Smashwords

In a word, yes. Smashwords.com is discussed more in the Self-Publishing forum below this one.

But please explore the Smashwords site, or any other you might want to use, before you upload your doc. A lot of questions and mistakes can be headed off at the pass just by taking the time to research.

Smashwords is a good place for customers to purchase your eBook from but if you want advertising, marketing, and a buzz stirred up then that is up to you on what type of marketing plan you want to implement.

Smashwords also has a place for people to review your eBook which certainly helps create a "buzz".

I released a book a few days ago on Smashwords as well as Ipub (Barnes and noble) and KDP (amazon). I have had 5 sales on smashwords so far. Their platform is the easiest to use and they are the fastest at getting your document up and live. They also provide a very helpful formatting guide. Like was stated above, read through all of their FAQ's and the promotion is all up to you. Dont expect instant success, you get out of it what you put into it.

I joined up with Smashwords a couple of days back. The biggest sell to me was the conglomeration of subsequent flow of books on to other e-retailers. There's a limit to how much juggling and following up I want to do with 5, 8 or 15 other different e-book retailers. Time is money, after all. One can end up spending a lot of time chasing individual retailers and getting product in a form acceptable to each of them. So for that reason alone - my natural laziness - I'm putting some smaller titles with Smashwords and watching to see what happens with multiple irons in the fire. Also doing Kindle, and watching both to see how they eventually play out...

I did a book on smashwords and had trouble with the cover. I am doing another one and hope to have it up within the month. I think they are great!!! I didn't know they did reviews though, thanks for that info. I'll check out their site as soon as I am doing editing my YA fantasy I am putting up. I want to do a book trailer for it too.

Smashwords is great ... but you have to be your own ad agency.

I don't have data on this, but I'd say that it's pretty obvious that there are more writers going to the smashwords site than there are readers. So, you don't get a lot of browsing sales there. If you want sales on smashwords, you have to show people the way.

I think the distribution channels probably has more likelihood of grabbing browsing sales, but I don't really get much of that myself yet. As ereaders become more and more prevalent, I think more people will do more book browsing online.

Their style guide is very helpful and they provide graphs, so you can track daily views and sales.

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So far, what I've found is that Amazon (KDP) is the highest-selling platform. I sell about half as many books through Barnes & Noble (PubIt!) as I do through Amazon. And then half as many books on Smashwords as I do through B&N. Formatting is definitely easiest through Smashwords (follow their style guide), though the finished product doesn't look as good as it does at Amazon or B&N.

Again, though, you've got to do your own marketing if you want anyone to actually find it and buy it.

Smashwords and similar digital book selling sites are places to make sales if your writing is up to the job. You know what's selling, how much has sold, and can get direct deposit, which is cool.

Many writers are running into it like a new gold rush. For each one who sells ten thousand copies, there are 10,000 unknowns who don't sell anything.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/01/guest-post-by-lee-goldberg.html

But make sure your words are worth reading or your fan base will let you know right away--and they don't pull punches. Getting feedback from other writers (which you can do right here on AW) is a step in the right direction. That way you get rid of weaknesses in your work before releasing it into the wild.

Don't ask readers to just trust you and buy what you've got up based on a title and a description. Post a sample to get readers interested, and then if they like it enough to buy the rest, it's payday.

Make sure your work doesn't suck or you can get the wrong kind of "buzz."

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/02/02/why-your-self-published-book-sucks-a-bag-of-dicks/


Technically it gets your work "out there." But commercial editors, agents, and publishers won't be trolling the site looking for the next S. King. They're busy dealing with submissions that came in via the usual channels.

I groan when I see the term "create a buzz." I want to hunt down its inventor--probably a fee charging agent or a vanity house--and introduce their craniums to my pet brick. When I hear the term I know I'm dealing with a shiny-eyed neo and so does every other writer who's been in the trenches for more than a year.

I've been at this since the late 80's and have yet to create a buzz with any of my books. They did bring a tidy advance check, which made up for things.

Identify where and what you think a buzz is. If there is a place on the Net where buzz happens, let the rest of us know. I'd love to have one of my very own!

I rather suspect a buzz (media attention, going viral on the Net, getting arrested for being naked at NASA) happens should a book be noticed by the great goddess Oprah or gets mentioned by some other Famous Person. (JFK did wonders for Ian Fleming's sales.) Other than that, it's a Chimera.

But if you want to sell stories and make money--a perfectly honorable and achievable goal--then leap in with both feet and write, write, write. If you should get a buzz, great, but don't expect or seek it. Just be a writer. Let your words do their magic for you.

Gillhoughly said:

I groan when I see the term "create a buzz." I want to hunt down its inventor--probably a fee charging agent or a vanity house--and introduce their craniums to my pet brick. When I hear the term I know I'm dealing with a shiny-eyed neo and so does every other writer who's been in the trenches for more than a year.

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Excellent post.

My pet rock and your pet brick would get along famously.