I helped my friends Nonzwakazi Sgwentu and Ali Michael publish a book to the Apple iBookstore. Based on Ali's thesis from 2000, I used iBooks Author and describe why we did the book and the steps to do so.

1. 1

2. If
you
need
any
jus.fica.on,
eBooks
are
exploding,
and
mobile
readers/tablets
are
a
big
part
of
that
explosion.
2

3. 1. Our
good
friend
Nonzwakazi
lives
in
Cape
Town,
South
Africa.
My
wife,
Teresa
met
her
in
2000,
and
we’ve
been
very
close
with
she
and
her
family
since,
including
suppor.ng
the
children
through
private
high
schools.
2. Ali
Michael,
an
American
“African
Studies”
student,
lived
with
Nonzwakazi’s
family
for
a
while
in
1998.
While
there,
she
wrote
Nonzwakazi’s
story
as
her
thesis.
3. In
2000,
Ali
graduated,
and
her
thesis
was
published
and
put
on
an
academic
shelf
somewhere.
4. More
than
a
decade
passed.
5. We
visited
Cape
Town
for
three
weeks
just
aUer
this
past
Christmas.
6. At
the
same
.me,
Apple
released
new
publishing
soUware,
iBooks
Author,
and
an
ePub
extension
for
textbooks.
7. I
had
the
bright
idea…
8. Let’s
publish
Ali’s
thesis
as
an
iBook.
3

4. When
I
started
the
project,
it
seemed
pre[y
simple:
1. Take
the
thesis
contents…
2. and
some
pictures,
3. and
import
them
to
iBooks
Author,
cleaning
up,
edi.ng,
and
forma]ng
a
bit.
4. Then
publish
it
to
iTunes.
5. Wealth
and
fame
–
for
Nonzwakazi,
not
me
-­‐
will
follow.
4

5. But
it
wasn’t
nearly
that
simple.
1. Take
the
thesis
contents…
2. and
some
pictures,
3. and
import
them
to
iBooks
Author,
cleaning
up,
edi.ng,
and
forma]ng
a
bit.
4. Go
into
Apple’s
online
iTunes
Connect
portal
and
sign
up
to
be
a
publisher.
5. Sign
the
contracts.
6. Add
your
tax
and
banking
informa.on.
7. Publish
the
book
to
a
tool
called
iTunes
Producer.
8. iBooks
Author
generates
the
cover
art,
but
you
also
add
screenshots…
9. and
a
whole
bunch
of
meta-­‐data…
10. and
a
whole
separate
book,
excerpted
from
the
main
one,
as
a
sample
book…
11. all
into
iTunes
Producer.
12. Then,
use
some
money…
13. to
buy
a
block
of
ISBN
codes
from
Bowker
Iden.fier
Services.
14. Add
the
book,
the
cover
page,
and
a
bunch
of
metadata
to
Bowker.
15. Assign
one
of
the
ISBNs
to
your
new
book,
adding
it
to
iTunes
Producer.
16. Upload
it
all
to
iTunes
Connect,
validated
by
iTunes
Producer
before
the
upload.
(I
did
this
on
Sunday,
April
22.)
17. Apple
then
reviews
it
for
content,
style,
and
other
aspects.
18. Wait
for
approval..
19. Once
approved,
it
goes
to
iTunes.
(This
happened
on
Wednesday,
April
25.
No
5

6. I
haven’t
done
it,
but
in
looking
at
the
instruc.on
for
Amazon,
it
is
simpler,
but
with
much
poorer
tool
support:
1. Take
the
thesis
contents…
2. and
some
pictures,
3. using
Word
or
another
publishing
tool,
clean
up,
edit,
and
format
a
bit,
and
export
it
as
HTML.
4. Review
it
in
Amazon
Kindle
Previewer.
5. Upload
it
to
Kindle
Direct
Publishing
(aUer
crea.ng
a
KDP
account).
6. Add
cover
art
and
metadata.
7. AUer
a
few
hours,
it
appears
in
the
Amazon
store.
8. Wealth
and
fame
follow.
6

7. My
book.
Only
$.99
or
.49
Euros.
7

8. 8