Since I have a verbal agreement if not yet a written contract to deliver an enhanced ebook for one of my two publishers in 2012, I've been following the first developments in this arena with interest. There have been two big success very recently.
One was the iPad app of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, which earned back its costs within six weeks rather than the year expected by publisher Faber Digital. The other, also from Faber is the Solar System for iPad app, which also quickly earned back its costs. The price is $13.99 or £9.99.
Henry Volans, head of Faber Digital, told the Guardian:
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"We're at the real start of how digital books will become different to print books. Historically, for example, a natural history guidebook looks quite similar to a novel, which is an accident of printing. Very soon those things will absolutely diverge massively. It's important to keep innovating, and as publishers we need to have a role in that."
It's obvious how non-fiction titles can be enhanced, but the success of The Waste Land suggests it can be done with poetry and fiction as well. Here are some of the features:
* a film of actress Fiona Shaw reading the entire poem (fllmed for the app)
* audio recordings of the poem by T. S. Eliot, Ted Hughes, Alec Guinness and Viggo Mortensen. (Spot the odd one out...)
* interactive notes explaining many of the poem's references
* more than 35 experts on video talking about their perspective on the poem.
It's very early days but it could be exciting in the future for authors to collaborate with filmmakers, artists, and others to create these kinds of editions. If this interests you at all, it's worth buying some of these first efforts--and then coming up with your own innovative ideas, of course. If you don't have an iPad, probably you know someone who does. Why not buy one of these apps for them in exchange for letting you have a good look?
(Even an enhanced book will need a solid text at its core; for friendly guidance get a copy of "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and enhanced with lots of content on the corresponding website.)
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