It quickly became clear that the interactive features of these devices
would change how readers experience literature in profound and far-reaching
ways. The iPad in particular would allow storytellers to meld narrative, music,
song and fine art into something that would simply revolutionise the reading
experience.
We incorporated
Persian Cat Press as a publishing company in October 2010, aiming to create the
kind of beautiful, immersive and absorbing stories that can only be fully
realised with the help of touchscreen devices. We call them iStories.
We hit the ground
running, simultaneously working on five app projects in our first year of
operation:
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The Gift, a gently
allegorical picture book for children aged four and older.
A bright and busy
picture book entitled Owls Don’t Growl that supports a number of development
models for pre-school children.
Solarized, a
smart, high-energy adult graphic novel set in a sunny, dystopian Manchester,
told in 12 installments over three years.
The Tale of Brin
& Bent and Minno Marylebone, The Ballet, a powerful and thought-provoking
interactive multi-media expansion of a Jonathan Cape graphic (published in
summer 2012).
And the stylish,
informative and free-to-download Cat-Nav discovery app.
It was a punishing
schedule at times, especially given the wildly differing subject matter and
style of each project, but we felt we had a unique opportunity to make a big
impression. There was no time to waste.
I've been
writing picture books and graphic novels for years, and with these kinds of
narratives you have to decide which elements of the story will be told via the
text, which will be told via the artwork - and how the two combine.
This was an
extremely useful insight when I began to write interactively. It was a natural
progression to further separate the narrative into interactions, movements and
sound too.
We wanted The Gift
to have a heartwarming narrative told with lyrical language. We wanted it to
look beautiful too – and we wanted to use the iPad and iPhone’s capabilities to
reinforce these attributes.
Dan Mynard’s
artwork, for example, was rendered in a series of oil on canvas pieces, but it
remains wonderfully warm and vivid because it’s displayed on the
high-resolution screens of the iPad and iPhone.
The similarly
handcrafted soundtrack put together by CMI Music Group provides a unique
emotional counterpoint for the narrative of The Gift, allowing us to quicken
and slow the pace as needed.
It took a lot of
time and energy to successfully plan and coordinate the teams and individuals
who worked on the original artwork, soundtrack, typography and narration
for The Gift, as well as production of the app itself.
When you're
commissioning this kind of high-level work, you can't always wait until every
element is complete before you begin to build the framework into which they’re
going to be placed. But delivering the various elements piecemeal can make it
hard to stay true to the original vision.
We thought we
had a pretty good idea of all the stages there would be in producing a
high-level app like The Gift – but we underestimated. We got where we wanted to
get to, but it took a little longer than anticipated.
Quality control
took up an enormous amount of time. When you're producing a picture book
app for children of this age group (4+), getting the details exactly right is
crucial. Parents expect the very best – and we aim not to disappoint.
We have a
culture of honesty and openness at Persian Cat Press, and we’re happy to share
our insights and experiences with other companies.
This is in stark
contrast to what often seems like a very insular traditional publishing
industry – which is a little puzzling because from our perspective it appears
that the publishing industry has as much to learn about book apps as anyone.
Our open
approach has more in common with the kind of culture found in more
technologically focused concerns, such as game developers. Information sharing
is what keeps this culture at the forefront of change, and it makes sense to us
to follow that example.
Many of us
involved in narrative apps seem to be running into the same kind of
difficulties in terms of pricing, visibility and so on, but very few people
seem to be talking to each other. Isn’t the evolution of a mature, value-led
book app market in everyone’s interest?
Maybe the big
fish feel they have nothing to learn from start-ups like Persian Cat Press. We
would disagree with them.
UK publishers
and developers like Nosy Crow, Us Two, Tabella, Argant, and yes, Persian Cat
Press have a lot to teach many of the big publishing houses – maybe even such
leading digital lights as Faber and Faber, Random House and Harper Collins. We
certainly know how much we can learn from them.
Happily, The
Gift is now in the App Store and selling well. We’ve been delighted at the
warmth of the response to our work.
As a result of
making The Gift we've worked hard to refine the production process for our
second picture book Owls Don't Growl, which will be published this summer. So
far it’s working like clockwork.
No matter how
smoothly a project may run, though, there is always more to learn. That’s fine
with us. We love what we do, and we learn fast.
You can find
more information on Persian Cat Press here [http://www.persiancatpress.com]
You can download
The Gift here [http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gift-for-ipad/id493340328?mt=8].
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