Apple adds Breakout Books to the iBookstore to spotlight the self-published

As glad as we are that digital bookstores let authors skip the usual gatekeepers, that doesn't help much if they can't get noticed. Apple is giving those self-publishing writers more of a chance to shine with the launch of a permanent Breakout Books section in the US iBookstore. The section highlights hot-selling and well-reviewed independent books, many of them from distributors like Smashwords. Don't see the placement as a purely altruistic gesture, though: many of the books sell for significa...