Smashwords Store Management Team
Mark Coker, Chief Strategy Officer, Draft2Digital
Mark Coker founded Smashwords in 2007 to change the way books are published, marketed and sold. Smashwords opened its virtual doors in early 2008. Read the first two launch press releases here and here.
Mark is co-author along with his wife, Lesleyann, of Boob Tube, a novel that explores the behind-the-scenes world of daytime television soap operas. It was Mark's experience trying to get Boob Tube published that inspired him to create Smashwords. Mark believes Smashwords holds the promise to make publishing more enriching for authors, readers and publishers. Mark is also the author of The Smashwords Style Guide (how to format an ebook), The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book) and The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of the most commercially successful ebook authors). These three free ebooks about ebook publishing best practices have earned over 800,000 downloads, making them essential reference guides for thousands of professional indie authors around the world.
Smashwords was acquired by Draft2Digital in March, 2022, by which time it was helping 160,000 authors and small independent presses publish and distribute 590,000 ebooks. The combined company now helps 250,000 authors and publishers to publish, distribute, manage, and market 900,000 ebooks, with a fast-growing print on demand offering in D2D Print that makes print publishing and distribution faster and easier than ever before.
In June 2010, The Wall Street Journal named Mark one of the "Eight Stars of Self-Publishing." In March 2012, MediaBistro named Mark one of the "Five Ebook Experts to Watch." In June 2012, Forbes profiled Mark in feature story titled, Apple's Biggest (Unknown) Supplier of E-Books. In both 2013 and 2014, Forbes Magazine named Smashwords one of America's Top 100 Most Promising Companies. In 2014, INC. Magazine named Smashwords to its INC 500 list of America's fastest growing private companies. In 2019, Romance Writers of America named Mark the recipient of the Vivian Stephens award for his contribution to the industry.
In October, 2017, Mark launched the Smart Author Podcast series to serve as a free masterclass for writers who want to learn to publish ebooks with greater pride, professionalism and success. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts or anywhere fine podcasts are found.
With Mark's previous startup, BestCalls.com, which he launched in 1999, he helped level the playing field for small stock market investors, who at the time were denied access to the earnings conference calls of publicly traded companies. His work with BestCalls, as a champion for fair disclosure, was a catalyst for the SEC’s ground breaking Regulation FD. BestCalls was acquired in 2002 by Shareholder.com and was owned and operated by the Nasdaq Stock Exchange up until 2010.
Prior to BestCalls, Mark served as the founder and president of Dovetail Public Relations, an award-winning Silicon Valley PR firm that specialized in representing technology startups. Mark operated Dovetail from 1993 to 2008 which is when he turned his full attention to Smashwords.
Mark is a former contributing columnist for Publishers Weekly and the Huffington Post. He blogs at The Smashwords Blog.
Mark is a graduate of the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, where he earned a B.S. degree in marketing.
Follow Mark on Twiitter at http://www.twitter.com/markcoker
Bill Kendrick, Lead Developer
Bill Kendrick has been involved in pioneering web software development since the mid-1990s. Prior to the merger between Smashwords and Draft2Digital, Bill served as Chief Technology Officer for Smashwords since 2008. As a lead developer at Draft2Digital, Bill helps lead the development for the Smashwords Store.
Prior to joining Smashwords, Bill worked in the mobile software industry, designing and developing games and applications and helping companies enter the realm of web-based widgets. Prior to that he worked for nerdbooks.com, a brick-and-mortar and online book retailer, where he helped improve and maintain their web-based sales and inventory software.
Jim Azevedo, Corporate Communications Manager
Jim Azevedo brings 25 years of marketing experience to the Draft2Digital team and is a frequent speaker at writer's conferences. His expertise in media and industry analyst relations includes launching several startups as well as working with multi-billion dollar, publicly traded companies. Prior to joining Smashwords, Jim worked with Bite Communications in San Francisco where he represented the industry analyst relations program for Advanced Micro Devices. Prior to Bite, Jim spent three years as senior analyst relations manager at BMC Software, a $2 billion provider of enterprise management software. Before BMC, Jim served four years as sr. PR manager at ProactiveNet prior to that company being acquired by BMC.
Jim began his career at Dovetail Public Relations, the award-winning PR firm that Mark Coker founded, and was Dovetail’s third employee. Jim also managed PR for BestCalls.com, the startup that Mark founded in 1998. Over his career, Jim has generated hundreds of stories in top-tier business, trade and broadcast media.
Jim’s can-do attitude is also a result of his DIY ethic, cultivated through 10 years of hard work drumming and promoting for the San Jose rock band Rivals. Rivals, about to release its sixth record, has played hundreds of shows, gone on multiple tours, and was recently named a Top 5 local band finalist by Bay Area alternative rock station Live105.
Keri McKie, CFO
Keri McKie, previously CFO of Smashwords, is now Draft2Digital's CFO. Keri is responsible for all things financial, including accounting and author payments. She also manages human resources. She holds a B.A. degree in sociology from U.C. Santa Cruz, and has completed the HR Management Certification Program through the University of California Extension.
Advisor
Terry Duryea
Terry brings an impressive track record of founding and operating successful Internet companies. Prior to joining Smashwords as an advisor in 2007, Terry was an advisor for Mark Coker's previous startup, BestCalls.com, up until its acquisition in 2002. Terry previously co-founded Quova, Service Metrics, Interliant and BroadWord. Terry is also a former CFO and vice president of corporate development for McAfee Associates. Terry earned an industrial engineering degree at U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford University.