Smashwords to Supply Ebooks to the Amazon Kindle Store
Smashwords Authors and Publishers from around the World Gain Greater Distribution for their Ebooks
Los Gatos, Calif. — November 23, 2009 — Smashwords, a global publisher and distributor of independently published ebooks, today announced it will supply ebooks to the Amazon.com Kindle Store. Kindle is Amazon’s wireless reading device that allows customers to downloads books, blogs, magazines and newspapers to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper.
Smashwords’ decision to distribute ebooks to the Kindle Store follows recent Smashwords agreements with Barnes & Noble, Sony and Shortcovers. The relationships further democratize access to distribution for the world’s independent authors and publishers.
“Smashwords makes it free and easy for any author or publisher, anywhere in the world, to publish and distribute an ebook,” said Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords. “By providing our ebooks to the Kindle store, Kindle customers can conveniently discover, sample and purchase thousands of ebooks from Smashwords authors and publishers.”
Smashwords currently publishes and distributes over 4,800 original ebooks from 2,200 independent authors and approximately 80 small independent publishers. The service launched in May 2008 with a focus on self-published authors, and then in May 2009 expanded its offerings to support publishers as well. The new Smashwords distribution agreements enable free and immediate worldwide distribution for thousands of ebook authors and small publishers.
A growing number of Smashwords authors are previously published professional authors with reverted rights who use Smashwords to bring their out-of-print books back to life as ebooks.
Availability, Smashwords Author/Publisher Terms
Smashwords will begin shipping ebooks to Amazon starting November 25. Smashwords expects the books to begin appearing in the Kindle store some time in December.
Smashwords will pay authors and publishers 42.5 percent of the digital list price (set by the author) for book sales through Amazon. The rate is higher than what many ebook authors can receive on their own if they publish direct with Amazon.
The royalty Smashwords pays authors and publishers for their Amazon ebook sales is eight times the royalty rate most commercially published print authors earn on mass market paperbacks, and nearly triple the standard royalty on hard cover books.
Smashwords authors and publishers who already distribute ebooks to the Amazon Kindle Store can easily opt-out of the Smashwords-Amazon channel in advance of the November 25 ship date via their Smashwords Dashboard.
Smashwords will ship ebooks to Amazon that have gained inclusion in the Smashwords Premium Catalog. The Premium Catalog comprises 2,500 Smashwords titles that meet certain mechanical requirements, as outlined on the Smashwords Distribution Information page at http://www.smashwords.com/distribution. There is no cost to authors to publish and distribute through Smashwords.
To distribute via Smashwords, authors and publishers simply format their finished manuscript per the requirements of the Smashwords Style Guide found at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52 and then upload the book as a Microsoft Word document. To learn more about publishing at Smashwords, visit http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords.
About Smashwords, Inc.
Launched in 2008, Smashwords operates an ebook publishing and distribution platform serving authors, publishers, readers and retailers. Smashwords makes it free and easy for any author or publisher, anywhere in the world, to instantly publish and distribute a multi-format ebook. Smashwords puts authors and publishers in full control over the pricing, sampling and distribution of their works. Authors and publishers receive up to 85 percent of the net proceeds from sales of their works. Smashwords books are distributed via leading online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony, and via leading mobile e-reading apps such as Stanza, Shortcovers, Ereader, Aldiko and Word-Player, spanning all major mobile platforms including Android and iPhone. Smashwords is based in Los Gatos, California, and can be reached on the web at http://www.smashwords.com/ Visit the official Smashwords blog at http://blog.smashwords.com/. For frequent Smashwords updates, follow Smashwords’ founder, Mark Coker, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/markcoker
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