Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) wants to make their contribution to the self-published market by highlighting a new feature that showcases self-published e-books in a prominent display on iBookstore.
The books are displayed underneath the “Breakout Books” banner. The books featured on the main page will remain there for about two weeks before the e-books are permanently added to the website and a new set of e-books are displayed on the front page. This rotation system should help self-published authors make a name for themselves in the e-book industry.
Self-published books are nothing new in the iBookstore as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has sold e-books through their website for quite some time now and they also displayed the more popular titles in hopes to increase sales.
Smashwords (leading independent publisher) founder Mark Coker recently summed it up, “Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is helping to shape a brighter, more democratized future for book publishing.” He added that Apple published many of Smashwords titles.
One major benefit to promoting self-published books and novels is their appeal to the cost-conscience consumer. Many self-published e-books retail for $2.99 or less whereas major published books cost significantly more. Some e-books are even free.
The “Breakout Books” section features four smaller sections including romance, sci-fi/fantasy, mysteries/thrillers, and more the explore. The first three sections are clear fiction genres while the latter is more books that don’t necessarily fit the aforementioned categories.
The new “Breakout Books” section doesn’t have many titles featured yet, it’s expected that it will expand over time. This new feature could make it more enticing for both novice and experience e-book writers to write more books in hopes to get published.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) already promotes self-published titles for their Kindle e-book format. It was only a matter of time Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) did more to promote independent publishers and now they have.
