Every week, I see a new piece on Publishers Weekly about a new app related to a book. Here’s this week’s piece. And here’s last week’s. Notice anything? Yes, they’re all apps related to children’s books.
Some of the cool things that these apps offer include games, an audio reading of the book, artwork, zoom features, etc…. These are all great for kids and can really help enhance the reading experience.
But there have been very few apps so far related to adult books. I’m sure that adults who are huge fans of Stephen King or Mary Higgins Clark would be thrilled to download their apps. But that leads to the big question: what exactly would be on these apps?
I don’t have an answer. If I did, I’d be creating apps by the boatload right about now. I do have this feeling that more and more adult authors are going to be creating and selling apps related to their books, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s going to be on them. Nor can I figure out whether they’re going to be revenue-generating (i.e. people have to pay for the apps) or if they’re going to be marketing tools for the authors.
So I ask you: what do you think the future of apps and adult books will be? How do you envision them interacting in the future? Share your thoughts!