[dotBen]

Um well let's see.

The book writer creates the book. For an iPhone App that's the same as the game developer/development studio. Ok, got that.

The book publisher physically creates the finished product and distributes it wholesale. That's totally different to the world of iPhone apps/phone apps. The developer creates the finished product (the binary) not the publisher and there is no wholesale distribution, as you can only sell it through one place - the iTunes App Store.

So, your answer kind of makes no sense and doesn't move the conversation forward.

[InclinedPlane]

Excuse my terseness, I was responding to someone who seemed legitimately confused about the difference between game maker & publisher, I thought the analogy with books was sufficient to at least grasp the basics of the differences without being overwhelmed by specifics (and all of their exceptions).

In both cases the creator makes the primary product while the publisher packages that product in a format suitable for manufacturing or distribution, interfaces with the relevant distribution channels, handles revenue and all that, etc. The broad strokes are the same for books and for games even though the specifics are widely different.