Novella Interactive

Below are some of the biggest advantages to interactive stories.

• This kind of product bridges the gap between pre-readers and readers. It’s a way to cause and keep excitement for stories. It’s not just a story … there are choices, and interactivity, and other elements to make it a little bit more. Even if a child struggles with reading the story, there are those other elements to help out and keep them going.
• Similarly, it bridges the gap between non-readers and readers. There are many people who convinced themselves they hate reading (or are “not smart enough” for it). I know several of them—and I also know they suddenly loved reading once they discovered interactive novels. They were a stepping stone. They were “their kind” of novel.
• It requires stories to be short and streamlined. You just don’t have the space to make the story complicated or too long. An interactive story needs to be streamlined and tight, with no wasted word or plot.
• It allows narratives, stories and emotional events that linear/regular stories can’t match.

Below are some of the biggest disadvantages of interactive stories.

• The interactive element can sometimes be perceived as annoying or useless. If someone is really into the story, stopping the story for some choice or question feels like breaking their flow and immersion.
• It requires a bit more from the reader. Be it the parent reading to their children, or the child reading the book themselves.
• The plot is usually not as engaging and well-woven as in a linear novel. It has to be chopped up and simplified more to allow you to read the book in different ways or make choices along the way (without the whole thing collapsing).

You always get at least two things:

• The story as a printable PDF. (The pages are the usual format for books. Your computer should support printing “2 pages per paper” too, creating a booklet if you want.)
• The story as an ebook. (We keep the ebook lean and simple on purpose, to make sure it should load on any ereader you might ever find.)

We try to include the “interactive elements” within the book itself. It’s nice to have it all in one place at the start. To really make it one book, not a collection of PDF files. But … this isn’t always possible. And in such cases there will be a separate PDF with “explanation and material”.

On top of that, many of the educational stories include bingo cards or quizzes too. To keep kids engaged, to make sure they understand.