We need your help! We are about to launch a new service to help our Outskirts Press published authors publish their books for the iPad/iPhone and distribute those e-books through the Apple iBookstore. Via the survey poll below, please tell us which service you would value more as an Outskirts Press published author:
Option 1 – iPad/iPhone Edition with Standard iBookstore Distribution for $399
We will create an epub format of your book (which includes a unique ISBN, as required by Apple) and submit your e-book to Apple through our Outskirts Press account, meaning it would be published by Outskirts Press. You must set your e-book price between $4.99 and $9.99. For as long as your hardcopy edition was under contract with Outskirts Press, you would earn 50% net royalties. You would not receive the epub file.
Option 2 – iPad/iPhone Edition with ENHANCED iBookstore Distribution for $699
We will create an epub format of your book (including a unique Bowker-provided ISBN in YOUR name). The file will be submitted to Apple on your behalf, through your own iTunes Connect account at whatever price you set. You will be listed as the publisher. You would earn 100% net royalties. Your book would continue to be available regardless of your hardcopy edition status with Outskirts Press. You would receive the epub file to pursue other ebook opportunities.
Which option do you like more? Let us know.
I’ve published two paperback novels with Outskirts and been very happy and have also published ebooks through Smashwords without any difficulties which are available and currently being sold via Apple. As Smashwords is a FREE service, Outskirts Apple options seem highly overpriced and neither option seems advantageous. I also like that I have more control over my ebook pricing through Smashwords and Amazon than through using Outskirts arbitrary $5 minimum.
I think that an Apple iPad/iBookdstore option would be more apropos in the $99- $199 range.
I would, however, be interested in audio book options if they were in the $400-$600 range.
I think audio books is the single most important marketing tool
Outskirts can add to their porfolio. I know scores of people who buy or check them out of libraries. I have wanted to do this for some time.
I think this is a great idea. I find when I am reading e-books, I read them faster. Is there going to be an the audio formats of the books as well. I think with e-books people are gonna be reading more books so lets go for this if it’s worth going for.
Daniel,
You’re right, one of the most requested new options we receive from our authors is for audio books. We’re in the initial stages of putting together that option.
I am a published author with two awarding winning novels both published by Outskirts Press. I have no idea what an iPad/iPhone is because I don’t use a cell phone. Also I don’t use Twitter. And even though I’m on facebook I don’t understand how to use it very well, so my question is this. I’d like my books sold on the iPad/iPhone, but can I do that if I don’t have the iPad/IPhone? Any thing that will help sell my books is always of interest to me.
Hi Arlette,
Yes, you may certainly use either of these two options to submit your books for the iPad/iPhone without having one of those devices yourself. That’s one of the benefits of Outskirts Press; we take care of all those hassles for you.
I have two books (both award winning) published by Outskirts Press. Now, I have no idea what an iPad/iPhone is since I don’t use a cell phone, don’t know how to use twitter, still haven’t figured out facebook, I’m on facebook but I can’t figure out how to use it very well.
However if this new thing will help sell my books I’m all for it. I just don’t know if it will work since I don’t have an i/Pad/iPhone. So can I profit from this? And please don’t tell me to get an iPad/iPhone. I’m just too old to even begin to figure all of this out.
Arlette Gaffrey
http://www.arlettegaffrey.com
Kelly, the question is cost/benefit ratio. At $699, it would take about 140 books to break even. This offer is only good for people who have books under 100 pages as any book much longer than that is not pheasible on an iPhone. As to the iPad, it is used primarily for business and my friends who own one also own eReaders. Until the market has a one-size fits all ebook, eBook sales will lag. Let someone else be the Guinea pig in this.
Kelly, has Outskirts market tested this product? If so, it would be of great assistance to read that market survey or test.
Hi Emanuel and Ashley,
A very savvy response. Your points are well taken, and contribute both to our “slowness” in launching this option since the iPad’s introduction last year, and its relative expense. E-books and “everything-Apple” (apps, iPhone, iPad, etc.) are all the rage right now, and while reading an ebook on an iPhone is eye-straining, iPad ebooks are remarkably inviting. So combining those elements into a service for authors seems like a good new offering. A large, large number of our authors have been requesting it but the up-front exercise of submitting ebooks to Apple combined with the back-end accounting challenges of economically tracking ebook sales that are literally sometimes in the 30-50 CENT range, make it difficult to pull off in a manner that works both for the author and the publisher. We hope we’ve found a way with these two options. We “guinea pigged” the first option with one of our books, The Highly Effective Habits of 5 Successful Authors and “guinea pigged” the second option with our iPad ebook iBookstore distribution of another one of our books, Self-Publishing Simplified. Based upon the results of this poll, it currently looks like we will be making Option 2 available to a small number of our authors in the coming weeks, and then will open it up from there.
