Do You Buy Ebooks from Smashwords?

[Lirael]

I haven't bought anything from Smashwords yet, just downloaded freebies. I'm so far reluctant to buy because the quality of a lot of the self-pubbed stuff seems to be rather...meh. A lot of it seems as though it could do with a thorough round of editing.

Right now I'm not wanting so badly for things to read that I'm willing to spend hours sifting through sample pages to find the good stuff. If I found a freebie that was really great, I'd be likely to purchase the author's other work, but it hasn't happened just yet.

[J. Strnad]

For whatever reason, my Amazon/Kindle sales dwarf my Smashwords sales, but some people do buy at Smashwords.

I think I bought all of Shayne Parkinson's books there. My wife read the first in the series for free and immediately demanded the rest! These are professional quality books that should have been snatched up by a savvy print publisher, and maybe some publisher will discover them yet. Anyone interested in them should snatch them up before agency pricing hits.

[carld]

I buy books from Smashwords occasionally, but not nearly as often as from Amazon.

[sakura-panda]

I buy from Smashwords. They are convenient for me for getting books for reading on my iPod (Stanza) or my phone (Aldiko). It's handy that I can choose to put the books onto my Reader as well.

(Or they were, considering that I just got a kindle this week and may start using the kindle apps more.)

I do tend to only pick books based on active threads here, and I haven't had anything but good experiences from the few books that I have read. (And I should go into the corresponding threads and say so, but I haven't because those threads tend to be several months since their last post and I don't want to bump just to say I liked the book. )

[outlander78]

Interesting website, prices look great. Could you give me some examples of authors who are listing their OOP books, please?

[treetotree]

I do buy books from Smashword.I am sometimes pleasantly surprised by finding a real good read from an author I have never heard of.
I don't care for fantasy, but do like syfy, mystery, and non fiction.

[egtalbot]

Originally Posted by outlander78

Interesting website, prices look great. Could you give me some examples of authors who are listing their OOP books, please?

Joe Konrath is one of the most successful examples, though technically those are mostly not OOP, they are either new releases or books that never made it to print initially, what authors call their trunk novels. I enjoy his books.

The main downside with Smashwords is that there is not enough activity for the genre lists to mean anything. Plus, free works and short stories can push stuff out of the way. I've never found a book on Smashwords using their search, I find out about them other ways and then go there to purchase.

Which is why you asked your question of course 95% of the ebooks I read are "new" releases by indie authors, so I can't give you a lot of suggestions. I just bought one OOP ebook, The Fixer by Jon Merz, but I bought it on the kindle store because he doesn't sell on Smashwords. It's possible it's not actually OOP, just out in ebook for the first time.

[sakura-panda]

Originally Posted by outlander78

Interesting website, prices look great. Could you give me some examples of authors who are listing their OOP books, please?

Patricia Ryan: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92036

Also, Backlist Ebooks has an author listing with links to the stores that carry their books, including Smashwords. (The "sale" tab has Smashwords discount codes.)

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I think I bought all of Shayne Parkinson's books there. My wife read the first in the series for free and immediately demanded the rest! These are professional quality books that should have been snatched up by a savvy print publisher, and maybe some publisher will discover them yet. Anyone interested in them should snatch them up before agency pricing hits.

This was my experience and exactly what I said in my reviews about Shayne's books. I am still recommending them to friends and acquaintances.

Smashwords is a real mixed bag. Some of the work is pretty good, not outstanding or memorable, but pretty good -- that is, enjoyable and readable. But a lot of the books are very poorly done. One author complains in his "foreword" that he couldn't afford an editor but did have the book "proof read". He then asks more than $5 for the book.

A read of the first few chapters demonstrates clearly that the book wasn't edited and it looks like it was "proof read" by someone just learning English.

The way I approach Smashwords is this: If the description makes the book look interesting and is well written,

• and if the book is free, I'll download it without hesitation. Worst that can happen is that I end up disliking it and deleting it.
• and if the book costs 99 cents, I will buy it when I have accumulated a batch of at least 5 99-cent or more books. I consider 99 cents an exceptable gamble.
• and if the book costs $1.99, I will read a protion of the sample online. If that looks good, I will buy the book.
• and if the book costs more than $1.99 (to a maximum of $3.99), I will either read a sample online or download a sample. I will read significantly more of the sample before buying, but I will buy if it is good.

I will not buy any book on Smashwords from an author with whom I am not already familiar that

• costs more than $3.99 or
• has a poorly written description or
• that has careless errors in the first 20-30 pages, such as misspellings, homonym problems, confused paragraphs -- all things that indicate no editing

If I read an outstanding book, such as Shayne Parkinson's Sentence of Marriage (which is free on Smashwords for those who haven't read it), I will go back to Smashwords and buy whatever else the author has written at prices up to $5.99.

I have found that authors who make the first volume in a series free and reasonably price subsequent volumes tend to be authors whose works I want to buy. Vicki Tyley comes to mind. She gave away Thin Blood, which was excellent, and thus induced me to buy Sleight Malice and add Brittle Shadows to my to-buy list. Such authors demonstrate confidence in their work -- that once you read them, you will be hooked.

[Scott Nicholson]

seems to be the place a lot of erotica and porn is going, as Amazon cleans house. But it's also a place for indie authors to meet readers across the globe by dodging all those silly territorial restrictions.

Yes, Vicki Tyley is a good author!

Scott

[outlander78]

I am glad the site has a filter; it is telling that they call it the "prude" filter however. The content doesn't bother me so much as the cover images when I'm visiting the site on my lunch hour at work.

Thanks for the tips and links - I'm digging in now.

[mikaelalind]

Yes. I mostly buy self published backlist, or indie authors that sell a lot of books. So far that method have worked fine. Most of my books are from non indie ebooks, though.

[GoblinWriter]

Originally Posted by outlander78

I am glad the site has a filter; it is telling that they call it the "prude" filter however. The content doesn't bother me so much as the cover images when I'm visiting the site on my lunch hour at work.

Heh, yeah, I've come across some dubious books (at Amazon too) when searching for "fantasy." I'm looking for elves and dwarves, people, nothing risque.