FastPencil Puts Authors on the iPad With New iBookstore Publishing Service

CAMPBELL, Calif., June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Next generation publisher, FastPencil, today expanded sales opportunities for authors by announcing iBookstore distribution. FastPencil makes the process seamless for authors to get their content into any channel by providing them with an end-to-end publishing solution that enables them to write, publish and sell books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and now the iBookstore for iPad readers.

"With over 2 million iPad units sold already, Apple is revolutionizing the publishing industry," said Michael "Mash" Ashley, FastPencil Co-Founder and CTO. "Authors want to be part of the revolution, they want their books everywhere. The beauty of FastPencil is that we automatically turn a manuscript into an eBook and put it into the iBookstore as well as Kindle and the entire Ingram Digital network so the author can focus on writing great books."

The iBookstore, announced this past March in conjunction with the iPad, is reinventing the publishing industry and giving consumers a new avenue for purchasing and accessing literature. FastPencil is dedicated to making it easy, fun and economical for anyone to write a book and the iPad makes it even more profitable to be an author with little cost or risk by providing a new platform to sell books.

"Last year 764,448 titles were produced by self-publishers and just 288,355 titles were published through traditional publishers," said Steve Wilson, FastPencil Co-Founder and CEO. "With so much happening in the industry right now including new devices, formats and rules of the game, authors need to hedge their bets with a device and format agnostic service that takes care of the transformation for them and future-proofs their work."

FastPencil users can upload a manuscript to FastPencil.com and invite friends, family and others to read and review the book before publishing. FastPencil design templates turn the manuscript into a professional book with just a few clicks and the publishing wizard adds all the necessary copyright information, ISBN numbers and bar codes. Authors can Print-on-Demand and choose eBook distribution for Kindle, Nook, iPad, PDF and ePub.

"We created FastPencil.com so everyone could write a book, because sharing stories, preserving memories and educating others can make a real difference in the world. We want to make publishing fun, simple and affordable so anyone can do it—even my Mom who can barely use a computer published her first book through FastPencil. It's amazing to see how writing and publishing a book can change so many people's lives," said Mash. "I hear from our authors every day about how hard it used to be but with the iPad, FastPencil and the revolution in eBook publishing we are going to see a lot of dreams come true."

Nearly 25 million eBooks were downloaded in 2009, which is about twice the amount from the previous decade. By adding the iBookstore to the list of distributors FastPencil is continuing to prove a commitment to the future of publishing.

FastPencil Features:

• Free book writing tools
• Professional book design templates
• Import manuscripts, turn blogs to books or write collaborative stories
• Connect and share through Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, AOL, Yahoo and MSN
• Author concierge services including consulting, design services and formatting
• Collaborate with your book creation team, personal network of friends or industry professionals
• Integrated self-publishing wizard for step-by-step assistance
• Print on Demand or to eBook formats
• Wide distribution including iBookstore, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About FastPencil

FastPencil is leveraging the disruptive trends of self-publishing, social media, print-on-demand and eBook distribution to deliver a new unified online service that streamlines the book publishing process offering more control and higher margins for authors. The FastPencil writing and publishing service enables authors to create books online, collaborate, publish and distribute from one engaging, simple, cost-effective solution. For more information please visit FastPencil.com.

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FastPencil is a registered trademark of FastPencil, Inc. All other registered or unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

SOURCE FastPencil