The Good, The Bad, and Smashwords

                                                      

Well, finally I discovered Smashwords….

Given that this is the major (apart from Amazon, that is) seller of e-books, one would have thought I’d have known about it before I started. I didn’t. But then I have always felt one can do too much research….

What is Smashwords?

Smashwords is an e-book selling site. But more than that, it is also a distributor. Publish your book here and it can be published, automatically, to Kobo, Diesel, Sony, Barnes and Noble, even the i-Tunes store (ok, so I have only heard of the latter two). And it is all done through their own, proprietary software – Meatgrinder – no downloading some dodgy third-party stuff like Amazon (and apparently they will publish there too soon).

What is Good about it?

Well, they give you stats, not only about how many people have viewed your book’s entry on a particular day, but also how many ‘samples’ have been downloaded. (Imagine my surprise to discover one day that 4 people had downloaded it! This was tempered somewhat when I realised only one person had visited the site that day – you can download in a variety of formats and they all count , unique users or not – my book obviously appeals to the technically illiterate).

This can be disheartening though. It is almost better to believe your book is lost among the many rather than it is just crap. Seeing the samples downloaded resulting in nil sales is a pretty damning statement, however tacitly made.

The Ugly?

Well, the site for one – it looks strangely amateurish – and the name for another – Smashwords: is it a slogan, a call to arms?

The only other downside is that they are American, and they are obliged to withhold a tax of 30% on your royalties unless you are an American tax payer, or have an International Tax Number which you can apply for but is a pain in the neck (I would if I thought I was going to sell any).

I won’t moan about the champion of the free-market indulging in yet another form of protectionism, but 'Oi!'

Apart from that it is great, and given its ease of use, its pending agreement with Amazon, and its other distribution channels, it will become the e-book distributor of choice. In fact, if I were Jeff Bezos, I’d buy it ….