How to Publish Your Book in the iBookstore

Posted on February 4th, 2012 by John R Live in Social Media

One of the very first forms of content marketing is publishing a good old-fashioned “book” (yes… a book made of paper). It’s not the book sales that make most business authors successful, but what they can accomplish for the simple fact that they have written a book — such as consulting, speaking engagements, and more.

But here’s the twist. A recent report out a few weeks ago stated that electronic books are outselling paperback books and get this, Apple expects to sell more than 28 million iPads by the end of 2011. So it’s no surprise that a lot of writers want to know how they can get a publish an “eBook” or as Apple calls them an “iBook” into the iBookstore.

Getting your book into the iBookstore can lower your over-head and be more profitable. This exposes your work to entirely new markets. However getting a book approved by Apple isn’t a easy process.

You need to follow specific guidelines for preparing and publishing in order to avoid time-consuming headaches and a rejection email from iBookstore.

This post offers you a step-by-step guide to preparing and publishing your book for submission to the Apple iBookstore.

iBook Author App

Preparing your book for electronic publication

It is important to make sure that once readers download your digital book, they have a really good experience with it. That’s what gets them to mention it to others, talk it up on social media sites, and rate it well.

Part of ensuring a good digital experience is in the editing process.

You also need good design. Great covers sell books. And with digital books, it’s doubly important to capture reader attention, since the icons are small and there is so much to see at one time. If you are not a graphics designer I recommend you make the investment and hire one.

A couple of places to look for quality cover designers are r2H Designs (UK) and The Book Designer (US). Whether you use those services or not, they’ll give you a good idea of the types of design services out there. If you are on a budget try using a site like Fiverr.com might take a few tries to find a worthy designer but all gigs on this site cost only… $5.

Self publishing for the iBookstore

Apple’s distribution system for the iPad is a free app called iBooks. This app allows you to buy and download books from the iBookstore.

Apple doesn’t have too many restrictions on the books that can be uploaded to the iBookstore, but individual writers are not able to directly upload titles.

Apple has appointed a number of iBookstore aggregators that are approved to submit books to the iBookstore for you.

For this article I am going to focus on using Lulu. Another popular option is Smashwords.

Here are some things to take into consideration before you get started with an aggregator:

Cover Image. You will need a quality book cover image (JPEG) and it must be a vertical rectangle shape at least 600 pixels tall. The cover should include both the title and the author name. It cannot be a greyscale image and it cannot contain hyperlinks or web site addresses. Also, keep the image PG-13 (no nudity). Again hire a graphics designer if you are not one, your cover is the higher selling points.

Content Restrictions. You must be the original author, or exclusive digital publisher or distributor. Apple strictly forbids content that encourages illegal activities, promotes intolerance or discrimination, invades the privacy of any person, or that slanders or libels a person or organization. Erotica that depicts underage people engaged in or witnessing sexual acts is totally off-limits, in addition to being just plain wrong.

Pricing. Apple prices ebooks in 99-cent increments, so you are encouraged to do the same. Can’t put a price on you iBook? Hher is some helpful info for finding a price point, the average iBook price for a “best seller” is $9.99

ISBN. You need to get an ISBN for your ebook. Most aggregators have services that will automatically assign you one.

Get your books into the iBookstore

Now that you have your book edited, a cover created, your pricing set, and have had it checked for content, you are ready to use an aggregator and get your digital book into the iBookstore. (One important thing to know before you move forward: you retain all copyrights and intellectual property rights to your books.)

I’ll take Lulu as an example of the steps you’ll go through to get your digital book into the iBookstore. The steps are very similar for all aggregators.

ePub format. ePub is the format Apple accepts for ebooks. Lulu has a service that will run a special ePub checker and then convert your book into the proper format that is guaranteed to pass Apple’s strict guidelines. You can also submit the ePub file yourself using any number of ePub services as well as Apple’s own Pages program. If you want a speedy process, I would suggest using the aggregator’s services to avoid any technical holdups.
Cover image. You will need your cover image to upload along with your ebook in ePub format.
ISBN. Lulu will assign your book an ISBN as part of their regular service.
Upload. You can now upload all your files and supply all of the necessary information about your book.
Get Paid. Apple retains 30% of all revenue from sales on the iBookstore. The publisher (that’s you) receives 80% of the remaining revenue and Lulu receives 20%. Or you can pay Lulu a one-time fee and you won’t pay them any additional commissions.

That’s it. You now have your very own book in the Apple iBookstore for sale.

Now, of course, it’s time to market your new book. But that’s another post …

p.s. Good luck if I have inspired you please mention me in your book