Yet another sign that self-publishing is making inroads into the traditional houses: On Tuesday Apple will include a feature that organizes a group of popular self-published e-books together and then gives them prominent display on iBookstore.
The feature will appear under a banner titled “Breakout Books” and remain on the iBookstore’s main page for at least two weeks. This kind of display, known as “front-of –the store” attention, is greatly coveted by publishers because it helps books get discovered, driving sales. After two weeks, “Breakout Books” will remain a permanent feature on the site, though not always with such high-profile display.
Apple, which has long carried self-published e-books and displayed the most popular among them, has incentive to give self-published authors a boost, partly because of price.
Self-published authors often sell their books for $2.99 or less, which is significantly less than books sold through traditional publishers. The savings are popular among some readers.
“Apple is helping to shape a brighter, more democratized future for book publishing,” said Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords, a leading distributor of digital books.
Mr. Coker said that many of the 70 featured titles were Smashwords titles. He said the books were nominated to Apple’s editorial team, which has final say on the selections, based on criteria including sales performance and reader reviews.
Apple declined to comment on the new feature.
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