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Submitting a book to ibook?

Does anyone know how to submit a book to ibook?

lots of macs, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Apr 3, 2010 12:12 PM

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Posted on Apr 3, 2010 12:40 PM

Your best bet is to check out Smashwords.com. There you can have a book published in every e-book format should you choose.

Note that they have a free ebook dedicated to how you need to structure your file for proper ebook formatting.

They have specific instructions on the requirements for iPad.
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Apr 3, 2010 12:40 PM in response to kludged

Your best bet is to check out Smashwords.com. There you can have a book published in every e-book format should you choose.

Note that they have a free ebook dedicated to how you need to structure your file for proper ebook formatting.

They have specific instructions on the requirements for iPad.

Apr 3, 2010 1:32 PM in response to MDom

I researched this a bit myself. I used acrobat.com to create a .epub book with just a couple of pages and saved it to my desktop. Then, I moved it to my web server using ftp. Next, I went into the iBooks app on my iPod touch and added the book to my library.

I read that you should be able to drag to the books folder in iTunes, but I don't have my iPad yet, so I haven't tried that method.

Apr 4, 2010 5:11 AM in response to kludged

I too would like to know how to submit a book to Apple's iBookstore. I have several books for sale on Amazon. I have been actively redesigning (is that the best word?) one into the .ePub format.

Smashwords is an interesting enterprise, taking Word .doc documents and parsing them into every acceptable ebook format, but this "meat-grinder" (their term) technology is too all encompassing.

So how do independent publishers get their work to the Apple iBookstore? - Fabe

Jun 19, 2010 12:24 PM in response to kludged

Hi Everyone, Mark from Smashwords here. We're one of several aggregators serving the iBookstore.

Here's our handy checklist on iPad ebook publishing via Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/about/howto_publish_ipadebooks

Quick condensed summary:

1. Sign up for a free account (everything is free at Smashwords)

2. IMPORTANT Study and implement the Smashwords Style Guide at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52 to learn how to format your book for Smashwords. If you carefully follow it, your book can make it to Apple faster. If you don't follow it, you'll only frustrate yourself and delay distribution. If you don't have the time or patience to follow it, click the Smashwords customer service link (top of any SW page) and request "Mark's List," my list of Smashwords authors who provide low cost formatting and cover design for their fellow authors. You'll upload your book to Smashwords as a Microsoft Word .doc file. If you don't have MS Word, the free Open Office will work (though Word is best).

3. When you upload the book file, you'll also upload a separate front cover image. The image should be a vertical rectangle shape (our requirement, not Apple's) and at least 600pixels tall (Apple's requirement). No greyscale images.

4. Attach an ISBN to your book via our ISBN Manager. Apple requires ISBNs. If you don't have one, we can provide you one for free via our ISBN Manager (in your Smashwords Dashboard). Your ebook ISBN should be different than your print book ISBN.

5. Opt in to our Apple channel.

6. We pay you 60% of the list price you set, paid quarterly. We also publish free books at no charge to you.

7. After you upload, we review your book for inclusion in our Premium Catalog, which is what we ship to Apple and other major retailers and mobile platforms. we evaluate for good formatting and complete metadata. See http://smashwords.com/distribution for how/where we distribute

For a comprehensive FAQ, see http://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq

Final note: To publish at Smashwords, you need to be the original author or exclusive electronic publisher or distributor. No public domain works unless you're the author. The book must represent a complete, standalone story or collection of short stories. No works-in-progress or partial books. And then there's the common sense stuff - no erotica that involves children, no books that advocate illegal activities, no hate speech, etc. Our TOS is here: https://www.smashwords.com/about/tos

Aug 19, 2010 1:22 PM in response to kludged

Email response from the iBookstore team:

You can now sign up to sell your books in the iBookstore directly. Go here to get started:

http://itunes.com/sellyourbooks

Your books should:

Have an ISBN
Be in EPUB format and
Validate epubcheck 1.0.5
Contain no unmanifested files
Contain only UTF-8/16 characters

If your books aren't yet in EPUB format or you would like help with selling your titles in the iBookstore, we recommend that you work with one of our aggregation partners; that list is also available at the link above.

Additional Requirements:

A US Tax ID
A valid iTunes Store account, with a credit card on file
An Intel-based Mac running OS X 10.5 or later

A final note: once signed, our online agreement allows you to sell in the iBookstore in several countries. However, you are not obligated to sell your books in every country. You'll have the ability to set country availability and price for each of your titles.

Sep 6, 2010 10:04 PM in response to ssukotto

Dear SSUKOTTO,

Your response is most helpful. However, we would like answerst to the following;

Why is a US TAX ID required ? We come from New Zealand and would like to place our book on the Apple Bookstore, and the chances of getting a US TAX ID are zero, as we have no place of residence in the United States. Does this mean that you only want U.S. books ?

Why do you need our credit card for this process to upload a book ? Afterall we do not intend to buy any books, and you have all of our details.

We think that if you relaxed these rigid requirements you would achieve a much greater commercial success. Afterall all of your competitors - Amazon, Kobo, Barnes, Sony etc do not have such requirements.

Regards AKILLA

Nov 16, 2010 5:48 PM in response to Akilla

You can get a US Tax ID without holding residence in the country... I had to do it in order to sell Apps on the App Store, as I'm a Canadian citizen.

Simply visit this link to the IRS website, fill out the W-8BEN form and call the nice ladies to complete the form submission over the phone: h ttp://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=105139,00.html

Though, I believe all this info would be given to you once your application is approved by Apple.

Submitting a book to ibook?

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