Adding YouTube Videos to iBooks Author

I am creating an eBook on the history of bioethics for nurses while also learning more about using iBooks Author.  I did not see an iBooks Author widget for YouTube videos, so I did a web search.  I found a free EASY to use website entitled Bookry.com with lots of neat widgets including one for YouTube. Bookry has a short video demonstrating the process.

Adding a YouTube video to an iBooks Author ebook is a four-step process - but it is quick and easy!

1. First create an eBook - just a title with a placeholder for widgets.
2. Add the YouTube widget to the Bookry ebook - name the YouTube video the subject of the video, add the name of the video, and the YouTube URL.
3. Save the YouTube video to your Mac downloads folder.
4. Drag the widget from the Mac downloads folder into your iBooks Author ebook.  From there you can use the Inspector to format and title the video.

Creating Digital Books

I am preparing for a workshop on creating eBooks.  I will demonstrate Apple iWork Pages, iBooks Author, and SoftChalk.  My special interest is creating interactive books.

• iWork Pages will save a file in an ePub format, which can be viewed on mobile devices.  The downside, is that the digital books are not interactive. 
• iBooks Author is my choice of platform.  The updates to the free software make it very easy to create interaction.  The downside is that you must use a Mac and that the books are available in iBooks Author for iBooks.  You can save the books as a PDF file, but then you lose all of the interaction.
• SoftChalk is a great tool to use when creating online lessons.  You can also design eBooks with the software and save them in an ePub format.  Although, SoftChalk indicates that there are a variety of interactive tools you can use with the ePub, I was able to only to create a one item interactive quiz.  Drag and drop and timeline revealed raw code.  I reported the problem.  The SoftChalk ePub feature is in beta development.  The other downside to SoftChalk is that the software is not free.  I am able to use it because our University has a site license.