How to Use Apple Publishing to Self-Publish Your Book

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When it comes to self-publishing, the platform that immediately comes to mind is most likely Amazon Kindle.

And while it’s true that Amazon remains the dominant force in the digital publishing world, it’s far from the only option.

Apple offers a plethora of resources to help authors write, publish, market, and sell their ebooks and audiobooks on Apple Books. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of their top features and benefits of using their services.

What Is Apple Publishing?

As of May 2020, Apple Books (formerly iBooks) remains Amazon’s top competitor, making up just under 10% of the US ebook market (Amazon, in comparison, dominates over 80%).

Using Apple’s word processor, Pages, authors can create books and publish them directly to the Apple Books store.

Similar to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Pages allows authors to customize virtually every aspect of their books, including the cover, price, tags, and pre-order availability, among other things.

Apple Publishing Benefits

Why self-publish with Apple? The platform offers several benefits for authors to consider, including:

  • 70% royalties, regardless of price
  • No price matching
  • No third-party ads
  • No file delivery fees
  • No limits on free book offerings to customers
  • No payments for preferential store placement
  • Platform is available in 51 countries

So how does Apple stack up compared with the reigning King of Ebook Sales, Amazon?

Again, Amazon accounts for over 80% of all ebook sales in the US, so they definitely rake in far more sales. However, many have pointed out that Apple seems to treat authors better than Amazon, offering perks like no exclusivity requirements, higher royalties in some pricing points, and availability in more countries.

How to Self-Publish a Book with Apple

Follow these steps to self-publish your book with Apple.

1. Create an iTunes Connect account.

To get started, set up an iTunes Connect account for Apple Books. You’ll need to answer a series of questions, including the name of your book and important tax information.

Once you’ve finished signing up for an account, you’ll need to download iTunes Producer. This app is where you’ll upload files, set your price, and add all the other information and details needed for Apple Books. 

2. Write your book.

Then, if you haven’t already, it’s time to write your book! We’ve got lots of helpful info for this one, including our complete guide to writing a book.

But in addition to those tips, Apple Books for Authors also has you covered with plenty of writing resources, including advice form best-selling authors on generating ideas, structuring your narrative, developing a plot, building characters, and more.

When it comes to actually creating your manuscript, if you’re a Mac user, you may find it easiest to create your book in the Pages word processing app. However, you can also convert your Microsoft Word file so it can be published on Apple Books.

3. Format your book.

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Before publishing, you’ll need to make sure your book is properly formatted with page and chapter layouts, as well as a compelling cover.

Again, Apple Books for Authors provides helpful tips and tutorials for designing your book and creating beautiful covers. You can also check out our guides to book page layout for more suggestions.

You should also carefully proofread your book to check for typos or other layout issues like widows and orphans before publishing.

4. Set your price and other details.

Using iTunes Producer, you can set the pricing and other important details for your book. You’ll also need to choose which category your book will fall under.

Apple authors can choose two categories: one main subject category (such as , and a second, more specific one. category. For related advice, check out our post on how to choose Amazon categories to increase your sales.

5. Publish your book.

From your Pages document (if you created your manuscript in MS Word, go ahead and convert it), select File then Publish to Apple Books.

Select “This is a new book” and click Continue. Then, choose a layout. You can choose “Reflowable” for books that are mostly text, or Fixed for image-heavy or multi-column documents. You’ll also want to upload your cover file here by selecting a .jpg or .png file.

If you want your book to be available for pre-order, select Yes in the Pre-Order section. Then, select Yes under Upload Book to upload your book files once they’re ready.

Preview your book to ensure that it looks great and ready for publication. If you’re happy with what you see, click Upload.

Once you’ve submitted your book, it can take up to 3 business days to be authenticated by Apple’s internal review team. Then, it should appear on the iTunes website under Books.

6. Track your sales.

Once you’ve published your book directly on Apple Books, you can track its performance with daily sales reports and also experiment with pricing.

You’ll have access to next-day data and be able to build customized dashboards to easily view the data you care about most. Payments are made within 45 days following the end of each month.

7. Make updates when necessary.

If you find that you need to make changes or updates to your book, you can easily do so through your iTunes Connect account.

All changes made to your ebook will appear within 24 hours.

How Much Does It Cost to Publish on iBooks?

Apple Books (formerly known as iBooks) does not charge any fees to self-publish through their platform. They pay 70% royalties and keep 30%, regardless of how your book is priced.

How Long Does It Take to Publish a Book on iBooks?

Once you’ve submitted your book to Apple Publishing, it should take up to 3 business days for their review team to approve your book and publish it live on Apple Books.

However, if you have a strict deadline, it’s recommended that you submit your book two weeks in advance, as certain periods of the year, like the holidays, tend to be busier and more time-pressed for the review team.

More Self-Publishing Options

If self-publishing with Apple doesn’t sound like the right fit for you, check out our post on Amazon self-publishing and our Kindle self-publishing checklist.

And if you’re a first-time author, you may want to consider taking an online self-publishing course so you’re prepared with all the information you need!

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

The post How to Use Apple Publishing to Self-Publish Your Book appeared first on TCK Publishing.

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