It's all about the stories.
We can read a book either in print or digital format,
or, more rarely, listen to the audio version. And for most stories, that’s
about it.
Sadly, for a growing number, that isn’t enough. How
many of us have elderly parents who would happily immerse themselves in a tale
but can no longer make out the words?
Or a child who is blind, deaf, or autistic? The
language of stories is universal, yet so many of our most vulnerable feel left
out and alone, unable to easily access the wonder and magic of a well-told
tale.
For the rest of us, how many would love to escape into
a magical world, but are held back by the day-to-day needs of an indifferent
life?
Do you fit into that category? Does
someone you know?
Well, now there’s another option. It makes use of
forty years of research combined with the best of technology to make stories
accessible to the widest audience possible.
It’s new.
It’s exciting.
It’s changing the face of storytelling forever.
Wenebojo. Storytelling reimagined. And it’s about
time!
·
All the text, straight from the book
·
Resizable text
·
Audio version, adjustable volume
·
Imagery designed to enhance the story,
but not overwhelm it
·
Filterable content, by far more than
just genre
·
American Sign Language translation
(planned for phase 2)
Our Story
Conceived by researcher Kat Lind, Wenebojo’s primary
purpose is to fill that key gap in the market, to give those with few options
access to great stories. To enable families to experience magical tales
together, all at once, regardless of what the abilities of those family members
are.
But it’s more than that as well. We have not built
Wenebojo by chance, with only a simple hope that it would serve our grand
purpose. It is backed by research into stories that spans forty years, and a
predictive modeling component with which we can tell in advance how effective a
story will be.
The result of all this is a product that is more than
engaging. Our stories are compelling. Immersive to a level unheard of until
now, and there’s nothing quite like it anywhere else.
Think about it like this. How many times, when you’re
reading a book, does something cause you to hesitate? How many times does an
uncertain mix of words bounce you straight out of the story?
With Wenebojo, you hear the words as you read the
text, and there’s an image to back everything up. Or you can watch the pictures
while listening to the words. Or, after phase 2, you can flip between text and
sign language.
Either way, you have multiple avenues toward
understanding. Comprehension goes up. Way up.
So does engagement.
We’ve done significant testing of the concept, and the
results are remarkable. Wenebojo does bring stories to life. It gives rise to
an immersive experience.
It works for those who have reading difficulties just
as well as for those who do not.
The key, of course, is having amazing stories to
offer.
Our Authors
That’s where our authors come in. Wenebojo is
associated with a talented collective of authors without whom none of this
would be possible. Known as the Phoenix Prime writers, every one of them
published in their own right. Between them, they’ve won a list of awards that
would amaze you, as well as earning multiple best-seller tags on Amazon for
their work.
Writing in every genre imaginable, our authors are
producing stories at a rate of several hundred thousand words every month. And
they are GOOD words.
Most of our authors have been through a grueling boot
camp that lasted six months to gain the very best understanding of how to produce
great stories. Also, they have all been trained in some very specific
techniques that reflect how Wenebojo works.
And then, on top of all that, there’s the extensive
quality control. Every single story, whether it’s a five-minute short-short or
a full novel broken down into multiple episodes, goes through a rigorous
process to ensure that it’s the very best it can be.
That quality blends the efforts of our technology and
authors to the others that are integral to Wenebojo. Each of them has an essential
role in delivering the immersive, powerful stories that the Storyteller will
provide.
So many other people contribute to our stories.
Editors, proofreaders, beta readers, sound engineers, vocal artists, scene
designers, digital media producers, and administrative staff all have crucial
roles but are frequently not mentioned. To us, it is a team effort.
The collaboration of our team, from authors to media
producers, is an essential part of Wenebojo. It is the core of our identity,
the expression of our commitment to storytelling. This is the power behind
every tale that we offer.
Our stories will take you into the world of the author
and make you laugh out loud. They’ll make you cry, shiver with fear, cringe,
despair, and feel joy so intense it will surprise you. You will travel through
a whole range of emotion, and you’ll want to keep coming back for more.
There’s still work to be done.
We’re on the cusp. Our launch is just around the
corner, and we’re working hard to put all the pieces in place.
This is your chance to be part
of our storytelling revolution. Share this, spread the word, be one of the
first to subscribe, and help us change storytelling for the better.
What’s Next?
We’ve been working steadily on this for many months
now, and we’re making good progress. We’ve formed partnerships with technical
teams to ensure that when we go live, we can do so with the best possible
platform to support us.
IBM has joined us and will be providing our platform
on the worldwide, highly secure and scalable IBM Cloud. This will let us reach the world and supply a
quality streaming experience. And a safe and stable one.
We have also been joined by a well-known University in
the US that will be putting their talent and facilities behind this project.
Their award-winning directors, designers, and digital media staff are a welcome
addition to our efforts.
The production team is busy converting stories as we speak, and the authors are writing up a storm. There’s still much to do.
During this time, we will also be building our catalog
of stories as much as we can to ensure you never run out of new tales to enjoy.
And we’ll continue with our various marketing activities as well.
Join us, be part of our journey. Our mission, our joy.
Blend your stories with ours.
We are Wenebojo