Why is iPad an AuthoREvolution?

What's happening in the publishing industry is not just natural evolution - it really is a revolution. The pendulum is swinging back toward the author and the iPad is just one more milestone along the way. Here are four reasons why the iPad is an AuthoREvolution:

1. It's not just a book on a computer screen. The whole concept of "Book" is finally changing and the idea that a book is a bunch of chapters packaged between two covers is fading. The iPad is a true multi-media device. That means the author can use all available means to convey content. It's not just a better book, it's changing the nature of books and giving the author more tools to connect. We will soon see eBooks with meta data, annotations, multimedia, links and social connections.

2. It's not just another distribution channel. The iPad brings iTunes simplicity to book purchases. With the integrated iBookstore authors will be able to reach out to an audience already downloading and reading eBooks on their iPhone. What people aren't talking about is how the iBookstore will allow anyone with an iTunes account to purchase books and view them on their iPhones and iPod Touch, too!

3. Publishers are arguing over prices, while authors are figuring out how to get their own books on the iBookstore without them! FastPencil.com is the only publisher that has committed to helping authors write, publish and distribute their books anywhere! If you are an author and you want to publish a book on the iPad, through the iBookstore, you'll be able to click a few buttons at FastPencil.com and you're in. No agent, no publisher, no permission slip required.

4. The iPad is going to put more money in everyone's pocket... except the bookstores. Unfortunately, my local bookshop may disappear in the next couple years if not sooner. Just like the iPod ended the reign of the record shops, the iPad should signal the end of the bookshop. And the 100% retail markup for books, too. Digital delivery means almost zero overhead and all profit. And Apple has taken the same stance as FastPencil, providing the lions share to the author or publisher. In the case of a traditional publisher, they chop that up and give even less to the author, but that's changing as authors choose to go direct. More money is going back to the author.

And that's the real AuthoREvolution - control and reward for ideas. The more we see companies like Apple, Amazon, FastPencil and Lulu work to help authors connect with their audience, the further we are toward a complete revolution in the publishing industry. It's not just the next generation of books, it's the next generation of an entire industry!

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