Publishing e-book on Apple’s iBookstore (Part 2)

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In the first part of this article, we have seen how to publish on iBookstore and what formats they accept. Let’s move on to some other important questions you may have about the process.

How much time does it take for the e-books to go live?

It typically takes one week or more. If you classify your book as a textbook, it is likely to take more time.

Who decides the price of my book?

You do, but within the restrictions set up by them.

Apple’s pricing structure is intricate and maximum price that can be set is tied to the price of the e-book’s print version, if there is one. The specifics vary on different factors and it is available in their contract.

Besides, the price can only be selected from the tiers made available by them. It starts at $0.99 for US market and goes up in the increments of one dollar ($1.99, $2.99 etc.). The tiers are similar in other currencies (GBP 0.99, 1.99 and so on)

Can I give my e-book for free?

Yes. iTunes Connect has two kinds of account.  A Paid Books account allows you to sell books at  price as well as offer books for free on iBooks. You will need to provide in banking and tax information so that you can receive payments.

A Free Books account allows you to offer books for free on iBooks. If you set up a Free Books account, and later decide you have books you’d like to sell, you will need to create a separate Paid Books account.

If you need to be able to offer paid as well as free e-books, you should create a Paid Books account. If you need to offer e-books only for free, you can create a Free Books account, where you don’t need to provide taxation and bank information.

How much royalty do I get?

You get 70% of the list price.

Is there any exclusivity involved in publishing through Apple?

If you create your book using iBooks Author tool, then you can sell it only through iBookstore.

Do I need an International Standard Book Number (ISBN)?

No, an ISBN is not required but recommended for any book you are offering on iBooks.

What do I do, if I don’t have access to a Mac machine?

You can borrow one from a friend, which might work because you need a Mac machine only to upload the content or make change to it, not for tracking sales or royalties. Or you can go through an intermediary like Smashwords.

In conclusion

Many wonder if publishing on iBookstore is worth the hassle. Does it deliver anything extra to the author if she is already published on Kindle. The answer is, it depends. Picture your typical reader. Is he more likely to have an iPad or a Kindle reader? That would give you a preliminary answer. But the only sure shot way to know is to try. And now that creating EPUB is so easy with InstaScribe, why not go ahead and publish anywhere possible? If your first couple of books sell mostly through a single platform, you can decide to go exclusive for future books.

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