Here’s an interesting story, Apple Reveals New Service for Authors to Sell Their Books Directly in the iBookstore | Mac|Life which reports:

“Apple sent us an e-mail today with details on how someone could sign up to sell their own books in the iBookstore. Their books would have to adhere to these criteria: each one would need to have a 13-digit ISBN, be in ePub format, validate against epubcheck 1.0.5, and contain no unmanifested files. If you are not familiar with any of these Apple suggests working with their aggregation partners.
“

This is an intriguing opportunity. If you’re reasonably techy it will be an option for you.

However, I think that most self-publishers will still want to work with an intermediary company to take some of the hassle out of the tech involved. Companies like Smashwords take the angst out of getting your ebooks online.

Are you contemplating getting your books into the iBookstore? Please share your strategy (whether you’re going it alone, or not) in the comments.

IPad madness is here. Developers are creating applications for the platform, even though most haven’t even handled one of the devices. And Ars Technica believes that Apple sold 20,000 to 25,000 of the devices PER HOUR in pre-orders.

Apple will sell millions of iPads in the next couple of years.

Booksellers are getting ready.

The iPad App Derby Gets Under Way – NYTimes.com reports:

“Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble are working on apps for buying and reading electronic books, even though both companies sell their own e-reading devices and Apple will offer its own iBooks app. The expectation is that the iPad will give a big lift to the e-book market, benefiting the whole industry. “

What will the iPad mean to authors?

What does this frantic activity mean to you as an author?

Primarily, it means that ebooks will be big, and that includes self-published ebooks.

You can convert your word processor manuscript into ePub format (software to do this is available), and you can start selling your ebooks to be read on the iPad. You’ll have millions of potential readers, and endless ways to get your books in front of them.

It’s an exciting time. If you haven’t been tapping your fingers to the bone, get moving!

The self-publishing company Author Solutions will be distributing writers’s books with Scribd.

This sounds like an excellent development, which will make Author Solutions’ books widely available, and this is always a good thing.

Scribd Inks Distribution Deal With Indie Book Publisher Author Solutions reports:

“In a statement, Author Solutions says the Scribd portal currently attracts over 50 million users per month, and that the startup’s platform will help authors make more money from book sales because it brings higher royalty percentages than are possible with traditional paper-and-ink books. In its promotion video, which I embedded below, Author Solutions says it has helped some 85,000 authors get their books published to date.”

Develop a great income writing for the Web – start by writing simple articles

I’ve developed “Sell Your Writing Online Now” (SYWON) to help you to start making money writing online in 24 hours or less.

Each week, for one full year, you’ll receive a lesson, with an assignment which will build your Web writing income – you EARN as you learn.

SYWON is totally unique, and if you want to write for the Web, it’s your ticket to success.

Traditionally, self-publishing has been seen as an act of desperation.

If you couldn’t get your book published by major publishers, you took the self-publishing route. Unfortunately the upshot of this was sometimes a garage piled high with boxes of books you couldn’t sell.

The Web has changed all that.

When speaking with established writers, I’m hearing that nine times out of ten they prefer to publish online, first.

Here are some comments:

I can publish my ebook with a few clicks of my mouse in days, rather than years. Since I’ve got a mortgage, it makes sense…

Eight or 15 per cent looks silly next to the 100 per cent profit I make from self-publishing…

I love it – when I publish online, I have direct contact with readers…

Should you self-publish?

That depends on YOUR business plan. You do have one, don’t you?

You must know what your goals are for your writing.

Self-publishing is a great way of testing the waters of a topic. You can create a blog, and self-publish your book in a very short time. You can still go the traditional publishing route, but one of the big benefits of self-publishing and selling your own ebooks is that publishers will often approach you.

Discover how to make money online in your spare time with Angela Booth’s Sell Your Writing Online NOW training Not only will you discover how to write and sell ebooks, you’ll get complete training in how the Web works, so you can take advantage of the unlimited opportunities.

For free weekly writing tips sent to your Inbox, subscribe to Angela’s Fab Freelance Writing Ezine and receive “Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report” immediately.

Print on Demand (POD) publishing is filled with hassles, but this author seems to have had extraordinary challenges when using Lulu’s system.

Macopinion reports:

“Unfortunately, my impressions of Lulu went downhill when I began researching the details of the publishing process. For one, there is almost too much information on their site. Publishing is complicated and there are hundreds of FAQs split among thousands of pages: I spent many hours reading through their site trying to understand all of the available options and procedures.”

Lulu is hardly a new kid on the block, and they seem to be successful. So why can’t they get their site organized?

As Macopinion says, they offer “free” publishing; you just pay for the books.

You should read his entire post, but as for me, I’d rather pay for decent service than go through this kind of nonsense.

Recession-proof your freelance writing career

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.

Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:

“Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I’m quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2007! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I’ve got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…”

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you’re writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.