Since I’ve started this journey, I’ve had a lot of technology catching-up to do. I started this blog. I started two professional Facebook pages. I set up a Twitter account. I downloaded and learned to use IrfanView. I opened a Linkedin Account. (Note: my daughters deserve nearly all of the credit for these successes).
But apparently, I have a long, long way to go. More is expected. As Tirgearr Publishing and I walk our way to the debut date of my first novel, Celebration House, on August 1st, I need to know more.
This email from my publisher:
“The (promotional) postcards would be a good place to offer a small discount for people who buy the book through Smashwords. We can set it up where anyone using a code can get 10% off the price of the book when they buy the book on Smashwords. SW has all the e-reader formats so it’s one stop shopping. The code is limited time only, so they’d want to get home and download ASAP.”
What in the world is Smashwords?
Turns out, Smashwords is the world’s leading e-book publishing platform for indie authors and independent presses. According to their website, “…we make it fast, free and easy for any author or publisher, anywhere in the world, to publish and distribute e-books to the major retailers.”
Okay. That sounds good. How does it work?
The author, or in my case, Tirgearr Publishing, uploads my book to Smashwords, who then makes my book available to Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, Baker & Taylor, and the Diesel eBook store.
The company was started in 2008 by a husband and wife team, Mark and Lesleyann Coker. The couple wrote Boob Tube, a satirical novel about the soap-opera industry. Despite representation by a highly respected literary agent, they were unable to find a publisher willing to gamble on first-time authors. Too busy publishing the words of Kim Kardashian, I guess. Anyway, Mark and Lesleyann Coker started Smashwords. In 2008, they offered 140 books; in 2010, they published more than 20,000.
The company prides itself on being good to authors. They return 85% of the net proceeds to the books’ creators. According to their website, they will pay authors millions this year.
Wow! Okay. Let’s smash some words.
Hands and arms inside the cart, please. Next: creating sexual tension. Huh?
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