I am always waiting to hear about something knew and exciting to come up in the publishing industry. In the age of infobesity all I am hearing is the same old stuff rehashed in a different way. I feel like mashed potatoes in search of gravy. But this morning! this morning! I was inch-worming my way through the snow to work and a new story on NPR fell into my lap in the spirit of an anvil dropping. (Gravy splattered everywhere). A cover story on a new company- 4rth story media. This company is doing something called multi-platform books. What is that? (it’s not a house sized pop-up book) it is a book that engages its readers from all analog and technological angles. The philosophy is simple.
The market has changed. Devices have changed. Kids have changed.
What hasn’t changed: kids still want to engage with great content.
These guys are taking good, compelling, intellectual property and distributing it across traditional and nontraditional channels including print & digital books, apps, and the web. I see it as a choose your own adventure story/broken pinata. The candy is spread all over and the kids who read there books are all in a frenzy to collect all the parts. As writers we want more than anything to know that great stories can survive—and thrive—and 4rth Story Media is making sure of that by finding their readers where they are: in bookstores, on websites, on cell phones, and in new media forms that are only just beginning to develop. Just think of all the ways you could engage your audience with your narrative.
I’ve made a quick list of new technologies that I could think of. All it takes is one brilliant person to extrapolate and you could have a killer combo to make your book accessible and unique.
Podcasts blogger radio
Word Press Tumblr
GPS Four Square
cell phone apps texting
skype Facebook
YouTube Vimeo
Ping video games
My Space Friend Feed
Flickr Posterous
Evernote Linked in
I know I am missing a bunch here. Help me out.
Jim Fulton
48Hr Books 
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