Every parent knows how important story time is for their kids. It is a ritual, an opportunity to connect, and a learning moment. But too often it gets crammed into the few minutes left at the end of the day before putting them to bed. The average working mom spends two hours a day with her children, but only 4.5 minutes of that time is devoted to reading. Working fathers are even more remiss, spending only 2.5 minutes a day reading to their tots.
Making the most out of that time, and extending it, is what TechCrunch50 finalist Story Something is all about. Story Something generates personalized stories for a child that makes them the hero by putting them at the center of the narrative. A parent selects a theme (dragons, pets, superheroes) to see a list of stories that fit their child’s interests. Stories can be browsed by topic or age. The hero takes on the child’s name, and a story is generated which can be viewed on the Web or emailed to the parent. That turns your iPhone into a bedtime reader.
Parents can build a virtual bookshelf of stories around different themes. They can get a new story emailed to them every day on any schedule they choose. Waiting with a fidgety child at the doctor’s office? Read them a story. As children get older, the stories change to more of a”Choose Your Own Adventure format, allowing them to decide which way the narrative will turn.
The stories themselves are created two ways. Story Something will commission professional authors to write tales on an ongoing basis, and it will also crowdsource stories from parents. Everyone has at least one great children’s story in them, or at least they think they do. Story Something aims to be an outlet for their creativity, as well as a way to share those stories with other parents. Upload text, images, and a title and your done.
The stories themselves will be free up to a certain point, but once a parent becomes hooked they will be charged a monthly subscription fee of about $3. And for aspiring authors who ant to add more editorial features to make their stories stand out, there will be a fee for that as well.
The site will open in private beta in a few days. You can sign up here.
Q&A with the experts
Jason Hirschhorn: How important is form factor. Children like to hold the book
Jim Rose, CEO: We are targeting children 3 to 8. They love to hold the iphone. The form factor question is more for parents than for kids. Kidd love it
Ron Conway: can you read it in the Kindle?
Rose: Sure.
George Zachary: What happens if one of these stories becomes the next Harry Potter, who owns the derivative rights?
Rose: If it is a commissioned work, we own the rights. Otherwise, just the digital rights.
Yossi Vardi: What is the status of the company right now?
Rose: Two employees, a small private beta, will launch in next few days., worked with 20 authors, commissioned 50 stories.
Don Dodge: How are parents going to find out about Story Something?
Rose: Especially on the social networks, the mommies are especially strong. But being able to send
Yossi Vardi: How profound is the assumption that parents will continue to make kids?
A: I don’t know. I have two. There’s a lot of kids
Don: Jason Calacanis will be a customer soon.
Vardi: I actually got a new grandchild this morning.
Jason Calacanis: Would the judges invest in this?
Ron Conway: We would definitely have another meeting.
Don Dodge: it is a business that can scale without a lot of investment. It is like a lottery ticket
Hirshhorn: It answers the desperation of parents everywhere so definitely consider it.
Video:
Other Coverage:
TC50: Story Something creates personal stories for your children VentureBeat.
Story Something cria histórias de dormir para o seu filho TC50 Jornal tecnologia.
Story Something: iPhone Customized Bedtime Stories for Children InventorSpot.
Personalized e-stories for kids on the iPhone and Kindle Springwise.com
TechCrunch50: Story Something Brings Technology to Bedtime Stories Trends Updates.
Story Something to offer personalised kids’ stories for iPhone Mobile Entertainment.
Very cool! I’m a buyer for sure.
So..basically its FIND and REPLACE by putting in your kids name? Kind of lame…maybe if you could upload photos and order a copy then ok, but this blows.
It seemed a lot more complicated than that. I’m sure there is a path for adding image customization too. They are only looking for $3 a month, as a parent I think it is a good value.
Hi. We’re walking here before we run. Eventually, we hope to able to customize it very deeply. Or allow the child to do that on the fly. Or, children could just read this stories with the default personalization (which means no personalization). Again, this is beta version. But hopefully you get the vision. thanks for your question.
