Has anyone created a PICTURE BOOK in iBooks Author?

Have to eat a tiny bit of crow here. The good news is that it's pure crow and no pink slime added. I had said that no prof publisher would have a children's picture book with a row of thumbnails running across the bottom. Well, DK publishing has an IBA produced title in the ibookstore "My First ABCs" with a row of thumbnails...across the bottom. I went ahead and bought it to see how they put their book together. If any of you are doing children's books I urge you to buy it (3.99) as it shows how you can creatively use that row of thumbnails. I think what they did was to completely overpower the thumbnails with their illustrations above them. Looks like they used the TOC as their first page.

I have 5 books to put together and learning the ropes in IBA is great.... except for the thumbnail fiasco, which I hope gets a fix in the update. Otherwise, I'll learn Pages ePub for the rest. Bon appetit!

I can't find those titles on the iBookstore. The first Sesame title I came across in iBookstore "Elmo Says Achoo!" was not created in IBA and has no row of thumbnails. It reads like a traditional picture book. The ones you point out are an app in iTunes and not what we are doing here.

It's not that your kids notice or care that the thumbnails are there in that app, it's that I care. I am the creator and producer of my content and I want to present it in the way that I want to. I have spent at least a hundred hours filming puppets, editing, sound work, taking stills, writing text for this video eBook and even more to learn IBA.

As I said, I will slog thru this book to present in iBookstore under the layout limitations in IBA and simply move on to Pages if there is no update to correct/not include this flaw on the other books in the series. Love the interactiveness with widgets , adding video, etc but Apple should give us the option of having those thumbnails or not.

Also, you are right about children not caring about those thumbnails. I'd be willing to bet your kids never once said "Why aren't there thumbnails running along the bottom of the book?" when you were reading to them in the past. Children will accept just about anything you put in front of them as far as entertainment/reading goes. Will children's book authors with a hundred years of creating picture books at their back suddenly abandon their roots to a process that takes creativity away from them? I dunno. I don't see a lot of children's books in the iBookstore.

So, no crow on this one.

Yes, I pointed out that it was an app & not an IBA product.

All I can think is that they want to be included in the Apple platform (as I do) and they are experimenting. As am I.

Nothing will make me feel better about the thumbnails other than an announcement from Apple that they will have the option to include, or not include them in the first update.

To put it another way, say you are having a kid's party and have gone to great expense and effort to have only healthy food/treats. You know, let's say burgers made with organic beef, no HFCS treats, etc. Everything that corresponds with how you are raising your children. As has been pointed out, kids only will see food. Just as you are serving the controlled menu, Betty from next door shows up with a bucket of KFC, MCDonalds burgers, fries and HFCS shakes and says "Who wants KFC & McDonalds?" Of course, a number of the children will go for it. Why? Because, like those dreaded thumbnails, they are simply there.

Well then, KFC & McDonalds it is!

You mean, in your perception, the worst ever until you wrote the rambling & nonsensical fork-ology? Perhaps I should have included a row of thumbnails for you to follow.

My analogy is quite apt and right there on point as to children reacting to (or not) what is put in front of them, be it healthy food, unecessary thumbnails, fast food, or even forks.

As we are here on this IBA user board garnering info and help for constructing our IBooks Author ebooks, why don't we get back to that? How is your book coming? Is it a children's book?

Having said all that, we must get word to Sesame Street that "Elmo Says Achoo!" was created in the wrong format as it has no thumbnails to guide the viewer. I guess that kids & parents will just sit and stare at the cover? 🙂

Why on earth are you attacking me over this? It's not your call and frankly, none of your business. It is how I, the producer of my book, want it done. Why can't you understand and simply accept that and move on? You really need to direct your ranting to each and every children's book publisher that is represented in the iBookstore that does not have a row of thumbnails on their books and then, with the same sweet charm you are displaying here, get them to correct the error of their ways.

Again, are you actually writing/publishing an interactive ebook? How are you doing with it? Did it get past the vetting and now are you just waiting or has it been published? Creating interactive eBooks in IBA is a fairly new process, how can you be such an expert on what children want or don't want, after what, 3 months? Back up your words with studies and facts and then your singular opinion might gain a smidgen of credibility.

I am here to get help with putting my book together. What are you here for?

"accepted and doing well..." Of course. I would expect nothing less considering your previous comments.

I suspect there are issues much deeper and greater than thumbnails at play here but will kindly accept your offer to leave me alone.