In yesterday’s Essentials, we shared the latest digital news to come out of YA publishing. Simon & Schuster and social network Living Social announced the launch of Loser/Queen, an online serialized novel written by Jodi Lynn Anderson and shaped by teen readers who vote on how the story should progress.

To find out more about this crowdsourced twist to the choose-your-own-adventure format we reached out to Justin Chanda, Vice President Publisher Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers via email and asked a few questions.

Ypulse: Where did the idea for Loser/Queen come from? How did it take its shape as a serial series?

Justin Chanda: The children’s division at S&S is DEEPLY invested in exploring new ways of getting content to our readers, particularly in the digital space. My editors and I talk about it constantly, and we are constantly kicking around new ideas. The idea of a serialized novel where readers vote on how the story will take shape came out of a terrific conversation between myself and the editor on the project, Alexandra Cooper. Alex ran with the idea and came up with a list of authors to approach. We were both big fans of Jodi Lynn Anderson’s work, so she was literally #1 on our list. When we found out she was game… we jumped at the chance to work with her.

And of course the story of Loser/Queen was all Jodi’s! And anyone who is a fan of her work, will know that right away.

YP: How much teen input was involved in the look and feel of the Loser/Queen site? What has the collaborative process been like so far between the author and teen readers?

JC: Well, we’ve only just begun. In fact we really approached the site design the way we would any book. Having our art director working with an artist and a web designer, of course with Jodi’s input and the input of editorial. I think as the process continues the site will evolve more. Our teen readers will not only be voting on where the story will go, but they will also be commenting and sharing ideas, voting on the cover of the eventual printed book. The community of readers will really be a large part of the online experience.

YP: How does the voting affect the creative process for Jodi and her editor?

JC: Well, now that we’ve begun the voting process will be ESSENTIAL to the creative process. Readers are going to decide the pivotal decisions at the end of each section and Jodi will be writing from there. But the additional polls and comments throughout the site will no doubt influence how the other details in the story evolve. No doubt if favorite characters emerge it will have a big influence on what Jodi writes next. Also at the midway point in the project we’re going to open voting on the cover design. So again readers will be choosing and making the ultimate decision on what the final product looks like!

YP: What has been the most challenging aspects of evolving traditional storytelling into a digital format? The most rewarding?

JC: The most rewarding has to be the fact that the readers actually get to be involved! The minute the site launched we had feedback, from real teens, real readers. There were comments on the story and votes for the next section. That’s just amazing. The pure interaction with publisher, author and reader.

As far as challenges, it’s been really tough to let go of how a book should “look” and realize that reading on-line is different. When we first started design work on the site, I kept saying “make it look like a book!” “make it look like you are turning the pages.” I was being silly. This is an online experience. Readers are trained to read differently on line.

YP: Could you elaborate on how “readers are trained to read differently on line”?

JC: Kids (and adults) are now used to reading in “blog format”. There is no need to replicate the feeling of a “page” because a page on line is columns of text that have images wrapping and hyperlinks. There is click throughs to jump ahead or back. Web design has its own look and feel that online audiences are used to at this point, and it’s up to us as “book people” to adapt our way of designing.

YP: What made Living Social and J.C. Penney good partners/sponsors for this project? Can you describe their involvement?

JC: Living Social has been an amazing partner. They have such an eye for design and detail as it relates to what a community of readers is looking for. We have worked with them before on various promotional campaigns for our major books, so to have that marketing savvy as well as a team of designers on board has been great. JC Penny just got it. They understood what we were trying to do, who were trying to reach (and they loved the story Jodi was telling!). I am so pleased that there was an acknowledgment from an advertiser that the book population is alive and thriving and that there is a huge demographic of readers out there. I am even more pleased that they allowed us complete creative control.

YP: Can you describe Simon & Schuster’s overall digital strategy? What are the short-term and long-term goals for the project?

JC: Our overall strategy is to explore every avenue we can to deliver great content to great readers. This is an incredibly exciting time in publishing and the teen audience adapts to new technologies quicker than any other demographic. We publish ebooks of every title we work on. We are exploring enhanced ebooks, and apps and of course on-line publications such as Loser/Queen. We want to be ahead of the curve at all times. Should Loser/Queen get the level of readership we are expecting it will, you better believe we’ll do more “books” like this one.

Related
S&S Unveils Two Digital Initiatives [More from Publisher's Weekly on Loser/Queen and Simon & Schuster's other big digital announcement in the mobile space]

For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books & Print Channel sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publishers of ghostgirl: Lovesick.

Categorized under: Books & Print

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If you are a Facebook user, comment using your Facebook account.