How to Publish Ebooks in the Apple iBookstore
It's quick, easy and FREE with Smashwords!
Set your own price + earn 60% of the list price for iPad books
Smashwords is an Apple-authorized global aggregator. We provide fast, free and convenient access to the Apple iBookstore. As of October 4, 2011, we distribute to the following Apple iBookstores: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., and US (more coming!).
Smashwords makes it easy for you to publish, distribute and sell your ebooks to a global audience.
Smashwords distributes to the Apple iPad iBookstore and several other leading retailers including Barnes & Noble, Sony and Kobo, and multiple mobile platforms such as Aldiko and Stanza.
Smashwords is a self-serve service. Simply follow the simple steps below to get started.
Special Apple iBookstore Requirements Checklist
1. REGISTER: Sign up for a free Smashwords account, if you haven't already. Choose a "member name" that corresponds with the pen name or publisher name you will be using. Choose carefully, you cannot change it later.
2. STUDY: Study every resources link at the bottom of How to Publish at Smashwords page. If you carefully study the links and resources, you'll find it's much easier and faster to get your book approved and distributed to Apple.
3. FORMAT: Study and implement the Smashwords Style Guide so you can learn how to format your ebook to the requirements of Apple and our other retailers. Your book will not get distributed by Smashwords unless you follow the Style Guide. Your book must be uploaded to Smashwords as a Microsoft Word .doc file. No, you cannot upload a PDF or EPUB or MOBI as your source file. While we encourage authors to do their own formatting (it's easy if you follow the instructions), if you do not have the skills, patience or time to format your book to our requirements, send an email to list@smashwords.com and request Mark's List of low cost formatting providers (fellow Smashwords authors). Their fees start at only around $25.00/hr for formatting. We do not earn a commission or referral fee, so you will hire the contractor, not Smashwords. These folks are on the list because they have done good work for other Smashwords authors.
4. COVER IMAGE: You will need a quality book cover image (JPEG file), and it must be a vertical rectangle shape, at least 600 pixels tall, and the cover should include both the title and the author name. The cover cannot be a greyscale image (i.e. black and white only), and it cannot contain hyperlinks or web site addresses (it's not considerate to Apple to direct your prospective customers elsewhere). As with all Smashwords ebook covers, keep the image PG-13 (no nudity).
5. STUDY PREMIUM CATALOG PROCESS: If you haven't already done so in Step 2 (naughty writer!), click to the Smashwords Distribution Information page to learn how Smashwords distributes books, how the Premium Catalog evaluation process works, and how to fast track your books. If you follow the instructions carefully, you could see your ebook in the iPad iBookstore within a few days, and usually no longer than a week or two!
6. CONTENT RESTRICTIONS: To publish on Smashwords, you must be the original author or the exclusive digital publisher or distributor. Your book must satisfy the Smashwords Terms of Service. Smashwords, as well as Apple and our other retailers, strictly forbid content that encourages illegal activities, promotes intolerance or discrimination, invades the privacy of any person, or that slanders or libels a person or organization. Erotica that depicts underage persons engaged in, witnessing or imagining sexual acts is stricty prohibited, and may result in immediate Smashwords account deletion, forfeiture of earnings, and banning from our distribution channels. Common sense, folks. Kids don't belong in erotica.
7. PRICE, ATTACH & UPLOAD: Once you have carefully formatted your book to the Style Guide, click the Publish link at the top of any page. Carefully fill out the information. Apple prices ebooks in 99 cent increments (every price must end in $.99, so $.99, $1.99, $2.99, etc.), so we encourage you to do the same, otherwise we will round up your price to the nearest 99 cent increment. Triple check every field is completed before you click the publish button at the bottom of the page. If you experience problems uploading, this troubleshooting FAQ will help.
8. MEATGRINDER CONVERSION: After you click the publish button, your browser will pause as it uploads your information to our servers and our Meatgrinder conversion service. Once we receive the book (usually takes ~30 seconds), you'll see it progress to a conversion page with a spinning wheel. Most conversions take under four minutes. You can watch the wheel turn, or you can click away. If you watch, at the end of the conversion you may see AutoVetter messages, suggesting probable formatting problems. Take these recommendations seriously. If you decide to click away and not watch the conversion, watch for an email confirmation that will flag potential formatting problems, if any.
