From the what’s-the-world-coming-to-department comes news that Simon & Schuster has signed a deal for a series of three books based on an iPhone app. Is this a first? I think so (but I could be wrong — leave a comment if you know of other iPhone apps that have spawned book deals).
App = Book?
The iPhone app store describes Soul Trapper as “a supernatural tale that unfolds over 23 chapters, each ranging from 5 to 15 minutes in length.” Buyers are promised that this “richly-produced audio drama” is “seamlessly interwoven with interactivity, navigation, and audio puzzles.” Players follow 27-year-old drifter Kane Pryce, who owns a mysterious device (the Soul Trap) that lets him capture ghosts and exile them from Earth.
To see what all the fuss was about, I attempted to download Soul Trapper on my iPhone, but I got an annoying message indicating that the app was too large for obtaining by phone and should be downloaded through a computer instead. So I’ll probably never know whether the app lives up to its billing as “triple-A entertainment” in the “audio spectrum” (hmmm).
Soul Trapper was created by F.J. Lennon, whom, we were heartened to learn, has previously written at least one book, a 2001 title from HarperBusiness called Every Mistake in the Book: A Business How-NOT-To — apparently a lively account of his computer game business that flopped. Maybe Lennon’s next business title will advise readers on how to turn iPhone games into publishing gold.
