iBooks author 1.0 - Can anyone now be a book publisher and an author?

In its education event held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum in New York last January 19, Apple unveiled iBooks author 1.0, a software that can create an interactive eBook and simultaneously publish it globally through the iBookstore. 

iBooks author was launched together with the Textbooks Category for iBookstore, the iBooks 2 and the iTunes U app, the first product launches for Apple this year. It can be downloaded for free through the App store and requires a Mac running version 10.6 or higher.

I'll be focusing on the iBooks author for it is an empowering software that will impact the landscape of the publishing industry for the years to come. 

Still in its infancy at version 1.0, the iBooks author is currently inclined for creating textbooks as exhibited by its 6 templates. 

iBooks Author 1.0 initial templates

Apple noted that an important feature in iBooks author is that the textbooks can be updated even after being published and not be static like the current physical textbook.

But in his keynote, Apple SVP for Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller emphasized that other genres like cookbooks & travel books can also be created.

Based from the demo and some early tinkering with the iBooks author, I found it to be user friendly as Apple already laid out most of the structural work in its templates. All one needs are basic working principles of word processing, layout, drag and drop functions and, of course, content for the eBooks. 

The user interface of iBooks author 1.0

For users familiar with Apple's iWork software suite like Pages and Keynote, iBooks author incorporates the same workflow. 

For those who have knowledge of Javascript and HTML, custom widgets and interactive enhancements can be made in one's eBook in iBooks author.

Roger Rosner, Apple's VP for Productivity Applications emphasized that “Traditionally, creating electronic interactive books has been really hard. If you’ve ever been involved in making e-books before, you know that this is a total miracle in terms of time savings.”

There are free and even paid eBook authoring software available in the market but it can be difficult to use at times as the software is not yet fleshed out for direct text and image inputs and a working knowledge of HTML is needed for one to structure an eBook.  

iBooks author also eliminates the need to pay for content to be converted by an eBook conversion service as your work will be in .epub format, which is already compatible with the iBookstore standards. 

Bound by the iBookstore

However, work created through the iBooks author, can only be sold through the iBookstore and as of the moment, can only be viewed through the iPad. 

This has elicited response from the publishing industry as some critics stated that "making iBooks Author free is a grand gesture that falls flat because of distribution limits." They wanted the work done in iBooks author to also be available for distribution in other online bookstores using ePub formats like Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

But this is Apple's play to increase its competitiveness in online book retailing as it is still playing catch up to Amazon. And according to the late Steve Jobs, the textbook industry is "ripe for digital disruption" and Apple wants to lead in this category by accumulating exclusive content in its iBokstore through iBooks Author. 

For publishers and self publishing authors, iBooks author is a good platform to 
produce 1-2 titles and see how the market reacts to your eBook. For being an early adopter in a new product ecosystem has its benefits, as you can gather market data and get feedback from consumers. This can aid in your strategy by adjusting your content in the early stage if sales are slow or add more titles in your eBook offerings should sales be received warmly.

Moreover, focusing on selling eBooks with Apple, whether textbooks or other genres is a good calculated risk. Its main delivery platform, the iPad, is still the preferred tablet of consumers worldwide and the iBookstore is integrated with every iPad purchase.  

For self publishers, the next important thing after learning iBooks author 1.0 is to familiarize with iTunes connect and iTunes Producer, Apple's online delivery software for eBooks. This is where one will input all relevant data for selling through iBookstore and also receive royalties from eBook sales.

At this stage, Publishers and Self Publishers are still feeling out the process of creating and publishing content through the iBooks author. But this will evolve quickly and in no time, we will see fresh faces emerge in the publishing industry who will maximize this opportunity given by Apple.