Janis P.
Me Books and the team at Made in Me have earned a warm, cosy reading den in our hearts. Their passion for storytelling and creative use of technology to spark the minds of little children is second to none, and we cannot recommend their apps and stories highly enough.
I could go on and on, but this should suffice: my children (now 6 and 4.5) have been enjoying the Land of Me game and the Me Books app since 2011. I can’t think of a single other game (electronic or otherwise) or app that has kept their attention and stretched their inquisitive little minds through so many developmental changes, through summers and winters and preschool and reception and Year 1, and probably beyond. It’s rare, and the mark of a well crafted product designed with kids in mind and with deep knowledge of what makes them tick. So if you don’t have their apps and games, get them. They aren’t free, but they are worth every penny.
Without further ado, here is some very exciting news about how the Made in Me team are taking storytelling and learning to the next level…
Me Books, the award winning new digital book shop for children, is proud to announce a new partnership with Scholastic UK, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. Specially selected Scholastic titles will now sit alongside Peter Rabbit, Topsy & Tim and Peppa Pig along with more than 130 of the best loved children’s books currently available in the Me Books Shop. Scholastic UK joins publishing giants Penguin, Puffin, Ladybird, Bloomsbury & Andersen Press who already have contracts in place with Me Books.
James Huggins, MD of Me Books said: ‘We’re over the moon with the reaction to Me Books from both readers and publishers. The team at Scholastic really got behind us from the start and are as excited as we are to explore the rapidly evolving world of digital publishing for children. They’re incredibly good at what they do, which is to get great books into little hands. We want to offer families the very best collection of children’s books in the world and with Scholastic UK on board we’re one big step closer to achieving that.’
‘We’re so pleased to have contracts in place with the UK’s top publishing houses, meaning the Me Book Shop is packed full of the best loved children’s tales. Story time with the kids is a very special, personal and important experience and one that Me Books champions. The enthusiasm and support from a rapidly growing number of publishers, authors and families means we’re very excited about the year ahead.’’
Lisa Edwards, Publishing & Commercial Director of Scholastic UK said: “Our picture-book e-publishing is all about placing our titles where families are most likely to find them. We know that Me Books is rapidly becoming the go-to app for a range of classic colour titles for young children so we have decided we must be part of it. Our authors and artists have really enjoyed the experience of hearing their books recorded by celebrities and seeing their titles available for the first time in digital form. Me Books are great caretakers of that experience.”
About Me Books
Bursting with classics
With more than 130 of the best loved children’s books currently on our shelves and new titles being added each week, Me Books is bursting with classics from Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and vintage Ladybird fairy tales to modern favourites Elmer, Topsy & Tim and Peppa Pig. Me Books are available for between £0.69 and £1.99 each in the Me Books Shop.
Read. Listen. Record. Save.
Simple, fun and interactive, Me Books enhance the reading experience through an original and clever use of audio. Using our super duper patented ‘draw and record’ technology children can personalise and interact with their Me Books. By tracing an area on the screen, then pressing and holding it down to record, readers can capture their own sounds and voices and save them as interactive ‘hotspots.’ Just in case there’s more than one natural performer in the family, it’s possible to save up to three versions of each Me Book to treasure forever.
Famous storytellers
Genius narration and comedy gold from the likes of Richard E. Grant, Sir David Jason, Rik Mayall, Tamsin Greig, Adam Buxton and Josie Lawrence adds a boatload of charm and giggles to Me Books.
Exclusive content
We haven’t altered or added anything to the original print, only sprinkled on some ‘Me Books Magic.’ Me Books not only excites young readers; it has also inspired best-selling authors to revisit their work and write additional lines for characters. Prick up your ears and relish brand new material written and performed exclusively for Me Books.
Top publishing partners
Having already teamed up with publishing greats including Penguin, Puffin, Scholastic UK, Ladybird, Bloomsbury and Andersen Press, Me Books is a way for publishing companies big and small, as well as authors and illustrators, to reach a much wider audience than ever before.
