Independent eBook Publisher: Smashwords

[daffy4u]

From the Amazon forums.

Smashwords

The ebooks on Smashwords can be read online using our online readers, or they can be downloaded to other reading devices such as the the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader or IRex Iliad, or to smart phones such as the iPhone or Treo. Once purchased, Smashwords books can be downloaded and printed on your PC or viewed offline. Smashwords offers generous sampling options so readers can try before they buy. For many books that are for sale on the site, you can read over 50% of it online, for free.

I'm having a hard time figuring how large their catalog is but if you're the type who likes to discover new writers, this may be a site to add to your list.

[Smashwords]

Hi Daffy, thanks for the post here. Our catalog is small, a little over 100+ books from 50+ authors, and we're adding new authors and titles each week. Our focus is publishing indie authors, a.k.a self-published authors. Several months back when we launched our beta I posted a note about Smashwords here on MobileRead and invited folks to provide feedback, and the suggestions were excellent. Feedback always welcome! We iterate the site every day. A few days ago we added epub and .lrf support, so we'd love for people to help us test our formats and report bugs.

[shighfield]

Bill over at Smashwords is great as well. I ordered a couple of books last night and was having some issues with their shopping cart, he was fast to reply and got everything fixed up!

The set your own price is a cool idea, but I think you should add a way to go back and donate MORE money to the author if the book was really good. Commetns and reviews as well!

[bill_mchale]

Couldn't you just buy the book again at whatever price you would like to donate?

--
Bill

[ebookpirate]

Originally Posted by Smashwords

Hi Daffy, thanks for the post here. Our catalog is small, a little over 100+ books from 50+ authors, and we're adding new authors and titles each week. Our focus is publishing indie authors, a.k.a self-published authors. Several months back when we launched our beta I posted a note about Smashwords here on MobileRead and invited folks to provide feedback, and the suggestions were excellent. Feedback always welcome! We iterate the site every day. A few days ago we added epub and .lrf support, so we'd love for people to help us test our formats and report bugs.

Hi, I've been to smashwords and expected a ton of authors in my subgenre that I could shop from in OPEN formats. I also wanted to buy some romance ebooks as gifts for my sister's birthday-she likes simple, teen-oriented romances.

What i found was 1 story from 1 author in my genre, never mind there were no subgenres.

Romance books make up a large %age of books readers read, esp. erotic romance and the various subgenres like paranormal, historical, regency, short stories, scifi, futuristic, mythological, ancient, time travel, etc. So why am i only finding 1 book from 1 author in romance and it's not even heterosexual?? I mean, I understand you're a startup, but I could find more books in more variety with good authors at small e-publishers like amberquill or silksvault or ellora's cave or liquid silver books or linden bay romance and they also let me download in html, one of the simplest OPEN formats that allow me to move/store my ebooks wherever I want. I even get FREE romance ebooks at allromanceebooks which have good authors, so I THINK you have to step up gathering of authors/stories and your marketing and have more open formats and enticements like free ebooks.


In fact, because of its vast selection and open formats, most of my ebook buying is at fictionwise which is much more to my liking than any of the other BIG ebookstores like the hard-to-navigate "books on board". (Of course, simonsays is pretty good too for price and easy navigation, but fictionwise has the selection)

I hope i don't sound harsh, just advisorial. I really SUPPORT indie authors because I feel AUTHORS should be getting the bulk of the profits and not big distribution but when there's not much of any selection and the format is not to my liking, I don't feel like shopping there as a consumer. (And i'm not sorry to say i'm you're average lazy consumer.)

So, again, I hope I don't sound harsh, just helpful.

[pshrynk]

I have a different view than ebookpirate. That is, this is a startup and there will be lots of new books published this way and they are on the ground floor. I looked and saw a few that intrigued me. I'm not buying anything form anyone rioght now because I have such a back log, but I bookmarked them. I'm glad ebookpirate can find romances elsewhere. I love science fiction and action/adventure. If they are available on Smashswords, then that's great. If not, then I say good luck to them and don't complain that they don't have them there and imply that they have a bad business plan becasue the don't.

Just my opinion.

[Smashwords]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

@ shighfield, thanks for the kind words about our CTO, Bill Kendrick. I think he's great too. In addition to the daily iterations he does on the site each day, he's working on some really cool projects, including something neat for iphone users. Re: your suggestion of allowing you to come back and send more compensation to the author, one current option to to buy multiple copies, and another item on our roadmap closer to your suggestion, probably a month or two out, is a "Tip me" button. Of course if anyone here has a better label than "Tip me", I'm all ears. One of the reasons I founded Smashwords is because I think authors get a bum deal with most traditional publishers, so we're interested to build our business in such a way that creators get compensated for their hard work.

@ ebookpirate, I appreciate your comments and don't disagree about the need to grow our author base. While I'm thrilled ~ 60 authors have already entrusted their works with us, I won't be satisfied until we add three more zeros to that number, and once we reach that point I'll want to add one or two more. As pshrynk pointed out, we're just getting started. We launched our public beta in May. You mentioned you liked the HTML format. We do offer an online HTML reader for book sampling and reading. Or would you like to be able to download a single HTML file, essentially the entire book in one long page? That's certainly an option I'd be willing to consider. Most of our development roadmap is based on user suggestions.

