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Publish with Smashwords
Online Publishing
Finishing your manuscript is a hard task within itself, but publishing your manuscript can be just as hard, or easy, as you make it. My 3 favorite online publishing platforms are CreateSpace, Smashwords, and Nook Press. There, of course, are more online publishing platforms, but these 3 are in the top 10 on most online publishers' list, and the top 3 of my list.
I've written other hubs about self publishing online, and my other 2 favorite online publishing platforms. You can find my other hubs at these links: Publish Your Own eBook, Publishing with Nook Press, and Publishing on CreateSpace. I advise checking these hubs out too because it's always good to do your research before you decide on anything, especially online publishing.
What is Smashwords?
Smashwords is an eBook publishing and distribution platform for eBook authors, publishers and readers. Smashwords They offer multi-format, DRM-free ebooks, ready for immediate sampling and purchase, and readable on any e-reading device. When you upload your manuscript to Smashwords you can opt to have Smashwords distribute your book to Amazon.com's CreateSpace, Barnes & Noble's PubIt!, Apple iPad Bookstore, Sony and Kobo eBookstores, and other eBook distribution online platforms. At Smashwords, authors and publishers have control over the pricing, sampling, and marketing of their written works.
Why Publish with Smashwords
There are several reasons why Smashwords is at the top of most self publishers list of online self publishing platforms. Besides distributing your eBook to other eBookstores and distribution platforms, with Smashwords you can create coupon codes for your eBooks. This feature can be very helpful to get more sales for your eBooks, if used correctly. Smashwords also formats your eBook into other formats for reading them on different eBook reading devices. Although Smashwords have some pretty good perks when you publish with them, their website user interface lacks drastically in the ease of use. Overall, I think if you were to publish your eBook with Smashwords, opt to have Smashwords distribute your manuscript to other online bookstores and distribution platforms, and submit your works (yourself) to CreateSpace and PubIt!, it would be very beneficial to your eBook sales.
Do you have a manuscript ready for publication?
Smashwords Poll
Have you ever thought about self-publishing with Smashwords?
Smashwords
Smashwords is one of the good online publishing platforms to publish your manuscript on, though if you do happen to use Smashwords, remember that there are other platforms that you can submit your manuscript to as well.
If you are publishing any other media besides for eBooks, CreateSpace could be just the self publishing platform you're looking for. With CreateSpace you can publish your CD's and DVD as well as your novel/book. Don't take publishing your manuscript lightly, even if you are publishing traditionally. Self publishing can be a very rewarding experience; it's up to you to do your research to make it the least painful experience possible.
As stated above, I
believe my other hubs on this topic could be of some use for your self
publishing research. In conclusion, if Smashword's user interface was much more user friendly, I believe it could be at the very top of the list of online self publishing platforms. There's much more to learn about Smashwords, if you have any more questions about Smashwords, check out the Smashwords FAQ Page.