The following Scholastic UK Me Books are currently available in the Me Books Shop
Little Deer Lost (Janet Bingham & Rosalind Beardshaw)
Daddy’s Little Star (Janet Bingham & Rosalind Beardshaw)
With the following titles scheduled for Me Books release during February & March 2013:
You Can’t Eat a Princess (Gillian Rogerson & Sarah McIntyre)
You Can’t Scare a Princess (Gillian Rogerson & Sarah McIntyre)
George’s Dragon (Claire Freedman & Russell Julian)
George’s Dragon Goes to School (Claire Freedman & Russell Julian)
Ella (Alex T. Smith)
Primrose ( Alex T. Smith)
LOL. Pestilential troll. Dave, I’ve had readers who are pesiilenttal trolls, and believe me, your polite letters don’t even come close. (And they smell better too.) I’m glad you reposted. You’re not picking scabs. So lemme see what I can do here.The problem with writing in chunks is that parts get seen out of context. (This is why critiquing a novel in progress is a terrible idea.) I am not defending the status quo. I’m just stating what the status quo is. I haven’t even gotten to the other stuff yet. Most of my readers on this blog, and indeed, most people blogging about new publishing have no idea how Big Publishing works. Or how big it really is. I honestly don’t care if today’s group of Big Publishers thrive or not. I’ve seen two companies die during my tenure as a writer one spectacularly and one just vanish. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of others get swallowed up and become part of different conglomerates. It happens all the time. So nope. Not defending the current set of publishers at all. And in fact, I’m not defining Big Publishing as the current set. Go look at my definitions. I defined it as multimillion or multibillion dollar publishing companies. If tomorrow, KKR’s Little Publishing Group goes from being a figment of my very active imagination to a multimillion dollar publisher, it will by my definition be a Big Publisher.Most big publishers will not go bankrupt. Bankruptcy is rare in the corporate/conglomerate setup. The Big Publisher with either get sold to a different conglomerate or it will cease to exist except as an entity to maintain the old product and the copyrights. The losses will get eaten by the conglomerate.Will that happen? It has been happening a lot as Big Publishing got harder and harder to sustain. Look at the history of the late 1990s and early 2000s. A lot of Big Name Publishers consolidated meaning that they either got sold to a different conglomerate or they got downsized and disappeared within their own conglomerate. That’s the history of publishing for the past 15 years. Is Big Publishing in trouble? Oh, yeah. Do they know it? They’ve been living it. Will they take this opportunity to change? Hell, yes. They’re already well underway.You’re right that some companies will try to keep the status quo and will fall. We might not notice, because they’ll get sold to the better, more successful companies. Some companies might not be able to change quickly enough. And some might not want to change. But some already are that’s the point of the Random House part of the post. This subleasing is a very big deal. Very big. It’s an external sign of internal changes, brought about by economic conditions.Look at my site: I’ve done all of this electronic and new market stuff too. I know how easy it is for you and for me. But we’re not Big Publishing. We can move quickly. They can’t. That’s part of my next post about smaller, more nimble companies. But again, with your comment about how easy it is, you are missing my point. These conglomerate/corporations are huge. They’ll take time to make the changes but they have the cushion to do so (that’s the conglomerate) and that will give them the time to make the changes. My husband likes to say that publishing is glacial. The time frame in publishing is very, very slow, and all of their economic systems are based on that. (I haven’t discussed this.) Their profit and loss statements on one book run from purchase (Year 1) to publication (Year 2) to profit (Year 3). (What I’ve just outlines is fast: generally publishing looks at each book as five years from first expenditure to first money received from accounts.) So you’re looking at instant response, and they’re looking 10 years out.As for winners and losers, I disagree with you there too. I happen to believe the winners in this scenario are the readers. Not all of the writers will win (I’ll get to that) nor will all publishers or all the booksellers. But the readers they’re already reaping the benefits of more books, completed series, books available at the touch of a fingertip, books that won’t go out of print, books being easier to find. The readers win hands down.