iBooks Author is the Best and Most Fun Way to Publish

Publishing a book is no longer unattainable for the common person. Thanks to open publishing platforms like iBooks Author, anyone can create amazing custom books. Described by Time as “a bit of an outlier among Apple’s productivity apps,” iBooks Author is a free app available to anyone through iTunes. Apple has taken its overall ease of use and applied it to the iBooks Author app, which requires little to no programming skills or any high-tech proficiency to operate.

As part of the Apple family of utilities, the iBooks Author app is a great way to turn anything into a unique, interactive book. Easy to use without cutting corners on creativity, the iBooks Author app provides users with Apple designed templates, various texts, different layouts, mathematical expressions, widgets and more to make your book special.

First released in 2012, iBooks Author puts you in control of how you want your creation to appear. Whether using the app for professional publishing purchases or as a non-publishing tool (think portfolios, interactive photo galleries, etc.), iBooks Author empowers anyone to put together functional and fun iBooks. Here’s how it works:

Start blank, or choose one of the Apple-designed templates to kickstart your project. From classic textbook looks to cutesy cookbook designs, there is bound to be a premade template for your project. From there, building your book is as easy as dragging and dropping. Use a Microsoft Word or Pages document to build your text, adding it directly onto a page or as a new section. You can even import from InDesign! Continue to design and edit by customizing the fonts and colors or by adding charts and photos. Through the app, you can make your books both original and engaging with video, audio, and even interactive 3D objects. The possibilities with this publisher are endless!

One of the great things about the app is that you can constantly preview it on your MacBook and iPad, making sure that it fits and is styled correctly for each device. When you are finished with your project, you have a few options: export it in PDF or iBooks format for easy sharing, or submit it to the iBooks Store for sale (Apple collects a fee of 30 percent for distributing your work) or free download.

Earlier this year, Director of iBooks Store Keith Moerer announced at the Digital Book World Conference the overwhelming success of the iBooks app: Apple added nearly 1 million new users a week to iBooks. This was due partially to the fact that iOS 8 came with iBooks preloaded, helping to foster interaction with the app. He particularly noted the success of iBooks Author as a medium for “movie and TV producers to create free promotional content.”

Take a chance and download Apple’s little known yet incredibly efficient utility app here for free.