UTales, a subscription-based platform for digital picture books that launched in November, provides young readers with an expanding library of offerings—and gives authors and illustrators an easy way to create, publish, and profit from their work.
As stated on their website, UTales is “a worldwide community of authors and illustrators bringing you quality picture books to enjoy online or on your iPad.” For a monthly subscription ($9.99), readers can access a variety of books, searchable by age range or topic. The titles can also be read on laptops and iPhones, and users can download individual books rather than opt for the monthly membership.
Readers have the option of searching for books by age ranges or topics such as Animals, Sports/Games, and Beauty to name a few.
UTales sees digital books and digital publishing as a space-saving option and travel convenience for parents and readers as well as a solution for authors and illustrators who are looking to circumvent the traditional publishing model.
Creating a book is as easy as clicking a few buttons to upload images, add text, and format the design and various spreads. Before stories are included in the uTales library, they are vetted by an editorial panel. Once authors become “uTalers” they have the option of earning 60 percent of the income each time a customer buys or reads their book or donating the profits to Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit organization that builds schools in developing countries. Creators keep all legal rights to their uploaded and published materials.
The quality thus far is uneven; some titles have great pictures and engaging text, while others come across as cheesy or pedantic, with illustrations that don’t translate well to digital reading.
Some of the tales have interactive elements, such as butterflies that flutter, frogs that dive, and necklaces that appear to glow as you hover your cursor over them. However, some of the animations don’t make sense—such as in Fine Life for a Mouse where half a car grows awkwardly as it appears on the page and a jiggling spoon crosses what would be a gutter in a print picture book, leaving only part of it moving—and could be more distracting than helpful for young readers.
Nonetheless, some of the stronger titles, such as Hoover the Hungry Dog, will quickly become favorites.
About Chelsey Philpot