Apple Books, set with care.
Optical typography for the iBooks store, fixed-layout where it matters, scoped to your trim and your typeface.
Key facts
- Service
- Apple Books formatting tuned for the iBooks Store.
- Starting price
- From $260 per book.
- Typical turnaround
- 6 to 10 working days for standard prose; longer for fixed-layout or media-rich titles.
- Output files
- Apple-optimised EPUB 3, PDF proof, iPhone and iPad screenshots, editable source.
- Specialty
- iBooks display-options.xml, optical typography and fixed-layout where the book requires it.
- Revisions
- One full revision round plus thirty days of corrections after sign-off.
For the iBooks store.
Apple's reader is the most particular of the lot. Every file we ship is tuned to it before it's tuned to anything else.
- iBooks-friendly EPUB 3 — Apple's display-options.xml included, layout direction declared, custom CSS supported.
- Pop-up footnotes built with the iBooks footnote markup so they tap-expand on iPhone and iPad.
- Embedded fonts with verified licences — and a quiet fallback stack for the apps that strip them.
- Fixed-layout option where the design needs it — spread-aware, retina-ready images.
- Author-Connect-ready metadata for series linking, author bio, recommended titles.
- iPhone & iPad screenshot pack at small, medium and large text — so you sign off seeing the book as readers will.
- iTunes Producer package if you'd like us to upload through your account.
- Multilingual edition support — Apple Books lists in fifty-one languages and we ship metadata in any of them.
Five passes, then ingest.
A studio process. Each stage approved before the next.
The brief.
Manuscript read in full, typographic style sheet written, decisions noted: serif or sans, drop caps or run-in, footnote style.
The optical pass.
Apple's Cocoa text engine has its own line-breaking rules. We test and adjust at three font sizes on iPhone and iPad.
The footnote build.
iBooks pop-ups markup, cross-references linked, image-anchored notes where the layout asks for them.
The preflight.
iTunes Producer preflight, epubcheck, retina image audit, metadata sheet against Apple's BISAC list.
The ingest.
Upload via your Apple ID, or hand you the iTunes Producer package. Source files released with the build.
Recent Apple Books.
A small sample of titles set for the iBooks store this year.
From the iBooks shelf.
Authors and publishers who shipped through our Apple queue.
Three editions.
Fixed-price proposals. Quoted in writing within 48 hours of brief.
- iBooks-friendly EPUB 3 with display-options
- Pop-up footnotes, embedded licensed fonts
- One revision round, source files released
- iPhone & iPad screenshot pack
- Apple-spec EPUB 3 + iTunes Producer package
- Author Connect metadata, series linking
- Three text sizes tested on iPhone & iPad
- Two revision rounds, source files released
- We can ingest on your Apple ID
- Fixed-layout art-monograph builds
- Multilingual editions across Apple's regions
- Custom CSS, drop caps, ornamental breaks
- Read-aloud media overlays where supported
- Unlimited revisions until accepted
What we stand behind.
Each promise is written into the proposal.
If Apple Books rejects the file, we re-cut at our cost and handle the back-and-forth with iTunes Producer support until it clears.
EPUB package, stylesheet, working document, iTunes Producer config — packaged at sign-off, yours to keep.
Every file ships with a passing EPUB 3.3 report. Apple's ingestion is strict — we test before they do.
Typos, metadata edits, late ISBN, footnote rewrites — fixed at no charge for the first month after delivery.
How to start an Apple Books project with ebookwriting.ai.
Four short steps from manuscript to live Apple Books listing.
- Send the manuscript and fonts. Email a Word or Google Docs file plus any licensed fonts and image assets. We confirm receipt within one working day.
- Receive a fixed-price proposal. Within 48 hours, you get a written quote (typically $260 to $640 depending on length and layout complexity), a timeline, and a one-page contract.
- Approve the proof. We send the EPUB and screenshot pack from iPhone, iPad and Mac Books app inside 6 to 10 working days. One revision round is built in.
- Upload to Apple Books. We hand over the EPUB plus iTunes Producer notes, or submit directly through your Apple Books Partner account on request.
More about our Apple Books formatting work.
Our Apple Books formatting services are run by formatters who know the iBookstore upload flow, the asset specifications and the small typographic decisions Apple's reader makes for you if you let it. We work with authors, illustrators and small publishers who want the file to look as designed on iPad and iPhone rather than reflowed into something generic. Most jobs ship in five to eight working days.
Why an iBooks formatter approaches the file differently
Apple Books reads EPUB 3, but it also layers its own optical typography on top — better hyphenation, smarter widows-and-orphans control, a kerning pass on common fonts. An iBooks formatter knows which of those defaults to keep and which to override per book. We test every file in iBooks on a current iPad, an iPad mini and an iPhone before sign-off, because a layout that breathes on a 13-inch screen can choke on a 5.4-inch one.
For visual books we produce an Apple Books fixed-layout file. That includes picture books, art books, graphic novels and any title where typography is part of the design. Fixed-layout work is priced per spread rather than per page; a 32-page picture book is a different job from a 280-page novel and the quote reflects it.
iBookstore upload — where projects usually stall
The iBookstore upload itself isn't the hard part; Apple's metadata requirements are. ISBN logic, territorial rights, age-rating and the difference between a sample and a preview catch most first-time authors out. We hand you a checklist or, on request, run the upload with you on a screen-share so the file lands in the catalogue cleanly on the first try.
Deliverables: the validated EPUB or fixed-layout file, an iPad ebook design preview PDF, a metadata sheet pre-filled to Apple's spec, and a 30-minute upload call if you want one.
Questions we are asked.
Short, honest answers. Anything else, send to contact@ebookwriting.ai.
What does the starting figure include?
At ebookwriting.ai, the starting Apple Books formatting fee of $260 covers a single manuscript formatted specifically for Apple Books, including iBooks-friendly EPUB 3 markup, embedded fonts where licensed, retina-ready image handling, and one round of revisions after your proof.
How long does Apple Books formatting take?
Standard prose titles are delivered in five to seven working days. Illustrated, fixed-layout, or media-rich books take ten to twenty working days, depending on asset volume.
What if Apple's review process flags an issue?
We resubmit until the file is accepted, at no additional charge. Most rejections relate to cover dimensions, metadata, or font licensing — all of which we resolve quickly and handle directly with iTunes Producer support.
Do I retain ownership of the files?
Yes. The EPUB, the source documents, and any preflight reports are delivered to you in full so future updates don't depend on us.
What's delivered at the end?
An Apple-Books-optimised EPUB 3, a PDF proof, a screenshot set from iPhone and iPad previews, and the editable source file with notes on any custom styling.
Will my book look right on both iPhone and iPad?
Yes. We test across iPhone, iPad, and Mac Books app at multiple text sizes before delivery, because Apple's typography engine handles line breaks and image scaling differently from Kindle. Anything that breaks at a particular size is corrected before sign-off.
Often paired with this.
Begin your Apple Books edition.
A fixed-price proposal in 48 hours. No retainers, no obligation.