The development of iPad Apps is not a simple matter for most any organisation or publisher, because the market is still so new that true experience at publishing houses is yet lacking. Just to name an issue, Apple, as maintainer of the iStore, can decide to change the terms and conditions for the approval of an App at any given time.
Publishing houses are required to learn how to handle this, and of course make the proper investments. At Orange Books, we are currently in the middle of researching what works better: To publish a stand-alone free Lite version and use it to promote the full paid version, or to publish a single App that includes an IAP (which stands for In App Purchase). Using an IAP, you can basically purchase an expansion to the App that you’ve already installed.
We will be testing the IAP method with ‘Freek is in Love’. The first 6 pages are offered free of charge, after which the rest of the book can be purchased by means of an IAP. We already have a few ideas about what the results of this test will be, but ‘to measure is to know’!