Best,
Mark

[ebookpirate]

Originally Posted by Smashwords

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

@ shighfield, thanks for the kind words about our CTO, Bill Kendrick. I think he's great too. In addition to the daily iterations he does on the site each day, he's working on some really cool projects, including something neat for iphone users. Re: your suggestion of allowing you to come back and send more compensation to the author, one current option to to buy multiple copies, and another item on our roadmap closer to your suggestion, probably a month or two out, is a "Tip me" button. Of course if anyone here has a better label than "Tip me", I'm all ears. One of the reasons I founded Smashwords is because I think authors get a bum deal with most traditional publishers, so we're interested to build our business in such a way that creators get compensated for their hard work.

@ ebookpirate, I appreciate your comments and don't disagree about the need to grow our author base. While I'm thrilled ~ 60 authors have already entrusted their works with us, I won't be satisfied until we add three more zeros to that number, and once we reach that point I'll want to add one or two more. As pshrynk pointed out, we're just getting started. We launched our public beta in May. You mentioned you liked the HTML format. We do offer an online HTML reader for book sampling and reading. Or would you like to be able to download a single HTML file, essentially the entire book in one long page? That's certainly an option I'd be willing to consider. Most of our development roadmap is based on user suggestions.

Best,
Mark

Hi, Mark!! Thanx for responding to my complaints. Yes, that's exactly it. I'd like to download the story in 1 HTML file like I can do right now from the otrher e-publishers' websites. It's easier for me over all rather than have to deal with moving my file from device to device. And sometimes, my computer crashes which is why I like an open format like html where at least I can store it at multiple places on my storage devices or online in case a computer fails.


As I said when I said I enjoy romances, the one thing I like about shopping with epublishers is not just the number and selection but that they take RISKS in their writing. They're not as "mainstream" and "staid" as harlequin or other physical book publishers. The more risks the writer takes, the better I appreciate that author's works. Their viewpoints can be vastly different from the mainstream, different from what the "mainstream" p-publishers would want as physical books. And I'm not just talking about how explicit the book is which is what many readers look at or the fact that the e-story has werewolves and vampires. I'm talking about how the different viewpoints, from morality to how one looks at the world, can affect the entire story from beginning, to middle, to end. Many stories from epublishers are so different (example: Angela Verdenius' exciting blend of scifi and romance) in outlook and mix of subgenres that I would never see them in print which is one big reason I love ebooks more than pbooks.

Also, I'd like a sample of how the writer writes. I know I'm asking for a lot but can they put a good representation of an entire book (if they write novels) or a few short stories(if they write short stories) for free as a sample?? Then I'd feel more comfortable as a consumer whether or not to buy further works from them. That would DEFINITELY make me shop more with smashwords rather than more frequently with other e-publishers or ebook online stores.

Thanx for your ears:-)

[Smashwords]

ebookpirate,

I've added the single HTML page to our roadmap.

You mentioned samples. Take a look at how we do sampling. Many of our authors provide up to 50% or more of their book available as a free sample, either for online reading or to download in any of a number of the ebook formats we support. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I definitely agree with you on the risks that ebook authors take. I think a lot of it has to do with the indie spirit, especially among self-published authors, who for whatever reason can't get invited to the mainstream publisher club. Mainstream publishers are more formulaic, so they're less likely to take such risks. It's quite likely that in 50 years, many of the books we come to view as masterpieces from our present era may have seen their first light of day as ebooks. ebooks are certainly a democratizing force for authorship.

[cbell]

I've been a member of Smashwords since May this year and I've bought 4 ebooks from there so far.

I check in every few weeks to look over the new offerings and download samples. A "Tip Me" button is a good idea.

[ebookpirate]

[from Smashwords]

ebookpirate,

I've added the single HTML page to our roadmap.

Thanx. I saw it. I also didn't realize you put the ebooks in rtf format which I really like also, so yes, those are a big help!!

You mentioned samples. Take a look at how we do sampling. Many of our authors provide up to 50% or more of their book available as a free sample, either for online reading or to download in any of a number of the ebook formats we support. Check it out and let me know what you think.


Yes, I also saw that there were reviews by others. That helps also since I want to know what others think about the book so that there's an over all rating for the book.


I definitely agree with you on the risks that ebook authors take. I think a lot of it has to do with the indie spirit, especially among self-published authors, who for whatever reason can't get invited to the mainstream publisher club. Mainstream publishers are more formulaic, so they're less likely to take such risks. It's quite likely that in 50 years, many of the books we come to view as masterpieces from our present era may have seen their first light of day as ebooks. ebooks are certainly a democratizing force for authorship.

I certainly agree!! It's like the music industry. Once people realize that the best music isn't always with the top half dozen big music publishers, then a whole new world has opened up to all music lovers, or in our case, readers.

Just wanted to let you know I joined smashwords and already was able to purchase a good romance ebook from a good author.

Keep up the great work!!