How to Publish on Apple Books for Authors

Apple Books for Authors (authors.apple.com) is the direct publishing portal for the Apple Books store. Apple's editorial team has a documented history of featuring indie authors in ways that generate significant discovery — but only for books present on the platform with quality ePub files and complete metadata. Apple has more upfront setup requirements than Kobo or Amazon, primarily because of its ePub quality review process. Once your account and first book are through, subsequent titles move faster.

What You Need Before You Start

• An Apple ID — personal or dedicated publishing account

• A Mac computer for initial account verification and setup — most day-to-day publishing works via the web portal once your account is established, but initial setup has historically required a Mac

• An ePub file — Apple requires ePub format; it does not accept Word documents or PDFs

• A cover image meeting Apple's specifications (detailed below)

• An ISBN — Apple Books for Authors requires one; it provides a free Apple ISBN or you can supply your own

• Tax and banking information — Apple pays via bank transfer and requires tax documentation before releasing payments

Step 1: Create Your Apple Books for Authors Account

Go to authors.apple.com and click Get Started. Sign in with your Apple ID. If you don't have one, create it first at appleid.apple.com. After signing in, complete:

• Agree to Apple's Authors portal terms and conditions

• Provide your legal name and country of residence

• Complete the tax interview and banking setup

• Set up your author profile

Tax and Payment Setup

Apple pays monthly, approximately 30 days after the end of the earning month, once your balance reaches the payment threshold ($10 USD for most markets). Apple pays via direct bank deposit in most countries.

The tax interview is required before Apple releases any royalty payments. US authors complete a W-9 equivalent. Non-US authors complete a W-8BEN. Without completed tax documentation, Apple withholds 30% of US-sourced royalties.

Author Profile

Your author profile includes your display name (pen name), biography, and optional profile photo. This populates your Apple Books author page. Write your bio for readers — it's marketing copy displayed on hundreds of millions of Apple devices.

Step 2: Understanding Apple's ePub Quality Review

Apple Books for Authors reviews every ePub file before the book goes live on the Apple Books Store. This automated review checks your file against Apple's ePub quality standards. Books that fail are returned with specific error codes.

This review process is the most significant operational difference between Apple Books for Authors and other direct publishing platforms. It adds 24–72 hours to your publishing timeline (longer for first submissions) but ensures every book in Apple's catalog meets a quality floor.

Common ePub Review Failures and Fixes

Most reliable path: use a dedicated ebook formatting tool — Vellum (Mac), Atticus (Mac/Windows) — which produces Apple-compliant ePub automatically. If producing ePub manually, validate at validator.idpf.org before submitting.

Step 3: Add a New Book

From your Apple Books for Authors dashboard, click + Add Book to open the book entry form.

Step 4: Book Metadata

Cover Art — Apple's Strictest Platform

Title and Subtitle

Enter your title exactly as it appears on your cover. Keyword stuffing in titles violates Apple's content guidelines. Title must match cover.

Series Information

Enter the series name and volume number if applicable. Use exactly the same series name across all volumes and across all platforms. Inconsistent series names break Apple's recommendation chain for buy-next suggestions.

Author and Contributors

Add your author name as it should appear on the storefront. Add co-authors, illustrators, editors, and translators as additional contributors. Contributor names are searchable on Apple Books.

Description

Your description appears on the Apple Books product page and is read by Apple's editorial team when evaluating titles for features. A polished, well-written description signals a professionally produced book. Apple Books readers respond to atmospheric, literary language that conveys emotional stakes — not just plot summary. Maximum approximately 4,000 characters. Plain text is safer than HTML on Apple Books.

Primary Genre and Additional Genres

Apple Books uses its own genre taxonomy with extensive subcategory depth. Select your primary genre, then add additional genres. Always select the most specific subcategory accurately representing your book. Your genre selection determines which browse sections your book appears in and which Apple editorial team reviews it for potential features.

Language

Select your book's language. Books appear in Apple Books storefronts in relevant language markets.

