Today is a big day for Fourth Story – The Amanda Project is officially live!
The site has been in closed beta testing since April with a 150 fantastic teen girls who have helped us shape the site into what it is today.
Numerous people have been involved in developing the site, but we’d like to give a special shout out to our incredible developers at Happy Cog and Easy Designs. Amanda wouldn’t be here without you!
My Milk Toof: A story about the adventures of a small tooth named Ickle, and his buddy Lardee told through daily pictures (see photo)
Purefold: Ridley Scott’s new project that will scan social networking sites for online conversations across social media to be “used by brands as the basis for storylines that are fleshed out and rewritten by professional scriptwriters.”
Guillermo Del Toro’s quote about the Story Engine: “In the next 10 years, we’re going to see all the forms of entertainment – film, television, video, games, and print – melding into a single-platform ’story-engine.’”
Do you love reading, writing, and telling stories? Are you interested in helping launch the first interactive, collaborative mystery for teen girls? Well, come work for us! We’re saving a seat for you.
Fourth Story Media is now accepting applications for our Summer Internship Program (July 1st – August 31st). Internships are part time (approximately 10-15 hrs/wk), with flexible schedules and the ability to work remotely.
There are three types of FSM internships – Editorial, Marketing, and Online Community Management/Tech. For more information on what each entails, as well as details about how to apply visit our Internship page.
With early June bringing both Book Expo America (BEA) and Internet Week to the fine city of New York, Fourth Story Media was recently invited to speak on a few panels.
As part of School Library Journal’s Day of Dialog during BEA, Lisa Holton, FSM’s CEO & Founder, sat on the panel The Multiplatform Novel: From Print to Web to Social Networks. Moderated by librarian extraordinaire Lisa Von Drasek (who raved about how she couldn’t put down Invisible I), other panelists included Scholastic’s David Levithan, 39 Clues author Peter Lerangis, and Jennifer Cowan, author of Earthgirl. The conversation ranged from the process and challenges involved in creating multimedia series to the fundamental importance of strong narrative.
And, over Internet Week, Ariel Aberg-Riger, FSM’s Creative Development & Marketing Manager, spoke on the panel Beyond Facebook: How Will Today’s Students Use the Web of Tomorrow? Hosted by “the librarian of the internet” Finding Dulcinea, panelists included Unigo’s Jordan Goldman, Kate Hillis of Next Next Entertainment and Qwidget, James Rohrbach of Gulliver Go, and Inigral’s Michael Stanton. Focusing on ways to encourage user participation and user generated content, panelists discussed their start-ups and predicted how students will expect to interact with content, brands, and companies in the future.
For coverage of the panels, check out our press section.
Spike Jonze’s new (and fantastic) blog We Love You So (created in anticipation of this Fall’s Where The Wild Things Are movie), recently posted this video of Mister Rogers defending PBS to the U.S. Senate in 1969. As they say, “have the tissues ready.”
Editoras Online recently launched a guerilla ad campaign to promote their online store by posting over 4,000 QR code stickers all over São Paulo. The codes each led to sentences of either love or hate, generated by their Twitter feed. Editoras then produced a “living” book made up entirely of these QR codes that refreshes on a weekly basis. The book is sold exclusively on Editoras Online.
Skittles (as in Taste the Rainbow Skittles) has relaunched its website entirely as redirects to various social media sites. All of the links come up in the Skittles.com window, with a small Skittles branded nav box that allows you to flip around (see image).
A rundown of the linktastic possibilities that now comprise the site:
Homepage (”Interweb the Rainbow”): Twitter search for the term “skittles”
Products (”Package the Rainbow”): Wikipedia entry on Skittles
Videos (”Watch the Rainbow”): YouTube Skittles channel
Pictures (”Watch the Rainbow”): Flickr pics tagged “skittles”
Chatter (”Chat the Rainbow”): Twitter search for the term “skittles”
And, in true social media fashion, the tone is pretty snarky. For example, once you’ve lingered long enough, a little “get healthy” tab pops up telling you to do things like take a walk around – your legs will thank you for it – and, you don’t have to eat the Skittles, just use them for a maraca exercise class instead.
Skeleton Creek is Real (from The Land of Elyon’s Patrick Carman) is a ghost story told through both journal entries (published by Scholastic) and short videos hosted at www.skeletoncreekisreal.com. The first book came out February 10th, with a sequel to follow this September.
Today is a big day for Fourth Story – The Amanda Project is officially live!
