* Andrew Colley, * From: The Australian, * May 11, 2010
AUSTRALIAN iPad owners will be able to use Apple's iBookstore online bookshop as soon as they get their hands on the device, but local publishers have faced an uphill battle to get their titles on to its digital shelves.
Australian Publishers Association chief executive Maree McCaskill said Apple had been slow to appoint a delegate to negotiate with local publishers, holding up efforts to get Australian authors and titles on to the iPad after it goes on sale here on May 28.
"I understand that Apple has recruited an Australian iBookstore manager but that it might be a month or so before that person is operational," Ms McCaskill said. "The difficulty for Australian publishers is that Apple in the US is less focused on the Australian list and its availability than the big lists from the northern hemisphere."
Apple Australia said yesterday it was working hard to bring new content to the iBookstore in time for the iPad's local launch
Apple's iPad trails Amazon's Kindle, which was the first to directly link an e-reader to a marketplace for digital books.
However, just as its iPod and iTunes Store did for digital music, Apple's iPad and iBookstore are expected to push digital book publishing into the mainstream.
But for now it appears that the only way local independent publishers will be able to reach iPad's audience is to sell digital books on the web, build their own app for the device or get behind a retailer that will
More at The Australian.
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