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Interactive eBook Apps: The Reinvention of Reading and Interactivity

The invention of the tablet PC has created a new medium for book publishing. Interactive books are everywhere, and have revolutionized the way people consume the printed word. With the recent software available to allow easy creation of interactive books and with the race to bring these products to market, there seems to be a more and more dilution of quality and a loss for the meaning of interactivity. When publishers create new eBook titles or convert a traditional printed book to a digital interactive eBook, they often miss the added value this new medium can provide.

It’s important to understand the distinction between apps and eBooks, as it's something that often confuses both publishers and consumers. It basically comes down to formats; apps are mostly native iOS or Android software, whereas eBooks are documents of a particular format, such as the open standards EPUB and Mobipocket (.mobi). And eBooks can be further distinguished from “enhanced eBooks,” which use formats such as ePUB3 for iBooks (Apple) and Kindle Format 8 (KF8) for Kindle Fire (Amazon).

eBooks were the first to appear on devices such as the Kindle, and have very limited interactivity. You are mainly able to flip the pages, search for content, or highlight words to see a dictionary definition. These devices also allowed font size to be increased to enable visually impaired readers enjoy books more easily. This gave publishers the unforeseen benefit of regaining a large population of users who couldn’t read printed books.

Enhanced eBooks (ePUB3) are a new digital publication standard that allows easy integration of video, audio, and interactivity. I expect this format to advance the future of textbooks and other educational material. Future textbooks might be able to "read themselves" with audio narration, perhaps preventing students from actually reading. But the benefits outweigh the downsides; for example, the new text books might also offer the ability to make and share annotations without destroying the book, interactive self-tests throughout the chapters, and generally a much more enjoyable learning experience.

Apple has recently released iBooks Author, a free eBook creation software that lets anyone with a Mac to create iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, etc. iBooks Author generates a proprietary format for books that will only be available for sale on Apple devices. Adobe has also made available a Digital Publishing Suite via InDesign for the iPad, Android, and Blackberry platforms. Mag+ and Moglue are two other independent publishing platforms that are worth mentioning.

Death Has a Daughter

Cendall, history’s first female Grim Reaper, has until her eighteenth birthday to prove she’s worthy of
However, nothing could have prepared Cendall for Lacie—a soul that is protected by multiple Guardians, wanted by Demons, and, most startling of all, can see Cendall.
Cendall uses every trick in the book to try and slip past Lacie’s Guardians and collect her soul, but a Demon interferes at the last moment. In the chaos, Cendall accidently saves Lacie’s soul, along with one of the injured Guardians. Realizing Cendall fears termination for her mistake, the Guardian blackmails her with an offer she can’t refuse: in exchange for his silence, Cendall must keep Lacie’s soul safe from the Demon, until he recovers from his injuries. Cendall agrees—with the intention of checking Lacie’s soul off her list, the instant the Guardian is healed. But as the three of them are forced to work together, Cendall begins to question why Lacie is wanted by the Demons and if her name actually belonged on Cendall’s list in the first place.

the role. The only obstacle in her way are those pesky Guardian Angels who protect human souls, but Cendall is certain she can handle any Guardian who gets in her way.

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