Turn Your Book Into an App: 5 Questions to Ask an App Developer

The following article has been written by Michel Kripalani, President of Oceanhouse Media, Inc.

You’ve decided that you want to have an app adaptation created for your book, but ePub or any other static ebook format will not suffice because you want a level of interactivity that only an app can provide. What’s next?

The world of app publishing is constantly evolving with the introduction of new technologies that affect the way apps are developed and marketed. If you’re an author looking to have your title turned into a book app, there are five key questions to ask potential app developers to help ensure your app’s success.

Note that these tips apply in particular to the booming children’s book app market.

1. What apps have you previously developed?

It’s important to discuss the developer's track record and learn whether they have the necessary software tools already in place. It’s not necessarily the number of apps that have been produced, but the quality and functionality of each app that has been developed. Take a look at how early they got to market and how the app has been supported over time.

Another good indication of the success of an app is the number of ratings it’s received relative to other apps. This will show if the app has been noticed and if users have interest in it. Furthermore, check to see how many versions are available; for instance, does the developer offer both paid and lite/free versions of the app?

2. Can you produce a universal app or only apps for iPad?

Universal apps mean that you buy the app once and it runs on all your Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch). For the children’s book app market, this is important since most parents will want the advantage of having the app on multiple devices.

Many children’s focused app developers create iPad only apps, missing out on the large iPhone/iPod Touch market. There are about 15 million iPads on the market today. By contrast, there are 140 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices. A significant portion of the total addressable market is neglected if the developer can only produce an iPad-only app.

3. Are you on Android?

As the number of Android devices grows, developing Android compatible apps is a must. Find a developer familiar with Android and see what other titles they’ve developed for this burgeoning platform. From our experience, we found Android development to be significantly more challenging than iOS (Apple) development. The number of Android tablets will increase by leaps and bounds in 2011. This will open up lots of avenues for the sale of Android apps.

4. Have you designed your apps with a foundational engine in mind or is everything one-off?

Also, do you have the technical support in place to manage the details necessary to bring the app to market and manage future updates, etc.?

Building a unique engine for each new app is ineffective and can also be quite costly. Check to see if the developer has an existing engine that can be utilized as a starting point for your project, thus cutting down on development time and cost. Ask if the developer is familiar with cross-platform engines for different displays and devices (both iOS and Android, for example). The answer to this question can also provide insight into the developer’s expertise in programming and coding. If a core architecture is in place, each app can still be customized with its own unique features. Determine what added features the developer can offer for your specific app.

5. Who absorbs the risk - the author or the developer?

The commitment involved for the long-term health and success of the app should be discussed. It may be in an author’s best interest to have the developer control the pricing, app updates and technical support. Consider this:

-- Determine how quickly the app can get to market. Long development cycles (anything over just a few months) should be avoided.

-- Choose a pricing structure that is in line with the market’s demand. The app charts are highly competitive and accurately setting the app’s price can be vital to it topping the charts.

-- Once an app hits the market, it doesn’t end there. Most apps need to be updated and supported with feature upgrades. That’s the nature of software and is an even more acute need in the app industry. Also, if there have been a number of updates, that’s a good sign of the apps popularity and staying power on the charts.

Much goes into getting an app to market. Developing a relationship with the right app developer can determine whether your app gets noticed among the vast array of offerings on the market today or whether it gets buried in the sea of over 300,000 apps that are currently available.



Michel Kripalani is founder and president of Oceanhouse Media, Inc., creators of the award-winning Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. and Hay House apps. For details on their services, see http://www.oceanhousemedia.com.

Creating an iPhone App for Your Book or Author

I was originally going to include this story in my weekly newsletter, but it became too long to include in a newsletter you want people to read (I have found that if the person can't read the email newsletter quickly, they will file it away for later reading which, in my experience, never happens).



With the coming Apple iPad, having your own iPhone app has become really important. A lot of people already use the iPhone or iPod Touch to access information from the Internet. An app is an easier and snazzier way to access information, make decisions, and have fun.

