“We’ve been waiting for an opportunity to use all these visual tools at our disposal to tell these stories in a way that is efficient, that is multi-dimensional. But, we also think it’s an opportunity to reset the economics for the first time. People may value this experience so much that they pay for it.”
We recommend watching the whole thing (it’s not that long, and there is some sweet music), but at least check out the:
Dual access navigation (sidescroll from page to page, downscroll to dig deeper into a story) – 1:50
The Amanda Project is teaming up with AOL’s teen blog JSYK and HarperTeen to host a week-long clue hunt! Every day this week JSYK is posting a hint to a daily clue. Want to test your clue hunting prowess? Here’s the link to Clue #1! Readers are playing for both the chance to win prizes of a material variety (signed copies of Invisible I, a pink iPod Nano) as well as narrative goodies (the chance to finally discover how main character Hal Bennett got to Crab Apple Hill that fateful night!)
We’ll continue adding links to the hints here as they roll in….Good luck Sherlocks!
UPDATE: Here’s Clue #2, Clue #3, and Clue #4 – Remember you need them all to solve Friday’s big puzzle!
Remember how nutty everyone got over the Da Vinci Code? Staring at The Last Supper, looking for clues… well, Invisible I, the first novel in a new series called The Amanda Project, is a little bit like that, but its target audience is teen girls. It is a story of a mysterious “new girl” at Endeavor High who touches the lives of the main characters, and just as quickly disappears, leaving everyone — including the reader — compelled to figure it all out. Even more importantly, it’s a totally interactive experience. Beyond reading the book, your teen can use a cell phone camera to crack a code in the book, visit the website, and contribute her own stories and ideas to the online community.
Author Melissa Kantor creates a vivid and authentic reality, with text messages and passed notes baked right into the story, as well as moments of gritty realism (an alcoholic parent) all tastefully and carefully handled.
The next book in the series, Signal from Afar, is due out in June, which makes it a great time to join in the fun.
Digital Book World: Books Plus in the 21st Century
Lisa Holton discussed Fourth Story Media’s current thinking, and recent developments in The Amanda Project at Digital Book World January 26th on the panel “Synergizing the Book and Web: Books Plus in the 21st Century.” The panel – moderated by Market Partners International’s Lorraine Shanley, with Will Schwalbe (our office mate and CEO of Cookstr), and Hillel Cooperman (founder of Jackson Fish Market) among others – covered everything from the challenges of being a start-up to exploring new digital business models.
ForeWord highlighted The Amanda Project as an “innovative application of reader engagement in authoring,” alongside other projects like the ever-popular book social networking site GoodReads, and HarperCollins’ new site for aspiring writers Inkpop.
And (our favorite) Chapman/Chapman said in his DBW summary: “Fourth Story Media are doing very, very cool shit with transmedia storytelling.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s adorable Decade in Preview: The Youthful Vision interviews “experts” (kids mostly under 13) on how the world will be different in 2020. Although no one makes predictions about books, robots, female presidents, and lasers look like they’re going to play a central role in our lives.
Some highlights:
I think in 10 years there will be a device that makes monkeys talk to you in English. It will be the next big hit in the U.S. (Lexi, 8 )
Robots will take over the world. They will have lasers. (Jorah, 12)
I think in 2020 there’s going to be a woman president, TVs will have touch screens, and I think I’ll be a famous/rich artist. (Robyn, 11)
There may not be any blue sky. (Annie, 7)
By 2020 I think there will be screens on every desk in school, and trains that run under water (not in tunnels). (Blaise, 12)
Galley Cat Describes TAP as an “Alternative Reality Soap Opera for Teen Readers”
Last week, MediaBistro’s Ron Hogan stopped by our offices to chat with us about The Amanda Project and what we’re up to at Fourth Story Media in general. We had a great time – jumping into a discussion about immersive fiction – soap operas, ARGs and role-playing games, books – the works! From his post:
“The effect, we commented to Holton, was like a participatory soap opera, or a massive Dungeons & Dragons campaign with one dungeonmaster and hundreds of players; she brought up the classic text-based puzzle games Infocom created for home computer owners in the 1980s, which set us both on a nostalgia kick for their adaptation of The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, one of the truly great interactive fictions. (Interestingly, that was the second time this month we’d found ourselves in that conversation!)
“A lot of adults had a really hard time grasping this,” Holton says of the way the books and the website link together into one overarching immersive narrative, “but I would explain it to a 13-year-old girl and ” (she snaps! her fingers) “she’d get it in 30 seconds. In fact, beta users used to tell us it took them a long time to figure the website out, and it would turn out ‘a long time’ was five minutes.” Inspired by the initial success of The Amanda Project, Fourth Story is already preparing another series, a science-fiction-themed narrative aimed at young male readers. “In some ways, this is radically different than what I’d been doing for the last 20 years,” Holton reflects, “but the basics are still the same… What’s the story? And how do you think readers will be interested by it?”
Every day brings a new story—about ebooks, enhanced digital content, new reading devices. But what will the technological advances of today mean for the way we read tomorrow? How and what will we read in the future?
On Wednesday, November 11, 6 – 8pm, come hear the Founder and CEO of Fourth Story Media Lisa Holton speak at Reading in a Digital Age – a panel discussion about the future of newspapers, magazines, and books – moderated by Bill Goldstein, former founding editor of the books site of nytimes.com and book critic for NBC’s “Weekend Today in New York.”
The children’s division of HarperCollins recently released the first in a young-adult mystery series called “The Amanda Project,” and has invited readers to discuss clues and characters on a Web site. As the series continues, some of the reader comments may be incorporated into minor characters or subplots.
Susan Katz, publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, predicted that “there is going to be a popular kind of literature where the author is seen as the leader of a large group and will pick and choose from these suggestions” by readers.
Common Sense Media Gives The Amanda Project 4 Stars!
Common Sense Media, the well-respected, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that provides media reviews for families and educators recently reviewed Invisible I and The Amanda Project and gave it 4 stars! Calling it a “compelling, quirky onion of a mystery” the review goes on to say:
The writing and the book design are both beautiful. Main characters are smart, resilient, and optimistic — Kantor’s dialogue is spot on, and the characters will resonate with readers. Callie’s life is a roller coaster, and yet her new-found friendships empower her. Amanda’s disappearance seems to lead to more secrets and more revelations at the same time, and Callie finds the strength, and the support, to make some big changes in her life. Courage leads to confrontations that help many people; but Amanda is still missing.
This is a cliffhanger that will have readers anxiously awaiting the next book, and the Web site may inspire them creatively.
The Amanda Project
Daily Grommet gives a great endorsement
Lisa Holton discussed Fourth Story Media’s current thinking, and recent developments in 
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Last week, 
Every day brings a new story—about ebooks, enhanced digital content, new reading devices. But what will the technological advances of today mean for the way we read tomorrow? How and what will we read in the future?
Today’s 
Common Sense Media