In her former life, my wife was a state champion news writer. She prepared her high school and college careers for an eventual life as a reporter. Along the way, she took a detour, obtained a Master’s in Urban Administration and now does economic development. However, she is still a good writer. With that in mind, I asked if she ever planned on leaving her day job for the life and adventure of a starving writer. She replied that while it was enticing, it did not pay the bills. It seems as though real life intruded on her girlhood dreams.

As her husband, I could not let this come to pass. So, this is my first entry into getting my wife’s dreams come true. I hope to encourage, edit and eventually self-publish her writing. Even if I weren’t her husband, I still think this is a worthwhile effort. You only have to meet my wife one time to know this woman is wonderful.

So far, this is what I know.

  • Apple only accepts books published in the ePub format.
  • It’s not clear if a single person can submit their own works, but it may be possible, see here
  • You can sign on with one of two companies that offer iBook distribution: LuLu.com or SmashWords.com
  • If you created your own ePub file, it can be installed on the iPad via iTunes. In theory, this means you can sell DRM-free ePub files from your own website.

I hope it will be possible to create your own ePub file and offer it via the iBookstore. Those trials and tribulations will be chronicled here in the time to come. Until then, here are some observations from others intrepid enough to try the same thing:

iBooks and ePub
iBooks on the iPad, a first glance

Update: I received more information from a knowledgeable person via my Twitter feed:

  • Apple keeps 30% of the sales off the top
  • An ISBN is required for each eBook published
  • Your ebook must be in at least ePub v. 1.0.5
  • Apple will have a contract with the Aggregator, not with the publisher

Current aggregators:

  1. http://www.bibliocore.com
  2. http://books.cdbaby.com
  3. http://www.pseudodigital.com/constellation/ipad
  4. http://www.ingramcontent.com/Apple/default.aspx
  5. http://apple.libredigital.com/
  6. http://www.lulu.com/apple-ipad-publishing/?cid=eng_ebk_epub_041410
  7. http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_ipad_ebooks

Read the original posting on Spannet.

Posted in Adopted, Accepted, Adored, Technology and tagged , .