I like the idea however I think that they are missing out on the ability to order printed copies as gifts. I understand that there is a rights management issue there but I believe that would add a LOT more value to the company.
Yup I’d agree — the custom book market has been around for a long time.
This is something we will add in the future. Imagine picking the stories you like a building a book on the fly. thanks.
There’s another site out there that does something similar, except it’s based on drawings and stories that kids/adults create and allows the publishing of the content into a real book. Name of the site is http://tikatok.com/
“Rose: If it is a commissioned work, we own the rights. Otherwise, just the digital rights.”
“Just” the digital rights?
I run a site for young writers, so this sounds fascinating to me. There are already more than few websites that do this, but none (that I know of) that can easily hook up to an iPhone.
However the fees mentioned in the last paragraph sound like a killer. I haven’t seen Story Something work yet so I can’t really say, but based on other sites that have a similar feature, the technology to do this is pretty basic. Charging people for something dozens of other sites do for free isn’t a good business strategy.
Now what would be really cool is if they teamed up with media organizations to provide new themes. For example, Disney has the movie, “The Princess and the Frog” coming out soon. Story Something could partner with Disney to create theme based adventures around the world that “Princess and the Frog” is set in. Such an arrangement could be lucrative to both parties, while avoiding the business strategy pitfall of charging users for basic technology.
I think the business model, like many, is work in progress. If the stories are good, i will definitely pay for it. Particularly if i can access in multiple experiences. But, we’ll see. thanks for your feedback though.
Why wouldnt i just use project gutenberg available titles and do a find and replace
I wouldn’t want my 2-yo daughter to be looking at a glowing screen right before she sleeps…
By the way, I did read that they aim this towards 3-8 yo, but I think the same would apply.
You can send the stories to your phone to read at bedtime.
Hi. That’s fair. Although, you can print it out. I have 4 little kids and i can tell you they absolutely love it and being a iphone, the experience is still super intimate. we’re still all cuddled in. Thanks for your post.
I like the whole personalized story making ability, I’m not really sure how this helps increase the time parents have devoted to reading to their children.
It makes the time you spend more valuable. And, if we organize this right, imagine being able to receive a customized story at the right time – either bedtime, the dentist’s waiting room, on a trip, etc. It’s all about strengthening that relationship. That’s our mission and we’re doing it through stories. Thanks for the question.
Interesting way to deliver content.
We offer a similar service, but with real picture books as some of the commenters above suggested. Kids can create a character that looks like them, similar to Mii’s on the Wii. We then print and mail the real hard or soft cover book to the child.
Bravo to TC for the judges comments and insights to this product…. Please include this in every TC50 company you are reviewing. For other startups, these questions provide a lot of insight.
Not buyer. There’re already sooo many good and proven children stories, why buy something unknown?..
i agree, the quality needs to be there. hopefully the strength of the stories, the quality of the experience and the ability to grab these stories on the fly or have them sent whenever works for you will get you to try. But thanks for the feedback.
I’m in.
excellent. sign up for the beta http://www.storysomething.com – we’ll let you know. thanks again.
This is dumb. First of all my wife, and most everybody else’s, would never let my kids read the iPhone before bed (they would just want to play a game, it rots their brain, etc). Second, there are hundreds, thousands of outstanding children’s books. You could buy said book and support the author.
A better idea to address the lack of parents reading to kids is to have an iPhone program that locks you out of your iPhone at the time you’re supposed to be reading to your children!
i hear you. This isn’t designed to replace reading physical books. It should be complementary. But again, it only works if the stories are great. Like i said above, i have 4 little guys and they absolutely love the whole experience. But it’s about you reading to them. that’s the core. if we don’t make that super special and as good or better than the book experience, we’ve failed. But thanks for the post.
