Sigil -- what version of .epub?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Kivgaen

We have a contract through Ingram and they are suppose to be publishing to Apple iBooks on our behalf. It took a month for them to get their act together, but I belive our first 20 books are actually online now. We get 70% royalties for books sold through Apple -- But there are restrictions on this royalty. The price of the book can't be more than 9.99 for "new" books (less than 1 year old). Our Solution: If we are not prepared to reduce the price to that 9.99 price point, we just wait until the book is a year old before we publish the book to Apple. All our books are trade publications and therefore have a long shelf-life so this restriction isn't really a big concern for us.

Sorry about the late response. I don't check these forums as frequently as I should If you need to reach me but I don't respond on these forums, feel free to email support@ebooksbridge.com and your email will reach me

Howdy, Kivgaen:

Actually, after all the shenanigans of the last 8 weeks with Apple (3-week backlog at Xmas, and now over the past three weeks I've had reports coming in from all over about books being rejected for genuinely nonsenical reasons, e.g., "book does not have toc" when it's sitting there staring them in the face, or my personal favorite "we do not currenly support books with video"), that I've told my authors to blow off Apple. I have two NY Times bestselling authors and a host of solid midlisters, several Edgar Nominees, etc., of my 100 or so current authors, and frankly, between them ALL, there's not one handful of sales on Apple. Not a HANDFUL. And their books are priced to sell; have one author selling 4-500 a month on Amazon...1 on Apple. 500 on Amazon, 60 on Nook....none of Apple. I mean, it's pathetic. And for this you have to pay intake fees? And/or pay a percentage?

Not to mention, Amazon owns 88-89% of the space (in terms of ebook sales); Nook owns the other 11%. That leaves Apple scrabbling for that remaining 1%+/- with all the others, Kobo included. That's flatly minute. And WRT pricing, what happened with Ken Follett's sales should be a wake-up call to anyone who is paying attention: See here for article.

Nah. Not until Apple gets their act together. It's not just brain-damage, but when Apple imperiously (and erroneously) rejects a book, invariably the client comes back to--you got it--ME, as if Steve Jobs himself pointed me out in the audience and espoused burning me at the stake for inferior product.

They may have told all their affiliates that they were going to "own" Amazon's space, but they have a honkin' long way to go. I have both devices; I enjoy them both; but for books, as pretty as those ePUBs look on iBooks, the brain-damage of coding around their absurdly-imposed restrictions (yes, all full-justification is turned ON! No, we WON'T let you center!) is just...wastin' my time. And worse--my clients' money.

Thanks for the response!

Best,
Hitch