Hi Everyone!
If you were able to stop by the Indelibles' Writer's Chat this past week: thank you so much! We had a really good time. I'm sure there will be more chats in the future, so stay tuned.
Otherwise . . . Big News from Apple this week!
"Apple announced what it's calling 'iBooks 2' during its media event in New York on Thursday, a textbook software program that allows textbook-makers and instructors to create rich, interactive teaching media for the iPad. As we first reported earlier this week, the announcement is akin to 'GarageBand for e-books,' giving authors access to easy-to-use tools on the computer in order to create multimedia content for the iPad."
Go Here To Learn More.
This news arrived on the cusp of the Coliloquy debut, an innovative epublisher with interactive features.
With iBooks Author, there's an easier way to format our content for the iBookstore. This also means enhanced content: music and other audio files (chapter readings?), easier html linking and embedded videos (book trailers!), links to websites and pdfs or other documents, etc.
JA Konrath predicted this would happen in 2009, you guys. See # 4 on this post.
The Downside? You'll still need a MAC/upgraded MAC software if your machine is older, and to purchase your own ISBNs. Also, it appears that you're limited to iPad users only. (So the enhanced content can't be viewed on a Kindle, for instance.)
This is also a concern: Greedy and Evil Licensing!
(I'm trying to piece together info from various sources, y'all, so if someone wants to correct me, please feel free!)
Full disclosure: I haven't played around with this app, yet, but I've talked to some people who have, and HOLY COW, you guys. It sounds awesome. I do have a MAC. I have my own ISBN. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of going through an aggregator to get to the "i" products. Now that Apple seems more interested in working directly with the author, we shall see.
Also, I read this article earlier in the week, and thought I'd pass it along: OMG They're Going to Kill Us!
They might have to throw Apple into the mix, as well.
Amazon will probably follow Apple's lead on this one, making it easier for its authors to format their content, with other special features "coming soon" (especially since the launch of the Fire). I've noticed a small upswing in sales at BN since Christmas, but they REALLY need to step up their game if they're going to remain competitive. Well, actually get INTO the competition, in some cases.
Let's just say I'm a huge fan of the free market and corporate competition, and I support measures by any company that are taken to keep the power where it belongs: the writer. No monopolies, please. My day job is related to higher education, so I'm excited to see what iBooks Author does for the classroom, too.
That is all!
Enjoy your weekend!
KK
