How to sell your book on iTunes

June 4, 2010

Posted In:

iPad How-To's

With the release of the Apple iPad, Apple hopes to accomplish with regard to books what the iPod does for music. In helping stock the iBook store with an abundance of titles, Apple offers an opportunity for you to sell your book on their store. The bottom line is you get to keep 70% of whatever you decide to charge! You set the price without having the hassle of an agent or book publisher.

In order to put your book into the iBook store, you must meet these minimum requirements

iTunes Account with working and valid credit card
Be able to deliver the book in ePub format
Have an ISBN number for your book
The Book you write must pass EpubCheck 1.5
Valid US Tax ID
Intel based Mac running OS 10.5 or newer

If you don’t know how to get an ISBN number, there are firms that specialize in this service. Apple suggests you use an Apple approved firm that have can provide you with all the services you need. These firms are known as aggregators and do have a financial arrangement with Apple.

Here’s a list of Apple-approved aggregators for the iBook store:

BiblioCore

http://www.bibliocore.com/

CD Baby

http://books.cdbaby.com/

Constellation

http://www.perseusdigital.com/

INgrooves

http://www.ingrooves.com/digital-publishing

Ingram

http://www.ingramcontent.com/Apple

LibreDigital

http://www.libredigital.com/apple

Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/apple-ipad-publishing

Smashwords

http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_ipad_ebooks

Some services charge an upfront fee such as a flat fee for each year is in their store, with an additional fee to register your ISBN number. These fees range from $19-49. Other aggregators take a percentage of the profits. It’s up to you to choose what model you want to use. Of course, you could bypass the aggregators and do it yourself to lower the cost of getting your book online.

You can apply here to get your book registered on Apple:

https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wa/apply