories, or even authors and illustrators to help further promote a true community-driven publishing model.
A final crowd sourcing element, which is more like the way we understand the workings of social media tools, is the readers. Since readers can easily rate, comment and share books, they have power over which books will be featured the most on the website and in the apps. Just like a large number of similar sites sharing opinions on books, videos, apps, anything.
It is an interesting concept, one step away from the growing number of iPad app bookstores out there. Worth considering, or at least trying out if you find yourself reaching for the tablet at bedtime.
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