Yesterday we announced a partnership with Kane Miller Books to launch InkPad Press, a new publishing imprint. InkPad Press will produce and publish high quality children’s picture books across all media, focusing initially on print and interactive books apps.  We’re excited by this new venture as we strive to provide our customers even more choices in creating, marketing and distributing high quality children’s books.

The imprint encompasses all aspects of traditional publishing while offering authors and illustrators an innovative way to reach the next generation of readers. Author/illustrator contracts will be royalty-based agreements. Authors and illustrators use the Composer platform when submitting to InkPad Press. [Note: If an author or illustrator is not comfortable working in Composer, we will – initially – accept submissions via email, but our strong preference is for Composer-produced submissions.]

Kane Miller Books’ and Demibooks’ combined experience and expertise in editorial, art direction and production, design, publicity, marketing and sales will ensure that InkPad Press titles will have a place on every child’s bookshelf, now and in the future.  For example, we will leverage Demibooks Studio to assist authors in finishing their interactive digital books.  Demibooks Studio is our internal creative team trained on the Composer platform. Sales and marketing will benefit from our partner EDC’s Usborne Books and More direct sales division as well as representatives to traditional sales channels, including gift stores, bookstores and chain stores. We are looking at ways to improve our distribution of digital products on the App Store, and at other platforms beyond the iPad.

Not all submissions may be suitable for both print and digital, although our preference is to publish content that fits both formats.  It’s interesting to note how print and interactive digital versions of the same story can be complimentary, yet very different reading experiences. Our own Astrojammies launched as a book app built on the Demibooks platform. Recently, author/illustrator Stacey Williams-Ng released a wonderful print version that has several completely different story elements from the original book app. We see the possibility for many great titles conceived for both formats.

Demibooks will, of course, continue to provide pathways to our customers who choose to publish directly to the App Store under their own brand.

InkPad Press becomes fully operational in early 2012 and we will share more details at as they become available. InkPad Press can be reached at info@inkpadpress.

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