Publish a book to Apple Books in Pages on Mac
You can use Pages to publish a book to Apple Books. Pages generates an EPUB file for the book automatically with settings that you choose. If the book isn’t ready to distribute but you’d like to start advertising it, you can provide the needed information and list it as a pre-order until you’re ready to release it. You can also update books you’ve already published at any time.
Before you get started, do the following:
Save the book in iCloud Drive: If the book is saved on your computer, move it to iCloud Drive (choose File > Move To).
iTunes Connect account: If you have an iTunes Connect account for book publishing, make sure you have the sign-in information for the Apple Account associated with the iTunes Connect account. If not, set up an iTunes Connect account. iTunes Connect is a website that allows you to distribute and manage books on Apple Books.
Table of contents: Most books need to include a table of contents that readers can use to navigate. To set up a book so that Pages can create a table of contents, apply paragraph styles to the headings or chapters in the book. When Pages generates the EPUB file, a table of contents is automatically created based on those paragraph styles. To check the table of contents, choose View > Table of Contents. See Create a table of contents.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN-13): You don’t need an ISBN-13 to publish to Apple Books, but if you have one, have it ready, as you can only enter it the first time you submit a book. If you’re self-publishing a book, you can apply for and obtain an ISBN from the ISBN registration agency where you’re based.
Publish to Apple Books
You can upload and publish a book at the same time. If you’re not ready to upload the book, you can set up a pre-order and upload the book later.
Open the book in Pages, then choose File > Publish to Apple Books (from the File menu at the top of your screen).
In the Publish Your Book dialogue, click Continue.
Enter the sign-in information for the Apple Account that’s associated with your iTunes Connect book publishing account, then click Next.
Select “This is a new book”, choose the seller (if necessary), and then click Continue.
Follow the onscreen instructions to enter the book’s metadata and choose options.
Metadata includes the title, author, vendor, language and much more. If an option has an Info button next to it, click the button to get information about the option. You must enter the description, subject category and publisher. If you don’t have cover art, set the first page of your book as the cover.
You can specify a page range of up to 15 pages to use as a sample excerpt. If you don’t specify a page range, one is automatically selected.
If you’re setting up a pre-order and don’t want to upload the book or specify a sample at this time, set Pre-Order to Yes, Upload Book to No, and Include Sample to No. You can upload the book and sample later.
If you’re not uploading the book or including a sample now, skip to step 7. Otherwise, click Continue, then click Preview Book or Preview Sample.
The preview opens in Books on your Mac, where you can verify that it looks correct. If you entered more than one category or more than one role, such as Author and Editor, only one of each shows in the preview.
Click Upload.
When the book (or its metadata, if you’re not uploading the book yet) is successfully uploaded, you see a prompt to finish publishing with iTunes Connect.
Click Go to iTunes Connect.
The iTunes Connect page opens in Safari.
Enter the sign-in information for the Apple Account that’s associated with your iTunes Connect book publishing account.
Click My Books on the iTunes Connect page, then select the book you submitted.
If you can’t see the book, wait a few minutes for the upload to finish. When you select the book, its metadata and other information you entered appears on the summary page.
Click Rights and Pricing, then click Add New Territories.
Follow the onscreen instructions to enter rights and pricing for the territories you choose.
If you’re setting up a pre-order, you can also configure the pre-order start date.
When you’ve finished, click Done.
Update a published book or finish publishing a pre-order book
At any time, you can update a previously published book or upload a book you set up for pre-order. Both are considered updates, even if no book or sample was uploaded previously.
Open the book in Pages, then choose File > Publish to Apple Books (from the File menu at the top of your screen).
Click Continue in the Publish Your Book dialogue.
Enter the sign-in information for the Apple Account that’s associated with your iTunes Connect book publishing account, then click Next.
Select “This is an update to a previously submitted book”, then click the pop-up menu and choose the book.
Accept the suggested version number or enter your own, then click Continue.
If you’re updating a previously published book and want to let readers know what’s new, enter that information in the What’s New in This Version text field.
Make any other necessary adjustments to the book information, then click Continue.
Click Upload.
When the book is successfully uploaded, you see a prompt to finish publishing with iTunes Connect.
Click Go to iTunes Connect.
The iTunes Connect page opens in Safari.
Enter the sign-in information for the Apple Account that’s associated with your iTunes Connect book publishing account.
Select My Books on the iTunes Connect page, then select the book you submitted.
The book metadata and other information you entered appears on the summary page.
If you need to adjust the rights and pricing, click Add New Territories and make adjustments.
When you’ve finished, click Done.
Your book must be reviewed and approved before it’s available on Apple Books. You can check the status of the book in My Books on iTunes Connect.
For more information about publishing to Apple Books, see this Apple Support article or Apple Books Formatting Guidelines. For information about writing, publishing, marketing and selling your book on Apple Books, see authors.apple.com.