Adam Engst on iPad and ereaders
In the past few weeks, in fact, we’ve figured out a sneaky process to create our own EPUB files via Pages, which allows us to make them look a lot more like our PDF originals (previously we were forced to outsource the task and put up with what we got back). And we’re coming close to a site design change that will make it easier for readers to download various formats from their accounts on our Web site, and even to read online.
It’s actually a great workaround. Pages and Scrivener are fast becoming my only tools.
Seriously, I can’t say that working with Amazon has ever been easy for publishers (and we haven’t done much with it), but working with the iBookstore has been the most amazingly horrible, opaque, and frustrating experience I’ve had. Apple’s software is terrible, the iTunes Connect Web site is lousy, and support questions often aren’t answered for - and I’m not kidding here - months. It’s gotten a little better over time, but mostly it makes my stomach hurt.
That’s the reason we don’t do iBooks on Gredunza Press yet. We sell PDF and Epub files, which you can import into iBooks, but there’s nothing in the store from us. It’s a lousy marketplace at this time.