The concept seems cool, but doesn’t seem to address the problem statement. If I don’t spend more than 3 minutes reading a story to my child today, is a personalized story going to change that? I doubt it. It might be a motivator at first, but the problem is still there.
I agree. I have two kids and this is trite made up by some guys without kids. This also dis-intermediates the parent. I just don’t get it.
Hi. i actually have 4 kids
. Personalization is one aspect. Access to stories anytime, anywhere, is the other. Imagine accessing stories at the dentist, in the car, while waiting for your food at a restaurant. And again, you can choose to personalize the stories or go with the default version. It’s all about the parent reading – it’s not a video game. it’s stories you read, with illustrations, etc. Anyway, hopefully you’ll have a look. But i appreciate the feedback regardless. thanks.
Will they offer iPhone replacement or extended warranties when my son just decides to up and throw the phone? The selling of the personalized book makes more sense, because printing a new story every night doesn’t seem very “green”.
You should try it. It’s an awesome experience. My daughter asks for storysomething whenever we have downtime. Thanks for the post.
I can’t wait for this! My kids are gonna love it, and sounds very extensible.
Sad.
#endofworld
It’s not the story as much as the voice and connection between parent and child. The comfort of sitting close together and experiencing something TOGETHER.
Really, really sad.
Hi. The whole point is to make that experience better. You do sit, cuddled in to read them. You’re reading. Just allowing the child to personalize or customize and make it a little more special. But it’s about reading and building on your relationship through storytelling. As i said above, if we don’t do that we’ve failed.
Anyway, thanks for the post.
sad.
How in the world does this address the issue of finding more time to read to your child? It seems to me as if this would take up even more time.
Where/how can I bet on this company’s failure? I wish I could short them or something…
Not public yet but give us a few years
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Again, from above, think of accessibility as a key along with personalization. The next time you are waiting for your dinner at a restaurant, in a doctors office waiting room, on the bus….storytime. The personalization option may be for – or not. You may just want to choose the stories together but go with the default characters.
Anyway, thanks for the post.ew
As mentioned above, it’s silly to try to put a kid to sleep by having them stare at the glow of an iphone. When my daughter sees my iphone, she ends up playing with it and pushing the buttons for about 20 mins. This could work assuming that the company allows one to order print copies of the work. I also hope that they are commissioning illustrators as well…
Hi. I think i answered this above…but it’s just something you might want to try. Thanks for the post.
props to commentors for picking up on time with kids problem, didn’t see that right away. i do like the idea, its kinda novel and could be fun but i see many of the same problems. i phones are bright and small, bed time at our house is mellow and printed book does a great job. a harder but potentially bigger play might not be original content but doing the find replace trick with exisiting stories, and delivery a customized story on the go. Even in its current form its a cool idea, am def going to check it out.
“David Lynch on iPhone” – google it.
I love David Lynch and couldn’t agree more in regards to watching movies on your teeny iPhone screen and missing out on the sound and theater experience.
This, however, is about READING to your child. This doesn’t change what has existed for centuries… hearing a great story through the voice of your parent.
I still think there’s more to it than just reading. And it’s not just the story itself. There’s the tactile and the visual aspect, the colour, illustrations, even the size, the feel and the smell of the actual book that can never be replicated in a single digital format – let alone your cell phone.
Having said this I do believe that you can design great learning and bonding experiences in any format, be it printed or digital. Nothing wrong in playing a video game or watching video clips on an iphone with your child.
I just don’t think that, in this specific case, you can substitute an iphone download for an actual physical copy of a great children’s book.
Great point. I think this should be complementary to the physical book. I can tell you from my own experience that my children go bonkers for this…because they see themselves in the middle of the narrative. Anyway, i hope you’ll check it out when we launch. Feedback is needed and encouraged. thanks!
I think the best part of this is the potential as a clearing house for amateur authors. I can picture low-cost books that I can select based on user-feedback and print out.
