Publishing your ebook on Apple Books
Apple Books is one of the stores you can sell your ebook in directly, without a distributor. It is worth knowing exactly what it does and does not do before you start.
It does not print
Apple Books for Authors takes ebooks and audiobooks. There is no paperback option, no hardcover and no print on demand.
So it sits beside Kindle and Kobo, not beside KDP's paperback service or IngramSpark. If you want a printed edition as well, that is a separate listing with a separate printer. Where to print covers that half, and Going wide, or staying exclusive covers the one conflict that can stop you here: an ebook in another retailer's exclusive program cannot also be sold on Apple Books until that term ends.
What you need first
- An iTunes Connect account. This is Apple's publisher account, and it is separate from buying books on your phone. You sign up with an Apple Account, choose Individual or Organization, and use your legal name.
- The rights to the book, and the authority to sign for yourself or your company.
- Tax and banking details, if you are selling. A free book needs only the accepted terms. A paid book needs both, and Apple verifies US tax details against IRS records, which can take a few days. Do this early, not on launch day.
- An EPUB that passes epubcheck. Apple says every book must pass the latest version of the checker before it can be submitted. What makes an EPUB pass validation explains what the checker looks for.
- A cover image, PNG or JPEG in RGB color. Apple sets a minimum size and tells you not to enlarge a small image to reach it. A cover at 1600 × 2560 clears that minimum.
- A Mac or an iPad, possibly. Apple's instructions for books made in Pages say to upload from one of those, and not from an iPhone. Its general instructions for the web portal do not mention a device. If you only have a Windows PC, try the portal before you plan around it, and see the section on partners below.
The ISBN: optional, with one catch
You do not need an ISBN to publish on Apple Books. Some guides say you must have one, but Apple's own help for publishing from Pages says you do not.
The catch is in the same sentence: if you have a number, have it ready, because you can only enter it the first time you submit the book. You do not get to add it later on an update.
So decide before you upload. If you own a number for the ebook edition, use that number, and not the one printed on your paperback. Each format has its own. Do you need your own ISBN? helps with the decision, and Keeping your ISBNs straight helps you avoid putting the wrong one on the wrong edition.
In the Interior Formatter. It builds an EPUB 3 from your manuscript that validates with zero errors and zero warnings under epubcheck, and the same file works for every store. Save your ebook's ISBN in the ISBN list and it goes into the EPUB's details, so the file and your records agree. Start your ebook → · about the Interior Formatter
The steps, in order
1. Read the file yourself first. Open the EPUB in the Apple Books app on a Mac, iPhone or iPad and page through it. Passing the checker means the file is correct, not that it looks right. How your ebook actually looks on other people's devices lists what to look for.
2. Upload to the publishing portal. Sign in, choose to submit a new book, and give it the EPUB, the cover art and, if you made one, a sample. The portal checks the files while you fill in the rest.
3. Fill in the details. Title, author name, a full description, a subject category, the language, and an interest age if the book is for children or teens. Note any explicit content. If you self-publish, your own name goes in as the publisher unless you use an imprint. If the book came out somewhere else first, enter that original date. Metadata: the fields that decide who ever sees your book covers how to fill these in well.
4. Send it through to iTunes Connect. Apple says it can take up to 24 hours for the book to appear there.
5. Set rights and pricing. This is the step people miss. In iTunes Connect, select the book, open Rights and Pricing, choose your countries and regions, set a price and save. Until you do, the book is not for sale, however finished it looks.
6. Wait for review. Every book is reviewed and approved before it goes on sale. If yours comes back, When a store rejects your ebook goes through the usual reasons and the order to work through them.
Apple's terms, payment rates and steps do change. Check Apple Books for Authors for the current version before you rely on any of it.
Two details that surprise people
The cover goes in twice. The store image readers see while browsing is separate from the cover inside the EPUB that appears when they open the book. Unless you built the book in Pages, you need both, and they should be the same art.
Apple makes your sample for you. For an ordinary flowing ebook, the sample is a set percentage of the book's words. Assume it starts at the front, so long front matter can use up that share before the story begins. Check your sample once the book is live. If your opening is what sells the book, move the extras to the back or supply your own sample.
Going direct, or using a partner
Uploading yourself is not the only route. Apple keeps a directory of partners who can deliver a book for you, and it lists Draft2Digital and PublishDrive among the ones that handle ebooks. Apple also sends people with other file types, such as a PDF, to these partners, because the portal itself takes EPUB.
The trade is the usual one. A partner gives you one dashboard for several stores and handles the upload, and it usually takes a share of each sale. Going direct gives you your own account and your own reports, and one more login to keep up with. Distributors, aggregators and who actually sells your book sets out how to choose, and if you do not have a Mac or an iPad, a partner may be the simplest answer.
Pick one route for each book. Uploading the same book both ways can leave you with two listings to untangle.
Make your ebook
The tools are free to use: write your book here or bring your manuscript, and get both a print PDF and an EPUB out of the same words, so the two editions cannot drift apart. You only pay when you want the files without the preview watermark.
Next: What makes an EPUB pass validation · More: Going wide, or staying exclusive · Pre-orders: what they buy you, and what they cost · Ebook cover size