With the launch of the Apple iPad being just a few days away, we now hear of some information that will allow authors to get their work in to the iBook store. The normal process for a book writer would be to get their book accepted in to one of the six or so publishers who Apple [AAPL] is working which can take time and cost a bit of money too.
A couple of new services have launched that aim to take that hassle away from the publisher whereby they publish the book for you and act as a middle man in the process. The two companies offering this service are Smashwords and Lulu who appear to have both signed deals with Apple to provide books for it’s store.
Smashwords is a simple system whereby you upload your eBook in Word format along with a cover image. Smashwords then do what they need to do with an automated system to make it compatible and send the book to be included in the store. In terms of payment, they take a percentage of each sale as their commission.
It is expected that Lulu will work in a similar way although exact details of how their service works have yet to be published online.
For Smashwords the revenue split will be 60% author, 30% Apple and 10& Smashwords giving quite a fair deal on the whole thing considering there are no other costs associated (other than what it personally takes you to get your book written as in time and research etc…)
With the Apple iPad launching this weekend we expect to hear more about the services over the next few days or weeks, so stay tuned.
Details of the Smashwords service can be found here.
Via: GG
I represent an author with a published book. How do I get into your i-book store?