Fan Fiction App Has Users 'Hooked' Through Text-Style Stories
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Seems like kids today would much rather text with their friends than read a book. Well, now they can do both.
Mikey Sean McGuigan, 19, says the first time he heard about the app 'Hooked,' he was sold.
"The name really represents - it really wraps it all up. It hooks you into the story," said McGuigan
That's because the app allows users to read fast-paced, short stories right on their smart phones and in the form of text messages between two people.
"Because you're actually going through these texts and it's almost as if you were texting and he's running away from a killer or something," said McGuigan.
Since its release three years ago, the rise in popularity of chat fiction apps, like Hooked, has led published authors like Kayla Parent, to take a leap into the new format.
"The biggest challenge was coming up with a story that kind of fit the parameters of this style of writing," said Parent.
Millions of users have read her first Hooked story - a thriller that took Kayla a fraction of the time to write compared to her novels.
Hooked has topped Apple's app store three times and more than 20 million people have downloaded the free app.
Users also have the option to subscribe for a fee and unlimited reading.
"It almost feels as if you're actually going through what the characters are going through," said McGuigan who also reads Tap - one of a handful of other chat-fiction apps geared to Millennials.
He says while he is hooked on the new style and has no plans to stop reading good old-fashioned books.