Am I missing something? Like Amazon, Apple’s cut is 30% the author gets 70%. Further book retails can be set below $4.99. Further a service like Bookbaby provides all the needed services for less than $200. I love working with Outskirts. Everyone has been outstanding! This pricing makes no sense to me.
Hi Horace, The pricing depends upon the method being used to distribute the book. One can either use an Apple aggregator, or one can submit the epub file to Apple directly through their iTunes Connect account. If using an aggregator, that aggregator takes a percentage in addition to the percentage taken by Apple (so the author doesn’t actually earn 70% – the amount they truly earn depends upon the aggregator’s percentage, so whenever you see a claim like “100% royalties” understand that is 100% of the net profit). If submitting directly to Apple, you can “cut out the middle man” margin, but many of our authors have expressed just how difficult and frustrating it is to submit ebooks to Apple directly. Some authors have the fortitude to do it; most don’t. We cater our services toward the authors who prefer to have us handle these complications for them and keep everything under “one roof” and in one account. Since our authors maintain all their rights and 100% control over their book they can always choose any available option for services extending their distribution. We appreciate your business on the hardcopy/Ingram distribution side and we’ll take another look at our pricing for these services; that is part of the purpose of this poll. Thank you.
You are right John, Smashwords offers the service for free and I have used it with great results. Sorry Outskirts.
Hi Gary, You’re right Smashwords does offer a nice service for some people. We actually considered using it ourselves, but our test titles demonstrated that the system wasn’t flexible enough for what we wanted to offer, so we decided to launch our own high-quality version of the service as well. Different options for different needs.
I may be mistaken but I believe Smashwords offers these services free of charge for the authors. Am I wrong?
Hi John,
Good question. Smashword’s offering is different from both Option 1 and Option 2 in a number of different ways. There are many different ways to ultimately get an ebook on the iPad and distributed in the iBookstore. Ultimately, it comes down to the amount of time it takes to research all those options and then pursue the path that seems best for you, in relation to the number of compromises one needs to make regarding price vs. deliverable. For instance, submitting a file that Smashwords approves for iBookstore distribution is sometimes challenging and time-consuming, particularly if your document has images or charts. It also requires its own ISBN. In general, the Smashwords option shares almost nothing in common with our Option 2, which the poll is showing to be the most popular choice and the one we’re most likely going to make available.
I like option 2, it seems like a very good offer, and it seems like a good deal for us Authors. I have been with outskirts press since 2008
I’m SO glad you’re adding this option! I have actually looked into doing this myself, and the companies that would convert the file for me (all seemingly in India) wanted to charge $5,000! Of course that was to make it an actual App in the Apple store (not a book) but still, I’m glad there is a far less expensive option. I would prefer Option 2. Also, I read online that the Barnes & Noble Nook supports EPUB, as well as the Sony Reader. So I’m guessing that with Option 2 I would be able to submit it to those companies as well? Thanks Outskirts!
Ryan Hoover, author of Immortal Implements
http://www.immortalimplements.com
In getting “Congruent Parallels, Living Infinity~Living God, An Answer to Atheism” published, I’ve gone about as far as limited resources allow me to go. Any promotion I can do without incurring a monetary cost, I will try to do as time and book sales may allow.
Outskirts Press should help new authors by providing less expensive marketing services, including the ipad options; unless an author has a best seller already, most of us do not have the funds to adequately market our books, surely Outskirts Press will make more money from higher sales of our books–we need help from Outskirts Press in marketing our books for a win-win solution!!
As a self-published author, your marketing efforts are up to you. If you choose marketing options like this, the prices are listed in the post above. With Option #2, you would earn 100% of the profit on the sales of that digital format, just like with our Kindle option: http://www.outskirtspress.com/p/kindle. We look forward to helping you get published!
I’am a die hard fan and potential Author to be with OutSkirts Press for the last 2 years. My first BOOK is ready for Publishing by this month which I will send a message to OutSkirts Press right now after sending this e-mail. I like option 2 which is a very fair and attractive deal. Do we as OutSkirts Press Self-Publishing Authors pay anything?