Here is today’s hot Valentine Gossip
Happy VALENTINE’S DAY from Babette and the crew!
We love you all so keep reading and ….
Keep up with me, if you dare!
AND Happy Birthday INKY SPRAT we are one year old today!
With Love From Inky Sprat on St Valentine’s Day.
One year ago three intrepid cyber adventurers formed an e-picture book company near Crediton called Inky Sprat.
They are Dame Babette Cole, author and illustrator of Children’s picture books, Neil Baber, who has a publishing history with Reader’s Digest and Phaidon Press, Manus Home, film locations manager and producer.
The two boys approached Babette with the idea of setting up an e-picture book company using her books.
But Inky Sprat is not just a publisher of flat e-books.
Babette, being highly involved in Literacy charities for non readers, had the idea that Inky Sprat E picture books could be a flagship in helping children to read and develop a love of books.
She had the brilliant idea that the author of the stories should personally present the books by reading them word for word on film for the children.
This works in a little hand drawn TV screen on the text page of the e book.
The idea being that a child with reading difficulties could read along with the author on video, turn them off and have a have a go at reading the text by themselves.
As fans always want to know what inspires a book the author gives a short introduction to each story telling the reader how the story came about.
So that is where Manus’ film experience came in and Neil’s expertise in technology involving iAuthor, that has made Babette’s illustrations really shine out of the screen, make Inky Sprat a huge success.
So successful in fact that this little company from Crediton has just been selected by Apple as one of the best 10 books made for iPad 2013.
This is not just from Children’s books but every genre. They have been selected out of thousands of e books!
They have had have had glowing reviews in The Bookseller, Publishers’ Weekly, Bookbrunch and The Society of Authors.
Babette’s “The Trouble With Dad” has had over 17,000 downloads. This is a better result than most main line publishers are doing with their e picture books.
Inky Sprat has gone on to produce other e books from famous authors like Wayne Anderson, and Susie Jane Tanner’s lovely new picture books for Viking Cruises.
The company is developing further technology to link traditional print books to to their e book version.
They also have the resources to produce and distribute traditional print books to accompany their e books.
So in these days of ever changing publishing there is a little Sprat from Crediton that has caught a Whale!
For further information go to
- www.inkysprat.com
- Twitter @inkysprat
- Facebook Inky Sprat
- babette-cole.com