Apple promoting iBooks Author books in iTunes

A little more than a year after introducing its self-publishing book software, Apple is heavily promoting some works that were made using it.

The company today began promoting some of those titles in a new section called "Breakout Books" which rounds up books that have high user ratings. That spans across three genres: romance; sci-fi and fantasy; and mysteries and thrillers, along with a collection of other titles.

The promotion, spotted by The New York Times, comes just days ahead of when Inkling, which was founded by former Apple executive Matt MacInnis, plans to hold an event in New York. The company, which has its own books platform and sales front for books, is expected to debut on Monday new products, and to talk about its progress in the digital book sector.

Apple debuted iBooks Author at a private event last January, aiming squarely at the education market. The company later opened it up to other types of book titles as part of an update late last year.

The software is set up to let authors and publishers alike create several different book types with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor similar to its Keynote presentation software. Even with an advertised ease of use and a soft learning curve, the software's success in the e-book market remains unclear.

Apple's licensing agreement inside of iBooks Author prompted controversy last year shortly after its introduction, when it appeared that the company planned to restrict what people could do with the works they created using it, including sales on rival platforms. Apple modified the license agreement to note that any exclusivity was limited to titles used in its proprietary format, which added extra features like 3D objects, widgets, quizzes, and flash cards.