Saffy looks for the entry point into digital: Simply Read Books and their first children's book app

Simply Read Books, an independent children’s book publisher in Vancouver, BC, released their first interactive digital book, an iOS app based on their board book Saffy Looks for Rain, in August 2012. This report discusses the challenges inherent in entering the app world at that time and the key decisions Simply Read Books made during the development, distribution, and marketing phases of their app in order to minimize those challenges as much as possible with the limited resources available to them. As a result, the report provides a snapshot of the 2012 children’s app market, and acts as a resource for other publishers entering that market. The report concludes with an evaluation of the successes and failures of the Saffy Looks for Rain app from a sales and marketing perspective, and by looking ahead at the choices independent publishers may have to make when considering app publishing in the future.