Amy Atwell from Author E.M.S. gave this workshop at #RWA17. Note that iBooks is in 51 countries and it’s the number two online book retailer in the U.S. Keep in mind that iBooks is the default reading app on all Apple devices. How can you get your book there if you are indie publishing? You could go through a third-party aggregate such as Pronoun, D2D, or Smashwords. Or you can set up your own publisher dashboard with iTunes Connect. Customers buy your book via the iTunes or iBooks app. For uploading books, you need iTunes Producer and a Mac computer. You can hire a formatter who does these uploads or go through one of the aggregates if you don’t own an Apple computer. Once your book is uploaded directly, you can go into your dashboard from any device. If you are doing the upload (or your formatter is doing it for you), you will need an ISBN number for your ebook. If you move a book later from an aggregator to direct upload, you’ll lose rankings and reviews.
Disclaimer: These notes are subject to my interpretation. Any errors are mine.
Reasons for failure to Upload may be because your epub file isn’t properly validated. Your coding may not match Apple’s requirements. If you’re using epub3 format, it may need versioning info. For Versioning, you add data on what’s new, such as an excerpt or a bonus scene. Readers who have bought your book will be alerted that a new version is available.
Other reasons for error messages might be that your image is too big; you’ve added links to other retailers; you have improper use of iBooks branding; you’ve mentioned a sale or discount in the book’s description; or you haven’t filled in the right primary category.
You can put a sale start and end date. You can do preorders up to a year in advance.
To attract readers, try offering a sneak preview for iBooks fans only. Make use of the free download codes per title. Ask readers if they want to be notified of new releases or sales of your iBooks titles.
Send a request for your series to be linked once you have at least 3 consecutive titles available.
Useful tools include iTunes Link Maker, the Affiliate program, banners and widgets with links to your affiliate code.
Also note that when you do tweets about your books, use #iBooks instead of #iTunes.
For more tips on iBooks, see my previous blog on iBooks Tips for Writers.
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Tag: iBooks
iBooks Tips for Writers
Working with iBooks
Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014
Representatives from iBooks spoke at the Ninc conference. They said their readers like free ebooks, so Apple offers the first free in series promotion. Their readers are also willing to pay more for a book so don’t be afraid to price higher.
Pre-orders count double toward your sales ranking—when a pre-order comes in and when the book releases. You can do pre-orders up to one year before the book’s release. You can offer a sample of the story when the book is in pre-order. So Step One is to set the pre-order date, which is when the book is available for ordering. Step Two is to set the sales start date, when the book can be sent out.
iBook sales count on the USA Today list. iBooks are only allowed on five devices for one person. You should put your iBook links on your websites, Twitter, newsletter and elsewhere. For Twitter, use the hash tag #iBooks, not #iTunes.
It takes time to build readers on this platform. They recommend you have three books minimum in your series when you offer the first one free. In the back material, make sure you include links along with covers for your other books.
Make sure your name is readable on a thumb-sized cover. For the URL, take out the specific country, and the URL will redirect to the country of the buyer.
i.e. Take out the U.S. part from this link:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/nancy-j.-cohen/id411505950?mt=11&uo=4&at=1l3vsrx
And it becomes this link that redirects to the buyer’s country. See if this works for you:
https://itunes.apple.com/artist/nancy-j.-cohen/id411505950?mt=11&uo=4&at=1l3vsrx
They can only link your series titles if the books are uploaded by the same publisher. So if the books come from different sources, they won’t be able to link the titles in a series. [NOTE This is no longer true. It doesn’t have to be the same publisher but be consistent with your series title in the Metadata for each book.]
You might want to join their Affiliate program so you can share in some of the revenue from sales.
iBooks is in 51 territories. The German market is huge. We need to think more globally. Apple has a strong worldwide presence. India will be an emerging market for ebooks.
Note: Any errors in this article are due to my interpretation.
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