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August 8, 2008

Tikatok – Publishing Imaginations

ss-tikatok

The art of self-expression is something that people explore at every age, and it’s very important that children are given opportunities to express their creativity. This is a fact well-understood by Tikatok, which aims specifically to help children express their imaginations through a medium that can reach anyone—-books.

Tikatok is a site that helps children create their own books, either on their own or with parents. Children start by writing their story. Tikatok has a feature called Story Spark that gives kids helpful prompts to inspire their story, ensuring success for even young writers. For parents who are helping their kids, the story can be easily typed into the application online. Once the story is written, illustrations can be created to go along with it. Parents can scan these images at home or they can mail them to Tikatok. Once these steps are completed, Tikatok takes over to perform the heavy-lifting. Children’s books are published under their chosen nickname, posted on the site, and made available for purchase.

Tikatok also offers its Library Program, allowing students to create their books during a 90 minute event hosted at various schools. The Library Program offers three different packages, each of which includes all the materials necessary to run the program for a relatively small fee per child.

The best thing about Tikatok is that it not only supports the creative nature of children, but it also promotes reading and writing, encouraging children to improve their literary abilities by applying them to a piece of literature that’s of their own creation.

Practical Uses:

  • Share your child’s imagination with family and friends by helping him author his own book
  • Let your daughter’s passion blossom through a story about her favorite flowers
  • Help kids practice reading and writing in a fun and positive way

Insider Tips:

  • Only registered parents can order a book with their child’s real name and bio on it
  • Tikatok holds the copyright to all material, but will return the copyright if requested
  • Those who don’t want to create their own illustrations can use the ones in the Community Gallery

What We Liked:

  • Tikatok protects the privacy of children by holding copyrights and using nicknames
  • Members are only charged for the books that they actually print
  • Unlike most print-on-demand services, Tikatok is specifically designed for children
  • Tikatok is eager to collaborate with educators and schools
  • The integrated social features help promote a strong sense of community

What We Didn’t Like:

  • There are images in the Community Gallery that are obviously copyrighted, hinting that submissions to the gallery are not moderated
  • It appears that books cannot be sold for any sort of profit through Tikatok

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: March 2008
  • Privately owned
  • Headquarters: Lexington, MA
  • Created by Sharon Kan and Orit Zuckerman
  • Web site: http://www.tikatok.com

Costs:

  • Site membership: Free
  • Library Program packages start at $4 per child and go up to $10

Comments

  1. who has the copywrites

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