Tag Archives: publishing

My new favourite app might just be the future of non-fiction publishing

Posted by alanduncan1980 on

If I was to ask the majority of you ‘who’s da man?’  you would probably just stare blankly at me, probably wondering to yourself if I’d gone mental. Some of you however would immediately respond ‘Zlatan’! 

Who? 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic of course! You haven’t heard of him? Well, he’s barely known in the UK but he’s the most successful domestic footballer in the noughties, winning 8 straight domestic league titles in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. He’s also captain of the Swedish national side. Now, Zlatan is a ‘marmite’ footballer in the sense that those who love him adore him and those who don’t, loathe him. He’s also become quite famous for kicking his own teammates in the head, causing mass disruption at Barcelona and for shutting down Stockholm airport for asking security if they’d found his gun…

But why I am writing about this man? Well, he’s just published his autobiography. Naturally it’s available in printed form and it’s also available as an ebook from the Kindle store however, it’s also available as an app for the iPad. 

A book as an app you say? Well how does that work?

Imagine your reading experience on a digital device. You open up your book, you flick the screen to turn the pages and you finish the book. But what if your reading experience was illuminated by rich content? A few years ago, Random House released a range of fiction titles with added content, stories, images, music however the reading experience is positively medieval compared to the Zlatan app.

Obviously you’ve got the book itself however it’s the added value that take this book to the next level. For a start, the app is introduced by a vodcast from the man himself. It’s jam packed with newspaper headlines and cuttings charting his development from a youth in Sweden to the player he is today. There are clips of his favourite goals and extra detail of his favourite players, highlighting in great detail how he used to study the likes of Ronaldo in order to develop his own abilities. Furthermore, you can learn more about the man himself, with a feature that allows you to study his tattoos. 

All in all, this is reading super sized. Now, when Random House produced their fiction titles they essentially had to create new content to support the narrative however what the Zlatan app does is repurposes existing content in a new form to support the story. Now, considering that anyone who releases an autobiography now has probably been in the public eye for a few years and thanks to the growth of social media, you tube and other assorted digital content, pulling together a rich tapestry to support the text should be simple for publishers. Whether this is profitable is another matter, the app retails for £6.99, but a reading experience like this is really going to engage with the audience in a way like no other. 

I am Zlatan is available on the app store here. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/i-am-zlatan/id499373930?mt=8

And to play you out, here’s Elias featuring Frans with their hit song ‘Who’s da man?’:

Mr Luddite and Dr Digital

Posted by alanduncan1980 on

Throughout my career, I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve had people referred to me to help them with a digital problem. ‘Talk to Alan, he’s the digital/social/SEO/LinkedIn/Twitter guru’. Or ‘Alan, I’ve got a problem with my privacy settings on X/Y/Z social network’. And yes, I can solve the majority of problems that come my way (or I’ll figure out how to fix it). Add in that I had an iPad before they were even on sale in the UK, had a digital camera in the 90′s and am constantly on the look out for new technology to make my life easier, I’ve created an image of a digital native who consumes all content on a lightweight slimline shiny piece of kit. But you know what? And this may come to you as a bit of a shock – I’m a complete luddite.

Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But it’s true when it comes music and books. Yes, I’ve downloaded music and books to my devices in the past but I’ve always felt that there was something missing with my purchase.

I pre-ordered the new Quantic and Alice Russell album on iTunes a few weeks ago and as soon as it passed midnight on the day of release, the album uploaded itself automatically to all my devices via iCloud. Amazing! What an age we live in! Now, this week, Spiritualized released their first album in four years. If you’re not familiar with Spiritualized, I’d advice you check them out on Spotify however one thing noteworthy about Spiritualized in a non music sense is that their albums are always beautifully designed. Ladies and Gentlemen we are floating in space came packaged as a giant pill, Songs in A & E was a medical notebook. To say that there’s love put into the package is an understatement. So, there was not a hope in hell that I was going to just download this record as I knew I’d feel like I’d missed something. But I know what you’re thinking. Why don’t I just order the album from an online retailer and have it delivered to my door? Yes, I also buy albums via Amazon but for this release in particular, I really wanted to get the record store experience. So, I went to Fopp in Bloomsbury after work on Monday and spent a good 30 minutes or so just browsing. Obviously the Spiritualized album was the first thing I picked up (what if they sell out??? I imagine that there’s huge demand for this release ;) It came in a white box with slipcase if you’re interested in the packaging) but I spent the rest of the time, looking at the new releases, staff recommendations, speaking to the staff about new stuff they’d heard and what they were looking forward to. In the end, I bought a few extra CD’s, and some cheap DVD’s and despite the fact that I spent more than I’d have paid either downloading the albums or even buying them from Amazon, I had a shopping experience that was worth so much more than just ‘adding to my basket’ and using ‘one click payment’.

The same applies with books. I’m reading a book called Responsive Web Design which is a gripping thriller about a renegade cop with a heart of gold who infiltrates a thai drug ring (It isn’t. It’s a very technical non fiction manual). Anyway, point is, the book is on a digital subject. It’s just screaming out to be read on an iPad or Kindle. But you know what? I bought the paper copy. Yes it cost me more and I got stiffed on postage (thanks international orders!) but the book is part of a series that looks absolutely gorgeous. I worked in publishing for three years which was the logical conclusion for a lifelong love of books and whilst I have some books on my iPad (last download – I am Zlatan by Zlatan Ibrahimovic) I can’t think of anything worse than reading a book on a Kindle or iPad on the tube. I love the physical experience of reading, turning the page on a novel, which I’ll read and re-read to the point that I’ll break the spine.

Now, as I mentioned at the start, I’m not a complete luddite. I’m listening to Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia/Ultra right now, procured through ‘digital means’ (figure than one out) and am going to read an e-book on SEO shortly but the one thing that the music and publishing industries cannot do in a digital world is replicate the experience, look, feel and smell of their products in their non digital forms.