In the last few months, I have been exploring the self-publishing options in ebook format. Over time I will probably post on each of the major distribution options, but I found an interesting centralized option that I had never heard of.
Smashwords.
First, when you publish through Smashwords, your work becomes available through the Apple iPad/iPod store, Barnes & Noble, Sony Reader Store, Kobo Store, Aldiko Store, and more. Although they do not have a direct connection to the Kindle store, they will publish your work in Kindle format where users can transfer the book to their hard drive and to the Kindle when it is plugged in via USB.
That is an incredible first step to getting your new ebook to market. This is the closest thing to one-stop ebook publishing that I have seen so far.
Second, it is FREE! No setup cost, no publishing cost, no package cost, no upload or book revision cost, and they even include a free ISBN number for your ebook.
Third, for any ebook sold through their Smashwords store, you earn 85% of the price which is the most I have seen anywhere. And for the sales that occur through the major retailers you still receive 60%.
Fourth, they have free marketing tools to help you get the word out on your ebook, which is one of the hardest parts of self-publishing in my opinion.
Fifth, if you publish two or more different author works, you can upgrade your account for free to a publisher's account to centrally manage all of your author's works, and you get your own publisher's page on their site to showcase the work as needed for new releases or circumstances like a good news cycle going along with one of your book topics.
Although I am sure I will also use some of the direct publishing through the individual ebook stores, I have a hard time finding a reason not to start with Smashwords due to the incredible return on your time investment.
Click the link to get all the details for yourself, but I'm sure you will agree this is a great ebook self-publishing option. If you find other key points that I missed, please post in the comments for others to see.
Until next time, let's keep on writing.
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