Audience Rating

Select Not Explicit, Explicit, or Kids. Books with explicit sexual content must be marked Explicit. The Kids rating makes your book visible in the Children's section. Failure to mark explicit content appropriately can result in removal.

Keywords

Enter keywords supporting search and discovery — genre terms, trope terms, thematic terms that readers might search for. These feed Apple's search algorithm.

ISBN — Required on Apple Books

Apple Books for Authors requires an ISBN. If you don't have your own, Apple provides a free one — but that ISBN lists Apple as the publisher of record in ISBN databases. If you want your own publishing company listed as publisher, supply your own ISBN from Bowker.

Step 5: Upload Your ePub File

After completing metadata, upload your ePub. Apple accepts ePub 2 and ePub 3 (ePub 3 preferred). Apple's automated review process begins immediately after upload.

While review is in progress, you can continue filling out other book details but cannot publish until the review passes. Apple will email you with the result — pass or fail with specific error codes.

Step 6: Pricing and Rights

Territory Rights

Select territories where you hold rights. Apple Books is available in 50+ countries. 'All territories' gives broadest reach.

Pricing — Best Royalty Rate at All Price Points

Apple's 70% royalty applies at the $0.99 price point — unlike Amazon, which applies 35% to prices below $2.99. This makes Apple Books a stronger platform than Amazon for low-price promotional books and reader magnets.

Pre-Orders

Enable a pre-order by setting your publication date in the future and selecting Pre-Order availability. Final ePub file must be uploaded at least 10 days before the release date. Pre-orders appear in Apple's New Releases sections and can attract editorial attention before launch.

Step 7: Editorial Submissions

Apple Books has a promotional submission portal for editorial consideration. Access it from your Authors dashboard under Promote. The submission form asks for your book's Apple ID, a proposed promotional price, the promotion period, and a brief pitch.

Submitting does not guarantee a feature — Apple's editorial team makes independent decisions. To maximize editorial consideration:

• Submit professionally produced books with high-quality covers — Apple's editors notice

• Align submissions with upcoming Apple editorial themes or seasonal campaigns

• Submit consistently — authors who submit regularly build visibility with Apple's curation systems

• Ensure your book has reviews before submitting for high-profile features

• Match your promotional pricing to what Apple's deals audience expects for your genre

Step 8: Managing Your Catalog

Updating Metadata

Select any title and click Edit from your dashboard. Description, keywords, genres, and pricing can all be updated. Changes go through a brief review and typically update on the storefront within 24–48 hours.

Updating Book Files

Upload a revised ePub from the Book Files section. The revised file goes through the same quality review. The book remains live with the old file during review and updates once approved.

Series Linking

Verify all books in a series are linked under the same series name with accurate volume numbers. Apple uses series data for read-next recommendations. Even small variations in series naming across volumes can break the recommendation chain.

Apple Books Content Guidelines

• No sexual content involving minors — absolute prohibition

• Explicit sexual content permitted but must be marked Explicit in the audience field

• No content advocating illegal activity, inciting hate, or defaming real individuals

• No copyright or trademark infringement

• No misleading titles, covers, or descriptions

• No keyword-stuffed titles or fabricated series information

Common Apple Books for Authors Mistakes

• Not validating ePub before upload — multiple rejection/resubmission cycles are avoidable

• Uploading a cover that doesn't meet the 3:4 aspect ratio specification

• Skipping the ISBN step then needing to republish with a new ISBN later

• Never submitting to the editorial portal — this is the primary path to Apple features

• Using inconsistent series names across volumes — breaks Apple's recommendation chain

• Not completing the tax interview and having royalties withheld

• Not connecting Apple Books for Authors to ScribeCount — losing visibility into Apple performance

Apple Books for Authors has the steepest setup requirements of the major wide platforms, but the audience it reaches and the editorial feature system that can amplify quality books make the investment worthwhile. Get your ePub quality right, complete your metadata carefully, submit to the editorial portal consistently, and connect your account to ScribeCount to track your Apple income alongside everything else you publish.

-Randall Wood