Since I’m trying to do holiday-themed entries this week, let’s file this one under “Possible gifts that I’m not sure I support.”

iTales appears to be a relatively new story site that is slick in appearance. Unlike most (if not all) the story sites I’ve cited in A STORIED CAREER, iTales sells stories.

At first glance, the stories appear to be more along the lines of performance storytelling (as opposed to personal narratives), and in fact, iTales offers a commission to performance storytellers who sell their tales on iTales.

I’m confused about the the audience for iTales. The page title on the site says: “Short Stories For Kids : Audio Stories : Children’s Activities : Travel With Kids : Children’s Bedtime Stories,” but nothing else on the main page indicates the site is targeted at children (or, more realistically, their parents).

In fact a press release about the site says (emphasis added):

iTales.com is a newly launched, global storytelling community dedicated to giving a 21st-century voice to generations of life experiences. With the help of MP3 technology and worldwide accessibility, iTales.com offers a user-generated platform for the ancient art of storytelling, giving it new life for a new millennium. iTales.com is now available as a user-friendly tool for professional and amateur storytellers to market their audio stories, as well as a rich resource for story enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds.

And when you go to the site’s Hear a Story section, you see all kinds of categories beyond kids’ stories, including personal narratives.

Given the widespread availability of stories on the Internet, I wonder if people will pay for stories. Granted, the stories at iTales have low, iTunes-like prices (generally less than $2). I do like the fact that these are oral stories; those are much harder to find on the Web than written stories. But I also wonder whether it’s a good idea for, say, parents, to buy stories for their children instead of telling or reading stories to them.