Exclusive Interview With Karen Robertson Author Of Treasure Kai and the Lost Gold of Shark Island

JC – Please explain how your app was originally though of and what were your thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?

KR – “Treasure Kai and the Lost Gold of Shark Island” is all about adventure story fun and was first created to engage my kids who loved stories but weren’t keen to read. It was originally a printed treasure hunt storybook that used toys as clues to finding gold. When my son picked up an iPad for the first time and chose storybook apps over games, we knew “Treasure Kai” had to be an app. The “Treasure Kai” book app takes the the game element of “Treasure Kai’ to a whole new level with animation, sound, music and touch, with over 13,000 ways to find gold.

JC – Explain the design, how you came up with the colors and themes.

KR – This app is all about the treasure hunt! So the primary design element is the treasure chests that appear at the bottom of the page when Kai begins his adventure. The clues fly out of the treasure chest on the beach, scramble, and then disappear from view. From that point on, the story is in the reader’s hands to randomly choose treasure chests and experience adventures until finding gold.

JC – Who do you see as the main target market for this app in terms of age, genre and expenditure?

KR – Treasure hunters 5-8 years old are the ideal audience as well as older treasure seekers who’d rather dig for gold than read books! The other surprising markets are teachers who are using educational activities developed to meet US core standards in the classroom and the speech pathology and autism spectrum communities who have embraced the app because it’s so uniquely interactive and was designed with literacy specialists to motivate kids to actually finish the stories they start.

JC – How long did it take from the original planning to the production process of this app?

KR – Eight months from “let’s do an app” to being live in the App Store.

JC – How do you predict sales to be, is there a good solid market for this style of app?

KR – Fantastic! Kids from over 80 countries have downloaded “Treasure Kai” and feedback is phenomenal. “Treasure Kai” has been as high as #5 in the US App Store, won “Best in Category” for apps at the New Media Film Festival in San Francisco, has been a Digital Story time “Top 25 Most Essential, and Top 10 Most Original,” and is an Appstar Picks Top 250 All-time Children’s App.

JC – What has been the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome regarding this app development?

KR – Getting the word out about “Treasure Kai.” While it’s great to have lots of fan mail and win awards, unless parents, teachers and kids know about “Treasure Kai,” it remains a “best kept secret".

JC – Would you consider developing apps for third parties?

KR – We’re working with Room to Read founder, John Wood to turn his children’s book, “Zak the Yak with Books on His Back” into a storybook app to raise money for Room to Read. Room to Read has donated over 10 million books to kids in third world countries since 2011 plus built over 13,000 libraries, 1,200 schools and educated thousands and thousands of girls.

JC – What have you learnt from the App Store?

KR – Marketing matters!

JC – Have Apple supported you well with your App development?

KR – Yes! Apple is terrific because they handle all of the back end for developers.

JC – What next, are you developing another app, would you go for the same genre again, if not which?

KR – The sequel, “Treasure Kai and the Seven Cities of Gold,” is in production and will be live in July 2012. Treasure Kai goes back in time to race Coronado to find the seven lost cities of gold, inspired by events in the New World in 1540.

JC – Have you considered developing apps on other platforms such as Android? If so, what has the experience been like?

KR – We will but it’s not our first priority.

JC – What do you think about TheAppWhisperer.com? Have we helped you? Would you recommend us?  Have we been supportive?

KR – I use TheAppWhisperer to discover new apps and am thrilled to present “Treasure Kai” to “TheAppWhisperer” fans.