Apple Rejects iBooks Submission Because it Mentions Amazon

Apple recently refused to carry an ebook in its popular iBooks store because it mentioned a huge ebooks competitor — Amazon.    Apple rejected a book called “How To Think Sideways Lesson 6: How to Discover (Or Create) Your Story’s Market” by Holly Lisle. Lisle is an author that typically creates online writing guides.   Lisle submitted her book to Apple’s iBooks store, and received a rejection letter stating that she wasn’t allowed to have live links to Amazon inside. She then removed the links and resubmitted the book, only to receive yet another rejection letter. The reason? She wasn’t allowed to mention Amazon at all in the book because it is an Apple competitor.    “This is not professional behavior from a professional market,” said Lisle. “And cold moment of truth here — you cannot write a writing course that includes information on publishing and self-publishing and NOT mention Amazon. It’s the place where your writers are going to make about 90 percent of their money.”   Apple is currently in the middle of an ebooks-related battle that concerns Amazon. In April of this year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Apple and five book publishers over anti-competitive practices concerning ebook sales. More specifically, the book publishers were accused of partaking in an agency sales model with Apple in an effort to stifle Amazon’s success.   Some, however, are in favor of Apple’s added competition against Amazon. Earlier this month, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) wrote a memo to the U.S. Department of Justice via The Wall Street Journal in an effort to put a stop to the eBooks lawsuit filed against Apple and two other book publishers.

According to Schumer, the lawsuit will destroy the publishing industry because Amazon needs the competition in order to have better offerings (regarding book selection and price) for consumers.