Magic Town's Blog
April 22nd, 2012 by Andi
Imagine if fairies had superpowers. Now imagine if a band of those fairies got together to right the wrongs in the world. Throw in a little magical dust… and voila! You have the “Superfairies” by Janey Louise Jones, will illustrations by Jennie Poh.
Jones, the author behind the Princess Poppy series, has created a series of Superfairies books expressly for Magic Town. This is the Superfairies debut… and they sure are making a splash. We recently sat down with Janey for a little chat, and you can read that interview here.
So what happens in the four Superfairies stories? Here’s a sneak peak:
The Spring Rescue: After a long winter’s sleep it’s time for a spring cleaning in the Superfairy house. But there’s no time for polishing when the Superfairies discover that poor Basil Bear is in peril and is dangling upside down from the shaky bridge! Can the girls help him out of this slippery situation?
The Summer Rescue: It’s the annual Summer Fair and everyone’s getting ready for the dance contest. Everyone, that is, except for Dancer the pony, who has mysteriously disappeared. Despite being the best dancer in the whole of Peaseblossom Woods, it seems she’s had an attack of last-minute nerves! Can the Superfairies find her before it’s too late?
The Autumn Rescue: It’s a blustery Autumn day in Peaseblossom Wood as the Superfairies settle down to make plum jam. But when the wind gets so strong that it blows Little Miss Mousey away, it’s time to stop making jam and save the day!
The Winter Rescue: When Peaseblossom Wood is covered in a blanket of white, the animals just can’t wait to play in the snow. Until poor Velvet Rabbit loses her footing. Oh, no! Will the Superfairies be in time to perform yet another daring rescue?
April 13th, 2012 by Andi
Virtual worlds. Books. Magic Town. Even Pottermore… It was all part of a lively discussion on a recent Radio Litopia’s Naked Book podcast.
Magic Town co-creator Christian Dorffer was on the show, along with Charlie Redmayne, the CEO of Pottermore (the Harry Potter e-book store) and Anna Rafferty, Managing Director of Penguin Digital.
You can listen to the whole show here.
And here’s a summary from the Naked Book’s blog post:
Launching a virtual world, ahem, ‘experience’, it’s easy street. Just ask Pottermore’s Charlie Redmayne who revealed exclusively on The Naked Book that his site had shifted £1m worth of Harry Potter e-books after three days.
But don’t be fooled. As Anna ‘not virtual’ Rafferty, m.d. of Penguin Digital, explained – launching a web-world is like giving birth: and at the end of it all you have is a baby, a living, breathing, squealing, e-rganism, that needs nurturing, feeding and Attention.
But that not’s putting off Christian Dorffer, chief commercial officer & co-founder of Mindshapes, whose digital world Magic Town is currently in open beta. “Magic Town will provide a new channel for kids to enjoy favourite picture books. And re-energise old brands,” said Dorffer. “We built Magic Town to take local brands global.”…
Presented by Philip Jones, deputy editor of The Bookseller aided and abetted by Sam Missingham and Catherine Neilan corralling the chat room.
April 11th, 2012 by Andi
It’s that time of year in London. The days are longer, the sun is shining (well, sometimes…), and The London Book Fair starts next week, running from April 16-18th. As usual, the Fair’s agenda is books, rights, and distribution of content across audio, print, digital and TV. We’re looking forward to it!
Magic Town‘s very own Christian Dorffer (Magic Town co-creator and Chief Commercial Officer of Mindshapes) will be participating in the pre-Fair Digital Minds Conference on Sunday afternoon. Christian is on the Nimble New Start-ups panel. Others on the panel include Brooke Geahan (Booktrack), Michael Kowalski (Contentment), Christian Damke (Skoobe) and Hammish Brocklebank (Flooved). The moderator is Paul Brindley (Music Ally and The Appside). It will be a quick-fire format, with each panelist getting only 6 minutes to present. Expect a lively Q&A at the end.
Deb Gaffin, Mindshapes’ VP Marketing, will be there as well. She’s looking forward to checking out the latest innovations shaping the publishing world of the future… and catching up with everyone at the annual #LBFtweetup on Tuesday evening.
Stay tuned for tweets and a round up after the conference.
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