Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Nemo
You say that, but Smashwords seem to have more controls than Amazon, if you read most of the posts on MR.
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"Control" of what they'll allow on their website does not mean they're a publisher. Bookstores also set terms by which they'll allow a book to be distributed through them. Witness Barnes & Nobles saying that Amazon-published books wouldn't be sold through their bricks and mortar stores. Does that make B&N a publisher? No. And I know that here in Canada our largest bookstore chain, Indigo/Chapters, recently revamped their terms for selling books through their stores - they cut in half the amount of time a book would remain on the shelves before it's returned to the publisher as unsold.
Distributors can set terms. It's up to the author to decide whether those terms are beneficial and they want to continue to sell through them. Though admittedly, authors often don't really have a choice if there's no other way to get their work out before the public. It doesn't make the distributor a publisher, though.
Publishers (both epublishers and print publishers) acquire the rights to a book (and not all books - you have to submit your manuscript and they decide whether they want to make an offer for it, like Amazon does with its publishing imprints), help you edit the book, arrange cover art, and if you're lucky help you to market it.