Even with access to a good library, the pain point for me is (a) finding books my kids enjoy from the thousands of books on the library shelf and (b) rotating them as the kids get bored.
The other pain is the cost of buying books that are read every night for 2 weeks then never again.
Sticking my kids’ name in there is not too special.
If we do our job right, we’ll be able to separate the great, from the good, from the poor. And again, the personalization element may or may not work for you. Thanks for the post.
There’s another silicon valley startup that has a different slant on personalized children’s stories that’s gotten a bunch of press – Good Morning America, Today Show, etc. Built by ex-Yahoos! and available globally in 8+ languages. Check it: http://www.flattenme.com
If you were truly a busy parent, one might see the value of using the iphone as another tool and opportunity to read a book to your child on the go. I do not get the impression that the iphone is the total replacement of hard cover books. It is just another tool for learning. I feel some of the comments are looking at this product from a too narrow of a scope. The assumption is that reading is right before bedtime. What they are saying is now Reading does not have to only be at bedtime. You can read to your child more easily at different times of the day by using the iphone online story book. This is how it is proposing to save time. While it used bedtime as the example, if we look a little further.. If you are in the car as a passenger with your child, you do not need to carry books with you. Reading a story on the iphone is convenient, efficient, one less thing a parent will need to remember or keep track of when carting all the daily stuff. When waiting at a restaurant, this would be another good time to use the iphone to read to your child. These are examples on how using the iphone helps save time and helps the parent be more efficient by now being able to read to their child during times that did not work before. (ie: forgot the books, or did not have the space to carry all the stuff). For those parents whose children just push the buttons, well maybe it is not age appropriate for your child at this time, because she is still learning to have impulse control with that particular item. My child knows how to handle the iphone appropriately and asks when she does not know how to do something… Each child is different and unique. Kids need variety and diversity in learning. I believe this will be a great addition to our childs learning.
Great to see another player in this space getting coverage.
I think @ethomaz nails one of the biggest issues in his comment above. This is a difficult problem to solve — If parents are already spending little to no time reading to their kids, I’m not sure how a personalized story experience fixes this. On the other hand, in a pinch, I’d pick storysomething as an alternative to passive eye-candy like youtube any time for my kids.
Also, the clearing-house-for-amateur-authors idea is a difficult sell, IMO, because your product loses its market focus. Is the product for parents, kids, or amateur authors? They are very different audiences. While I’m sure there are probably a few JK Rowlings out there waiting to be found, there’s a reason you go to Amazon (not Lulu or Lighting Source) to buy books. Not suggesting there won’t be quality stories on the site from contributors, but not sure that personalization alone provides enough differentiation to stand out.
I’ll be watching them closely and wish them the best of luck~
Thanks. We’re excited to build this. If we do our job right, you’ll think of us as the best place to find quality stories that can be enjoyed anytime, anyplace. Even bedtime.
“Yossi Vardi: What is the status of the company right now?
Rose: Two employees, a small private beta, …”
Great accomplishment with limited resources!
As an author and a Mum I would much rather see my kids holding a book to read. I love story time 15-20 minutes a night, its the best part of the day for me and the kids.
Great idea! Makes a lot of sense. Personalization is very imporatnt and kids love it. A very good model to connect story creators with story readers.
I am astounded by your company’s misguided attempt at improving children’s story time experience by replacing good books (celebrating excellent writing and talented illustrators) with a computer screen. Children learn empathy by experiencing a story through its characters, not by hearing themselves in a story. Picture books are children’s first appreciation of art on the page. Children learn to read by re-reading their favorite stories. Children need to be able to choose a book and bring it to their parent to read, not the other way around. Parents should be wary of technology that wants to minimize this important aspect of parenting by making it easier and less time consuming. Books are inexpensive, they are portable, they do not need to be recharged or plugged in. Cut corners elsewhere in your day and spend quality time with your children reading real books.