The top two genres for iPhone apps right now are games and books. There are more than 27,000 iPhone book apps right now. Is one of them yours? It should be.

You can create your own app by hiring a programmer, thinking through the interface, testing and most testing, and then submitting it to Apple with the hopes that they will approve it. That's the complicated way.

Or you can use one of the following services:

My App Creator: http://www.myappcreator.com -- 1151 Eagle Drive #325, Loveland CO 80537; 970-776-8506; 888-293-0512. Allows you to easily create an app by incorporating a news feed, twitter feed, blog feed, and audios or videos. You can use one of their standard templates or apply your own custom design. Once completed, your new app gets uploaded automatically to the iTunes AppStore. The cost? $297 for set up and $27 per month for hosting. You could have an iPhone app in just a few minutes or hours (depending on what feeds you already have set up). For an extra $97, you can monetize your app with Google ads and track usage via analytics. This service was created by Joel Comm, developer of the bestselling iFart app.

iPhone App Quotes: http://www.iphoneappquotes.com -- Get three free quotes from iPhone app developers who can create the app for you.

RevMobile: http://www.runrev.com/products/revmobile/overview -- This beta program allows you to create an iPhone app in as little as 3 hours while simultaneously developing for the Windows Mobile platform as well. When this software is released later this year, it will sell for $999. An expensive option that may be most useful to those who are already comfortable using programming software.

The AppWizard Custom iPhone Development Suite: http://www.appwizard.com -- Claims you can create an iPhone app in less than 30 minutes (probably not a great app, but one suitable for giving away free). Also allows you to create a more custom app. $99.95 plus a monthly hosting fee.

AppMii: http://www.appmii.com -- You can try it out for free and see how you do in creating your own app. $19.95 per month to create and host an app. $499 one-time fee for professional design plus the monthly hosting fee.

App Breeder: http://www.appbreeder.com -- They have app kits for bands, realtors, businesses, events, legal, teaching, restaurants, etc. You can create an ad-supported free app or paid iPhone apps for $99.95 publishing fee plus a $10 to $40 per month hosting fee.

Check out the various services and decide which one works best for you. You can test drive many of them before paying.

Note: Apple is currently clamping down on cookie cutter apps that are de facto RSS feeds or glorified business cards, so be sure to incorporate more than RSS feeds into your new iPhone app.

Because Apple is so heavy handed in what it allows and doesn't allow and can be very controlling, don't put all your apples into one basket. Some of the above programs, like App Breeder, allow you to develop apps for other mobile phone platforms like Android or Blackberry.

As the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted recently, “If Apple's mobile devices are the future of computing, you can expect that future to be one with more limits on innovation and competition … than the PC era that came before. It's frustrating to see Apple, the original pioneer in generative computing, putting shackles on the market it (for now) leads.”

Because of Apple's tendency to be so controlling, be sure to develop for the other platforms and learn how to market to mobile phones in other ways.

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Meanwhile, StomperNet is now offering a new program on how to market via mobile phones using texting and mobile instant messaging. You can watch their first two free videos about the new program here: http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=I3biZeRxyMw and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=48HjxVioizs.

Here are a few of the points people have made based on the first few videos:

* Mobile phone manufacturers have done a good job realizing that a mobile phone is a tangible symbol of lifestyle.

* In the next two years, mobile marketing will explode.

* When consumers are waiting for a train or standing in line somewhere, they look to mobile to fill time.

* Make sure you have campaign-specific landing pages for your mobile-marketing campaigns.

* Just because you have a mobile marketing campaign going doesn't mean anyone will participate. Get proactive.

* Trends: By 2010, an estimated 2.3 Trillion text messages will be sent and delivered globally.

* Monitor what is working and make changes as necessary. Mobile feedback comes fast. React fast.

* If you're sending an ad to a 20-something on a Friday night at 11, recognize they are probably out and about.

* Think it's tough to keep someone's attention on TV? Try getting and keeping their attention when they're on the phone.

* Align what your target market wants with your desired outcome.