Revolutionary, a new era, a reinvention. These are the words being used to describe Apple’s new iBooks 2 and iBook Author software, unveiled today at the Guggenheim in New York.
iBooks 2 will allow for a more interactive textbook learning experience, and likely a cheaper one (depending on whether someone already has the not-so-cheap hardware needed to use the app). But the bigger buzz—including the growing number of comments that follow the article linked above–seems to be focused on iBook Author, the new do-it-yourself book creation tool. (Adriano presciently described it as GarageBand for e-books in his blog post on Tuesday.) While the digital revolution has already rendered self-publishing an appealing and viable option for many authors, Apple’s foray into the self-publishing world is sure to attract new faces. With the brand’s trademark focus on making things intuitive and pretty, what self-publishing author wouldn’t want to create a richer, more interactive, easily shareable book with less work?
The obvious upside of this for readers would be just that: self-published books with quality text content getting better visual and interactive content, with less time and effort perhaps translating to lower cost. Not to mention instant accessibility. The downsides, of course, include an ever-larger pool of online resources—many of mediocre quality, at best—to sift through in searching for information.
Meanwhile, Lerner Digital will continue to put out more high-quality eBooks and interactive content (see Adriano’s posts and our website!). Check out our eReader App, iBooks, and the Journey Into the Deep app for products tailored by our brilliant designers and creative team.
How do you feel about the growing ease and accessibility of self-publishing? Concerns? More good than bad? Anything you wish publishers were doing differently in response? Let us know!