eBookNewser reports: “There’s no word yet on when the event will take place, but the fact there are 2 inside sources does lend a lot of weight to the rumor. Also, consider the timing of the leak. CES is next week, and once again Apple has managed to upstage the trade show. This is exactly what they did with the original iPad launch 2 years ago. Everyone at CES 2010 talked about the Apple event, and that’s probably going to happen here, too.”
What does this mean for authors?
This is great for self-published authors because the only way to published on Apple products is through Smashwords. And that can take up to six weeks. With the option to upload to an Apple publishing, the author will be able to get their product out faster like they can do with KDP and pubit.
Is this something we saw coming? YES! As soon as we heard that KDP was coming up with an Amazon exclusive, we knew that some other type of epublisher like Pubit or Smashwords might come up with something similar. But Apple?
The fact that we do know is that Apple will announce their new venture this month and it has nothing to do with products.
TechCrunch is reporting that “the event will not involve any hardware at all and instead will focus on publishing and eBooks (sold through Apple’s iBooks platform) rather than iAds. Attendance will also be more publishing industry-oriented than consumer-focused.”Apple "will use the EPUB format and make it very easy for people to convert their documents or existing books to comply with their format."
Why now? The CES, the worlds largest consumer technology tradeshow, is next week in Las Vegas. This isn't the first time Apple has announced something big before the show to steal the thunder. Apple did this two years ago with the IPad. So more than likely, Apple will take the show again with this news.
What do you think? Would you go with an exclusive Apple over Amazon's KDP select?
