2010 Electronic Alice Awards

Last year the App Book market was born with the launch of the iPad. In the years to come we are going to see a lot more App Books - thousands of them - and in ten years it will be standard fare. But for now its all new and shiny.

I've been thinking about recognizing the best of App Books for last year as a blog post.  In honor of Alice for the iPad the App Book that caused me to start a new company and become obsessed with this industry, I have decided to start my own personal awards for best App Books of the year.   I call it the Electronic Alice awards.  Maybe some day I will make a little statue and send it to the winners. ;-)

So let's open the envelope and see who the winners are:


Alice for the iPad by Atomic Antelope
This book set the standard for the fiction segment of the industry. It was innovative and wonderfully made. It also sold a lot of copies which really isn't important to winning an Alice but its certainly good for the developers.

The Elements by Touch Press
What Alice for the iPad did for children's app books The Elements did for non-fication titles.  It set the gold standard and caught international attention along with over a 180 thousand sales in less than a year.

The Pedlar Lady by Moving Tails
Combining animation and text this book was beautifully crafted and probably under appreciated by the general public. Still it was an incredible achievement of art and innovation.

The Tail of Peter Rabbit by Loud Crow Interactive
Released near the end of 2010 this children's book is so well designed it actually put me into a depression (not really) as I tried to figure out how I can ever top it.  It is so elegant and beautifully designed that, although it was not entirely innovative, it set the bar so high in terms of aesthetics that other app books will be struggling to meet its standards for years to come.

Dracula by PadWorx Digital Media
This application was really the first full adaptation of a complete novel by an app book publisher. It has great graphics and fun interactions and is recognized for both its quality and its innovation. Another aspect of this book that was interesting was the integration of an album of 16 songs related to the material by a variety of artists.

That's it. I don't really give my Electronic Alice winners categories as that doesn't seem appropriate and because it makes me place artificial constraints on my choices.  I don't expect the Electronic Alice to become the Oscar of the App Book industry but I do look forward to naming the 2011 winners this time next year.