The Ultimate IBooks Author Experiment: An Intro

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turndog

I am what you might call an Apple Fan. There are those more committed, but I’m certainly an advocate. I would never, for instance, consider a Windows laptop, or a Google Phone, or a cheap and cheerful tablet.

So there you go…I Love Apple

When they announced a new and improved book store in January, and even more exciting, a piece of author software, well, I did a little dance (seriously). In early 2012, iBooks Author was born and I went straight to work.

I quickly found I liked it, but I didn’t love it. It wasn’t so much the software, it was the process. If you make a book in iBooks Author, and then want to sell it, you must only do so in the iBookstore. I love Apple, but…

 

The Inception Of The Ibooks Author Experiment

At this point I decided I would give it a chance. I had my thoughts of what would happen (more of that soon), but I wanted to give Apple an opportunity to shine. If an Apple fanboy like me can’t get excited by iBooks Author, who will?

The time to launch that experiment is now. This is the plan:

  • I’ve taken the How To Build an Author House Series and turned it into a single Ebook
  • I’ve given it a further edit, done some rejigging here and there, and it’s ready
  • I will sell it exclusively on the iBookstore (for $1.99)
  • I will give it some modest exposure (email, this Blog, Social Media)
  • I will document my entire journey on this very Blog

A rather simple idea. The aim isn’t to make money (seriously, I expect to get very little), but instead see how powerful the iBooks Author Software is for a writer. Specifically, will it help a self published author get to market.

After all, the software is very user friendly. I’m fairly adept at using InDesign, but the thought of creating an entire book in it sends shivers down my spine. IBooks Author brings a simple process to an otherwise ‘fiddly’ time.

Is it enough, though?

 

This Is My Hypothesis

I have some thoughts about what will happen. Let me share them with you.

I don’t think this will work. I would love nothing more than have Apple spearhead my writing, but I don’t see it happening. I don’t think the iBookstore is popular enough and not using Amazon isn’t wise.

I think sales will be low

I think interest will be slim

I think success will be non-existent

For you see, apple to don’t invent things, they reinvent them. Laptops, Tablets, Smartphones, MP3 Players, MP3 distribution…they didn’t create any of these. They simply made them better.

However, in all of these areas, there wasn’t a dominant force (except for laptops). People were selling MP3’s, but they weren’t knocking them out of the park. Same with the actual Player’s, and Smartphones, and Tablets. Amazon, however, OWN the Book Market.

What’s more, I think Apple know this. When they launched the iBooks Author software, they kept talking about the education market, rather than the thriving self-published one. Apple know that in order to beat Amazon they would have to change their style.

Apple don’t do this!

They either need to conform or fail. So…they target a niche instead. In other words, they look to the Education market and try to make that their book baby. This is what I think, but I don’t want to think, I want to know. Hence the iBooks Author experiment

 

Over To You

How To Build An Author House has been created via the iBooks Author software and will appear on the iBookstore in the coming days (I will let you know as soon as it is).

What I would like from you is some input. I’m not sure how long this experiment will last, but I’m in a position to research and uncover many things. So….what would you like to know?

What aspects of the iBooks Author Software, the iBookstore, or Apple in general would you like to know more about? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I will tailor future Blog Posts around them.

 

That’s all for now. Like I say, this will be an ongoing subject over the coming weeks and months. Will iBooks Author help writers like me and you? I think not, but I guess we will soon know for sure.

Turndog Millionaire – @turndog_million

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