Apple Shuttering iTunes Connect for the Holidays

Apple is informing eBook publishers and developers that the company’s corporate offices will be closed for Thanksgiving from Saturday, November 17 to Sunday, November 25, as well as for the winter holidays, from Saturday, December 22 to Monday, January 31. No submissions will be accepted during this timeframe.

Apple is adjusting its deadlines for books launching around Thanksgiving and the winter holiday to accommodate the shutdowns.

As such, for book launches, the Thanksgiving delivery deadlines are 11/19—11/20 Friday 11/9 and 11/26—11/27 Friday 11/9. The Winter Holiday delivery deadlines are 12/24—12/25 Friday 12/7 and 12/31—1/1 Friday 12/7.

From Friday, December 21 to Friday, December 28, iTunes Connect will be temporarily shut down, preventing access to the entire platform.

The validation or delivery of any books or updates will be ceased and releases scheduled to appear on the iBookstore for the first time will be delayed. The same goes for  pricing changes.

Apple strongly recommends that publishers “do not schedule any pricing changes in iTunes Connect that would take effect between December 21 and December 28, 2012.”

“Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected on the iBookstore and your book will become unavailable for purchase,” the Mac maker warns.

“We also recommend that you do not schedule any books to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a start date between December 21 and December 28, 2012 will not go live on the iBookstore until after the shutdown,” Apple concludes.

The iTunes Connect shutdown is a common practice at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. The annual outage extends to application submissions as well. In other words, iOS / Mac application sellers should expect a similar email in the coming days.