I love Smashwords. So it sort of pains me when I see authors ask, “Should I put my book on Smashwords? What do you think?”
No, new author, what do you think? Do you only want to sell to Kindles? Do you realize that Kindles don’t read epub? That it’s a proprietary format? That those books can only and forever be on Kindles and Kindle products and programs?
An author can choose to go that route if they want, but I would hope that they have reasons for doing so other than, “Someone once told me…” or “People say…”
I’ll come out and say it, no, you probably won’t make much money from Smashwords. Yes, you do have to wait forever for their extra distributors to pay. And yes, Smashwords only pays you like once every six months. So why would I suggest going with Smashwords?
Freedom. I only buy indie books from Smashwords. You can download in any format (usually, unless the author has severely limited the formats the book will appear in). Generally I go for the epubs. Why? They’re DRM free, and that’s awesome. That means I can put it on any device. Why, I used to read books on my DS back in the day before I got a proper ereader. Plus, say I do decide to get a Kindle. I can download the book in the .mobi format needed for the Kindle.
I’ll admit that if a book isn’t on Smashwords, I skip it. There are a lot of good books put out by small publishers and self-publishers. I don’t need to work that hard to find a good book to spend my money on. Granted, I’m only one sale is a sea of sales, so that might not concern an author. There are plenty of authors who do great on Amazon.
So that’s freedom for me as a reader, but what about as an author? One of my favorite aspects of Smashwords is that the site allows for me to experiment. I can generate coupons, I can post things for free, and I can even use the “reader decides the price” option, which I will probably test out for the next story or something. I was tempted to try it out for this story, and may even do that later on.
Coupons are awesome because they cost me no money. It’s an easy way for me to mark a book down while still showing it’s value. And who doesn’t love a sale? (Well, except for in-store sales because those usually involve waiting in line.)
In the next year, I’m going to try pushing Smashwords a little more when I go out to sell the book. I’m planning on getting tables at the local anime conventions, and one of the things I’m hoping to do is have a QR code that points to the Smashwords site while handing out coupons. I really haven’t used Smashwords much because I haven’t really been marketing. These are just my thoughts on why I love the site.
Anyone else have thoughts? Hate Smashwords? Like Smashwords? Have a horrible experience with the site?
Write Your Own Story 
Catana
A couple of corrections, first, and then comments. 1. ” Do you realize that Kindles don’t read epub? That it’s a proprietary format? ” That makes it sound as if epub is the proprietary format, when you mean Kindle. Amazon’s mobi format for the Kindle is proprietary. 2. *All* books on Smashwords are DRM free, not just epubs. 3. Smashwords pays every three months. The first payment may take longer if you don’t have at least $10. in your account, plus the payment comes a month after the quarter is over. But once you’re getting regular sales, you’ll see a payment every three months.
Okay. As much as I like Smashwords–after all, that’s where I publish–there’s no way I’m going to deprive myself of books I want to read just because they’re not published on SW. There are indie publishers struggling against the overwhelming power of Amazon, and if they put out books I want to read, they’ll get my money. If a book is published on both Smashwords and Amazon, I’ll buy it from Smashwords in preference to Amazon, but what I read is determined by the book itself, not where it’s published or who sells it.
N.M. Martinez
1. On it’s own, singled out like that, yeah it looks that way, but as I was talking about Kindles and that was the subject of the paragraph, I hoped that people would realize that “it” refers back to the subject at hand which was the Kindle format.
2. Did I say that the other formats were not DRM free? *looks back* Ah, I see what you mean. I didn’t mean to imply that the other formats were not DRM free, just that I go for epubs from Smashwords.
3. Thank you for that clarification!
As for your last part, well that’s good for you. I don’t really think I’m being deprived of anything since there are tons of books I want to read. I just move onto the next one, read, enjoy. Spending my money on something in a format that I can’t read would be a waste.
Lisa Nowak
I love Smashwords. Mark Coker is one of my heroes, and he doesn’t even pay me to say that. Here’s a link to that Smashwords badge I created. I hope Mark doesn’t sue me for using his logo. 🙂 http://lisanowak.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/smashwords.gif
N.M. Martinez
I bet he would love your use of his logo! I’ve saved that and I’m going to put it into my sidebar.
Michelle Davidson Argyle
I like Smashwords a lot. I’ve bought many books on there. It’s nice that they have formats you can’t find everywhere else, and I love the coupon options. I want my publisher to put Monarch on there, but there are pros and cons for them to do that with all of their books, so I don’t know if it will happen. Still, it’s nice to at least put the things I publish myself up on there.
N.M. Martinez
I admit, I was a little disappointed that Monarch wasn’t on Smashwords, but since it’s through a small publisher, I can understand why.
Now that I’ve read Cinders (I loved it!) and I’ve started reading True Colors, I know I wouldn’t mind having the print versions of Monarch and The Breakaway. I’m working on getting an awesome indie bookshelf that I can show off, haha.
Michelle Davidson Argyle
Really glad you loved Cinders! I can’t wait for it to come out with the other two novellas in 2013. That seems so far away, but I’m sure it will be here before I know it. I have so many indie books floating around on my shelves. I need to get a dedicated shelf for all of them. I think that might be something I get at IKEA next time I go… 🙂 I’m so tempted to get your book on Smashwords, but I want a print copy pretty badly. Maybe I’ll just get both. 🙂
Laura Rae Amos
I ❤ Smashwords too! No DRM and they pay better (as in royalty – I know most people don't make more sales there) than the others too, don't they? So if given the choice, I'll buy from Smashwords so the author can get a couple extra pennies from me! 🙂
I wish all bookstores would adopt the multi-format policy that Smashwords does. Especially since I'm still not sure which e-reader I like best, lol!
N.M. Martinez
That’s what I’ve heard, but their standard agreement says the normal 70-30%. Selling a .99 book through them though will get you more money. While normally, Amazon gives you .35, I got about .60 for the book from Sony through Smashwords when I tried that sale last month.
I wish others would adopt that multi-format too, especially if they’re not tied to any sort of reader. That’s be great!
Laura Rae Amos
Ah, okay, I read the next paragraph – it’s 85% *net* lol! Fair enough, it’s still not bad, especially since they don’t have the lower price limit that Amazon does. And I bet that works out really nice on higher-priced books too, where the processing fee doesn’t eat up such a big chunk.
That makes me wonder then, is Amazon net royalties as well, or royalties on the sale price?
Ashlee Scheuerman
You’ve been chosen for The Versatile Blogger Award!
~Ashlee
N.M. Martinez
Thank you! I’m thinking I’ll do this after the holidays. 😀
Ashlee Scheuerman
I tend to think, the more avenues available, the better for the author. It just takes some juggling. If I self-pub, I will definitely be making the book available through as many channels as possible; not because I expect to make piles of money that way, but because it has a wider reach for your potential audience. Some people will never use Smashwords. Some people will never use Amazon. Why cut any of those people off when it’s, arguably, super simple to offer your work on all those sites?
~Ashlee
http://theDragonsHoard.bigcartel.com
N.M. Martinez
Agreed, well put. This is why I won’t talk bad about Amazon, and I’d probably never take my stuff off Amazon either. I think it’s important to offer choices which is another reason I get disappointed by people who are only on one site.
I’m even checking out Kobo directly rather than through Smashwords.