What Do You Think of Self Publishing Ebooks With Smashwords?

by Leyla
(France)

Hi Shelley, First, congratulations on a wonderful site - I keep coming back to it as I prepare to launch my very first self-published book. You're a fountain of information which you share with huge generosity.

I didn't see anything about Smashwords on your page on Self-Publishing Companies... I was wondering what you thought of it.

Also, if I might make a suggestion (from one SBIer to another) can you put a Search box on your pages? I hate to bother you with this type of minor question and I could have looked it up easily myself. I have Google for Search on mine (doesn't bring in a penny though!) and I use it to find stuff on my OWN site... :-)

Thanks! Leyla

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What Do You Think of Self Publishing Ebooks With Smashwords?

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I love Smashwords...
by: Shelley Hitz

Leyla,
I'm so glad you have found the website helpful! That makes it all worthwhile. :)

I personally use Smashwords and love it. It makes self publishing ebooks so much easier than trying to format and upload to every platform separately.

What I do is format a Word document for Kindle then edit it slightly to fit Smashwords qualifications. Then, Smashwords uses their "Meatgrinder" technology to take my Microsoft Word file (.doc) and convert it into 9 different formats. They outline their guidelines here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52

Once your format is accepted, you can apply for the premium catalog and have your book uploaded to multiple ebook platforms. I have two books on Smashwords currently in the premium catalog - now they are available on Nook, the iBookstore, Sony and more. I opt-out of the Kindle platform since I publish there separately to get the highest royalties. Smashwords does not accept any public domain or PLR books.

You can hire someone to format it for you. You can send an email to list@smashwords.com to request "Mark's List" of low-cost Smashwords ebook formatters and cover designers. Get all the details of publishing on Smashwords here: http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords

A great feature of Smashword is to be able to offer 100% off coupons to book reviewers or to give a copy of your book as a gift.

I recommend that you sign up for my free webinar on self publishing ebooks with myself and Dana Lynn Smith. When you do, you'll also get my PDF chart comparing all the platforms, royalties, etc.

And thanks for the tip on Google search! I have it on my other sites, but not this one yet. I'll put that on a to-do list. :)

Helping you get published,
Shelley

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My Smashwords Experience
by: Jeffrey Koconis

Smashwords delivers as advertised, although it took me an annoyingly long time to reformat my book file for them after doing it per Amazon's Kindle requirements, a tribute to my limited, but now much improved knowledge of word processing software. I applaud Mark Coker for his vision in truly helping new writers like me, and would highly recommend using their services. From having your ebook on multiple sites, sponsoring promotional events, providing marketing tools such as coupons or affiliate links to place on your blog or website, their helpful approach does it all very well.

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Self publishing with smashwords
by: Anonymous

hi there,

I like the ease of publishing to smashwords and I find their free guides very helpful. I use smashwords marketing guide as a reference now that I'm planning a book launch.

Another interesting thing about smashwords: their spokesman recently sent me a reminder/request to review a book I'd bought. Just a brief, polite email saying basically, 'you bought XYZ book by 123 about a month ago & we noticed you haven't written a review yet. Customers find reviews helpful & writers appreciate it. If you find a moment to review XYZ, that'd be great.' as a writer, I was pleasantly surprised to know smashwords does that.

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A few questions
by: Kenneth

Hi everyone,
Can anybody really tell how lucrative it is to publish an Ebook, if:
1. The book is a good read
2. The formatting is perfect
3. A reasonable amount of advertisement has been done.

Another thing... how long does it take to format an 85,000-word book.
Thanks... you have a lovely blog!

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Smashwords
by: catfella

I'm sure Smashwords is as wonderful as everybody claims, it's just a pity I can't find a way to get a response from list@smashwords.com

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Smashwords customer service unresponsive NEW
by: George

you and me both catfella. Smashwords simply does not respond to polite emails I have sent about payment even though the topic is not covered by their FAQ. you email amazon kindle and maaaan they respond to you! and quick like!

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proofing manuscripts NEW
by: dr a

It is great that this avenue exist for the budding author
to share their work. Some of the works have been quite worthwhile. But, it would appear that there is no quality control, such as standardized proofing of the manuscripts. I overlook simple typos or text conversions, but find gross grammatical errors quite distracting. Deliberate stylizing is not to be confused with plain poor grammar. I finally had to put a book down because of distractingly bad elementary grammar.
I am not holding the amateur author to the same standards of the classics, but some proof reading at a minimum of a high school level would greatly appreciated.
So, if Smashwords offers strictly self publishing with no minimum standard, I wonder if something in the cursory five star review along with title could reflect a level of grammar proficiency that a reader could pass along.
Thanks for providing this outlet for amateur authors, as some have told very compelling tales.

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Publishing with Smashwords.com NEW
by: Anonymous

I used Smashwords.com to publish my e-book "The Scroll," a multi-generational historical novel about the survivors of Masada. I found their support team, both prompt, friendly and helpful. I would recommend them to anyone. (I used a separate service to format the book for publication both on Smashwords and Amazon.)

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Does anyone use BookRix? NEW
by: Rachel

Several of my writer friends have used BookRix to self-publish their books. BookRix distributed their books to Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Apple. I don't know anyone who has used Smashwords, but I know it's better known in the writing community.

I haven't published anything yet, but I love the community over at BookRix - it's like Wattpad and Smashwords put together because there's a writing community and you can get critiques on your books and help with cover art, grammar, story ideas, etc., and just chat about the issues writers have each day. Then, when your book is perfect, you can publish it there - and all the writers you previously met will buy your book :) Love that idea!

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Reader's perspective NEW
by: Anonymous

I am not a writer but I did buy a book published by Smashwords for my Amaazon Kindle. It was a children's book for my granddaughter. I am not sure if this is a problem with all children's books in e-book format or just a problem with this one published by Smashwords but part of the pictures were cut off on a couple of pages and the words were way too small despite the fact that I tried to enlarge them. I had to have my granddaughter use the zoom feature on every page. Since it was an Early Reader book, the words should have been set to be larger on the page. There was a huge blank spot, a fair sized picture and tiny words, which could not be increased in size on the Kindle. If this is a Smashwords issue, I wouldn't recommend publishing a kid's book with them.

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