Smashwords Sponsors Read an E-Book Week
March 7-13
International Literary Event Celebrates the Joy of Ebook Reading
Los Gatos, Calif., February 19, 2010 -- Smashwords, a publisher and distributor of ebooks, today became an official sponsor of Read an E-Book Week, an international literary event to be held March 7-13.
“The mission of Read an E-Book Week is to raise international awareness about the benefits of ebooks to authors, readers, educators and the media,” said Rita Toews, founder of the non-profit event. “As a sponsor of the event, Smashwords will help promote the initiative, and will work with its 3,500 authors and publishers to offer special book promotions during the week.”
The Read an E-Book Week website, located at http://ebookweek.com, provides visitors access to dozens of educational resources to help them learn how to access, sample and read ebooks.
“We’re pleased to sponsor Read an E-Book Week for the second year,” said Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords. “Working in collaboration with Read an E-Book Week and other participating retailers and publishers, the initiative will introduce tens of thousands of new readers and authors to the joys of ebooks.”
For one week only, hundreds of Smashwords authors and publishers will offer deep discounts on thousands of original ebooks. Authors, as well as readers, will benefit from the promotion. Participating Smashwords authors and publishers will receive free, widespread promotional exposure in a special Smashwords Read an E-Book Week catalog on the Smashwords home page, promotion in Smashwords’ ebook catalogs at leading mobile apps Stanza and Aldiko; and will also receive promotion at the Smashwords blog and at the official Read an E-Book Week website.
Ebooks are the fastest growing segment of the book publishing industry. According the International Digital Publishing Forum, wholesale ebook sales in the United States grew 172 percent in 2009.
Some of the factors driving the growing popularity of ebooks include high-quality e-reading devices with screens that rival or surpass paper; the convenience of instantly downloading, sampling and purchasing ebooks; and a great selection of affordable ebook titles.
Thousands of independent authors around the world are contributing to the rise of ebooks by using ebook publishing platforms such as Smashwords to bypass traditional publishers and instantly publish and sell their works to a global audience.
About Read an E-book Week
Read an E-Book Week is a not-for-profit initiative organized by Rita Toews, an award-winning novelist and children’s author who resides in Winnipeg, Canada. Ms. Toews first registered the week with Chase's Calendar of Events in 2004 as an officially recognized worldwide global literacy initiative. Read an E-Book Week celebrates the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically, and seeks to promote the individuals and entities involved in all aspects of the experience - from the authors who create the books to the technology providers that make ebooks possible. Authors, publishers, vendors, the media, school children and readers worldwide are encouraged to join in the effort by orchestrating public readings, library displays, reading challenges, school visits, newspaper and blog articles, talk show appearances, internet radio interviews, e-book promotions, and web site banners. Major sponsors of Read an E-Book Week include Smashwords, E-Ink, Pocketbook, Omnilit and All Romance Ebooks. Additional partners and supporters can be found at http://www.ebookweek.com/partners.html.
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 has distribution relationships with leading online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony, and leading mobile e-reading apps such as Stanza, Kobo, Aldiko, FBReader 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/.