Welcome to the SPF Weekly Write-Up, where each Wednesday we collect together the self-publishing news of the week so you don’t have to.

This week: Apple Books opens up to PC authors, and the reality of a bookstore under lockdown.

Apple Books Opens Up to PC Authors

Up until recently, uploading a title to Apple Books was only possible through a Mac – problematic, given that a huge swathe of the global population only has a PC. A somewhat perplexing decision, too – the readers presumably own an Apple product, but there seems no financial or logistical reason why the author should need one as well.

Well, no more!

Apple are launching Apple Books for Authors, a “one-stop destination where authors can discover helpful resources on writing, publishing, selling and marketing your book on Apple Books.” And alongside that, they’re launching a portal that allows authors to deliver their epub files via a PC/ web browser. Result!

If you publish your books wide, you should check out Apple’s site here.

How the Lockdown Might Change Bookstores

The odd Amazon glitch aside, indie authors are in a comparatively lucky position during the Covid-19 outbreak. Many of us focus on ebook and audiobook sales over paperbacks, which means distribution hasn’t been affected. But the entire bookstore industry has been upended, and many are adapting and/or struggling as a result.

(Some bookstores around the world may reopen shortly, but in the UK they’re still closed for now.)

Even those sending out books online are only making around a fifth of their usual sales… but there could be exciting changes as well as gloomy ones. The Guardian has put together an article about how the virus may change the industry (in the UK at least), from bookstores to publishers, postponed releases to literary festivals.

You can read it here.

Tom Ashford

Tom Ashford is a professional copywriter, author of numerous dark fantasy and sci-fi novels, and the Head of Content at the Self Publishing Formula Blog. His books include the Blackwater trilogy and the Checking Out series.

He lives in London with his wife, in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Find out more about Tom here.