TidBITS Publishing has released “Take Control of iBooks Author” (US$15), a 150-page ebook for Mac users who plan, produce, and publish a Multi-Touch book for the iPad with Apple’s free iBooks Author application.

Written by digital-textbook pioneer Michael E. Cohen, this ebook explains how to plan a Multi-Touch book project to fit the capabilities and assumptions made by iBooks Author. Cohen provides step-by-step instructions for producing an ebook by customizing the available layouts and arranging text and media. Finally, he discusses how to publish an ebook, whether for distribution on Apple’s iBookstore or through some other means.

“Take Control of iBooks Author” is available in PDF, EPUB, and Mobi formats so it can be viewed on any computer or ebook reading device. A free companion ebook, “Take Control of Getting Ready for iBooks Author,” is available as a Multi-Touch book and can be read only on the iPad.

“Take Control of Getting Ready for iBooks Author contains about 40 pages of content from Take Control of iBooks Author”, and its media examples are fully operational — you can play a video file, view an image gallery, tap an interactive illustration, take a visual quiz, and more. For more info go to 
http://tid.bl.it/tco-getting-ready-for-ibooks-author .