ITunes Connect is a broken system in desperate need of repair

Question

Apple followers,
With the remarkable reselase of the iBooks Author program I was elated to find how easy creating my own interactive books could be. I spent weeks perfecting and publishing a book that I was hoping to sell on the iBookstore, but then I hit the iTunes Connect road block. As of now the 10 day waiting period has lapsed and I have not received anything more than a canned reponse from Apple Support regarding the status of my book. I am troubled by the lack of support, appalled by the wait, and I am disgusted with the simple fact that I put so much of my time into a book that is now wasting away in no mans land.
I am truely saddened by this broken process, why should we have to wait so long when we are told that a book will be published and it could potentially take two weeks. It has been more than that and I cannot get even a hello or here is a status update from Apple's support staff. I am VERY long time Apple user and cannot believe that the content distribution process could be so broken. Apple will make 30% off of the revenues from my book, so why are they stalling and why on earth are they not responding?
Fine, they may be swamped right now, but I do not think that because they are busy that means that they should let their usually impecible service slip so badly. Apple, if you can hear me, fix the process. Set up a support staff that will actually respond. Cultivate the content creators that are helping fill the shelfs of your virtual bookstore.
Has anyone else had these issues? How long has it taken others to get their books through the process? Are you being ignored by Apple support as well?
-Saddened by iBooksAuthor

Answer 1

You are not alone. Wait times for everyone seem to be very long.
I'm currently at almost 30 days. On top of it, we were trying to launch our book via iTunes, but also in print and via other ebook retailers (like Amazon). We have no clue what to do. Our planned street date has come and gone, but in order to be fair, we have to hold off on the print and other ebook editions with no idea of how much longer it will be. This is a waste of marketing efforts and results in additional costs. Not to mention the frustration of those who want to buy the book, but all we can tell them is, "We don't know."
I'm not sure how, knowing these long wait times and lack of support response, one can reasonable be expected to set a street date and market abook ahead of time. To top it off, iTunes never listed our book as a pre-order, but again, we've gotten no response as to why from Apple. I'd be very surprised, too, if major publishers like Bantam or Penguin have to endure these kinds of issues -- granted, they are major publishers, but if Apple wants to truly be a force in the ebook market, I believe everyone on all levels should be treated as fairly as possible.
iBooks Author itself is a great format with so much capability. Seeing that Apple currently has more cash on hand than any company, it is surprising they can't put more resources into improving the content delivery process. I mean, they have hundreds of millions, don't they? I assume they can afford to hire a few more employees...