9. CHECK FOR INSTRUCTIONS: Check your Dashboard. What does it say under the "Premium Status" column? You want it to say "Pending review" or "Accepted." It usually takes a week or less for us to manually approve your title for the Premium Catalog. If it says "Requires Modification," click the link for instructions, where you'll find AutoVetter messages and/or personal notes to you from our reviewers. If your book requires modification, it means you probably did not accurately implement the Smashwords Style Guide. You'll find additional tips if you scroll down that page.
10. UPLOAD NEW VERSION (ONLY IF REQUIRED): If you were asked to revise the book, after you're done with the revisions return to your Dashboard and beside the book title, click "Upload new version." NEVER NEVER go back to Step 7 to re-publish a book you already published. This can get you banned from the Smashwords service. However, you are welcome to upload updated versions via the "upload new version" link as often as you wish.
11. VALIDATE YOUR EPUB: Once your ebook conversion completes, we'll output your book in multiple formats, including EPUB. Apple requires that your EPUB file pass the EPUBCHECK validator. Here's how you can check: Go to your book page, download the complete (not the sample) EPUB, then upload it to a free validator such as http://threepress.org/document/epub-validate. Most books pass 100%. If your book fails, it's usually caused by easy to fix (though sometimes difficult to diagnose) problems such as poorly formed hyperlinks. Learn more about EPUBCHECK error messages by clicking here. After you fix your book, return to your Dashboard and click "upload new version."
12. ASSIGN AN ISBN: Apple (as well as Sony and Kobo) requires your book have an ISBN. Go the the ISBN Manager page to learn about ISBNs and assign one to your book. Your ebook ISBN must be different than the print book ISBN. We can assign you a free or low cost ISBN, or you can obtain one from your local ISBN registrar. We recommend our FREE ISBN because it's free.
13. WAIT: After your book is accepted to the Premium Catalog, and you've assigned your ISBN and have opted in to the Apple channel, then your job is done. Now you wait for Smashwords to distribute your book to Apple. We typically ship abount once per week, usually on Thursdays or Fridays. After we ship, it will usually appear in the iPad iBookstore within a day or two, although erotica can take longer because it can be subject to manual review at Apple. Check the shipment status in your Channel Manager. If you notice that ship dates pass you by (even after your book has been approved for the Premium Catalog, and you've opted in to the Apple channel and attached an ISBN via the ISBN Manager), then it could indicate either the book is under review by Apple because it's erotica, or it could indicate you provided us an ISBN that was previously used at Apple by another book or distributor.
14. PROMOTE YOUR BOOK: Download the free Smashwords Book Marketing Guide for an extensive list of book marketing ideas, all of which are free to implement. Learn what Smashwords does to market your book, and what you can do for yourself.
15. GET PAID: For all sales at Apple, you will earn 60% of the retail price you set, less VAT (if any). Smashwords pays quarterly on all monies received by Smashwords on your behalf as of the end of each quarter. Keep in mind this means there is a lag time between the time a customer purchases a book at Apple and that money is transfered to Smashwords. To learn more about how we pay you your earnings, and the earnings-share rates for all of our different sales channels, see this Smashwords Royalty FAQ and also see your Smashwords Dashboard's Sales and Payments Report, where you'll find a full accounting of all sales.
BONUS ROUND: For entertainment (and to make yourself a Smashwords expert), read the entire Smashwords Frequently Asked Questions page if you haven't already.
DOUBLE BONUS: Tell a friend about Smashwords!
Quick Links: Learn More About Publishing at Smashwords
1. Read our Frequently Asked Questions
2. Read the Smashwords Style Guide for important ebook formatting tips
3. Learn how and where Smashwords distributes books, and learn how to gain inclusion for your titles in the Smashwords Premium Catalog, which is distributed to mainstream ebook retailers such as Barnes & Noble.
4. Read the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide for an overview of what we offer authors and publishers.
5. Read the Q&A with Mark Coker, our founder
6. Read our terms of service (our publishing contract with you)
7. Read the buzz about Smashwords in our press room
8. Read and subscribe to the Smashwords blog, where we share updates and trends of interest to Smashwords authors and publishers. The blog offers a huge archive of older posts and interviews, many of which are as relevent today as they were a year or two ago.
9. Read the Site Updates page at Smashwords. Here, we provide regular updates about Smashwords developments and known bugs.