TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics » Smashwords http://www.teleread.com News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Long books, short titles sell best on Smashwords http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/long-books-short-titles-sell-best-on-smashwords/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/long-books-short-titles-sell-best-on-smashwords/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 15:23:07 +0000 Susan Lulgjuraj http://www.teleread.com/?p=84659 Studying data can turn up surprising information, but it’s important to get the best results in what you do. Smashwords CEO Mark Coker recently released the results from data that was mined during an 11-month period from May 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013. This data studied trends of more than $12 million in sales for [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/long-books-short-titles-sell-best-on-smashwords/feed/ 0 Self-Published Books Not a Solution for K-12? Don’t Be So Sure… http://www.teleread.com/textbooks/self-published-books-not-a-solution-for-k-12-dont-be-so-sure/ http://www.teleread.com/textbooks/self-published-books-not-a-solution-for-k-12-dont-be-so-sure/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 18:37:12 +0000 Joanna Cabot http://www.teleread.com/?p=84493 Christopher Harris has a thought-provoking essay up at The Digital Shift in which he argues that self-published books are “not a solution” for K-12. He argues that publishers “serve a critical role in the information ecosystem” by vetting and recommending quality books to school librarians, who often work alone without the benefits of a large [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/textbooks/self-published-books-not-a-solution-for-k-12-dont-be-so-sure/feed/ 1 Draft2Digital Converts Word Documents Into E-Books: How well does it work? http://www.teleread.com/self-publishing/draft2digital-converts-word-documents-into-e-books-how-well-does-it-work/ http://www.teleread.com/self-publishing/draft2digital-converts-word-documents-into-e-books-how-well-does-it-work/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 03:48:24 +0000 Juli Monroe http://www.teleread.com/?p=84284 A couple of weeks ago I read about Draft2Digital, an e-book distributor still in beta mode. They got my attention with their claim to be able to turn a Word doc into a functional EPUB or Mobi (Kindle) file. Naturally I had to check them out, so I asked for a beta code, and I’ve [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/self-publishing/draft2digital-converts-word-documents-into-e-books-how-well-does-it-work/feed/ 2 How I nearly became a sock puppet http://www.teleread.com/amazon/how-i-nearly-became-a-sock-puppet/ http://www.teleread.com/amazon/how-i-nearly-became-a-sock-puppet/#comments Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:09:22 +0000 Susan Lulgjuraj http://www.teleread.com/?p=81462 I always keep an eye out for freelance work. I enjoy writing, and sometimes I like to get paid extra for it. I recently saw an ad on Craigslist for a book reviewer. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was better than nothing for something I enjoy doing anyway. I like reading, and [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/amazon/how-i-nearly-became-a-sock-puppet/feed/ 2 More on Amazon’s used e-books controversy http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/the-used-e-books-controversy/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/the-used-e-books-controversy/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:00:35 +0000 Marilynn Byerly http://www.teleread.com/?p=79275 Digital products like e-books are licensed—not sold—to a buyer, so they can’t be legally resold, shared, or loaned. (See my article on e-books and the first sale doctrine for more information.) A group called the Owners’ Rights Initiative wants to change that. The ORI believes that the owner of a digital book should be allowed to [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/the-used-e-books-controversy/feed/ 12 Has the public perception of self-publishing finally changed? http://www.teleread.com/publishing/changing-attitudes-of-self-publishing/ http://www.teleread.com/publishing/changing-attitudes-of-self-publishing/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:00:50 +0000 Susan Lulgjuraj http://www.teleread.com/?p=78671 Self-publishing a book can come with pre-conceived notions from readers, other writers and even publishers. People used to think self-publishing a book meant it wasn’t good enough to get picked up by traditional houses. However, the stigma of self-publishing is changing. Success stories have become more and more abundant, and the shock those successes caused [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/publishing/changing-attitudes-of-self-publishing/feed/ 5 Breakout Books in the App Store highlights self-published e-books http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/breakout-books-on-the-app-store-highlights-self-published-e-books/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/breakout-books-on-the-app-store-highlights-self-published-e-books/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:00:51 +0000 Aggregated Content http://www.teleread.com/?p=78219 By Arnold Zafra In a move to encourage more self-published authors to make their masterpieces available on the iBookstore, Apple has created an entirely new section, Breakout Books, where self-published e-books will be displayed prominently. According to Apple, Breakout Books is aimed at helping readers find the next reading sensation by way of this collection of [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/breakout-books-on-the-app-store-highlights-self-published-e-books/feed/ 0 My DRM-Free Year, Month 1: Library Books and Delphi Classics http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-drm-free-year-month-1-library-books-and-delphi-classics/ http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-drm-free-year-month-1-library-books-and-delphi-classics/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:30:49 +0000 Joanna Cabot http://www.teleread.com/?p=77608 At the end of 2012, I made a pledge to limit my e-book spending to only DRM-free e-books this year. I made this pledge for a number of reasons, the primary two being that firstly, since the whole rise/fall of agency pricing debacle, the books I want to read seem to be unreasonably expensive, and [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-drm-free-year-month-1-library-books-and-delphi-classics/feed/ 6 Review: How to Format your eBook for Kindle, NOOK, Smashwords, and Everything Else – UPDATED http://www.teleread.com/book-review/review-how-to-format-your-ebook-for-kindle-nook-smashwords-and-everything-else/ http://www.teleread.com/book-review/review-how-to-format-your-ebook-for-kindle-nook-smashwords-and-everything-else/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:00:12 +0000 Juli Monroe http://www.teleread.com/?p=77003 If you’re a do-it-yourself kind of author, you’ve probably encountered the “fun” of formatting your book for the various sites. I had no problems uploading my fiction book to Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I created a clean HTML file and followed all the prompts. Presto! Published. My non-fiction book was similarly easy to upload [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/book-review/review-how-to-format-your-ebook-for-kindle-nook-smashwords-and-everything-else/feed/ 12 Morning Links: Mark Coker’s 2013 Publishing Predictions http://www.teleread.com/morning-roundup/morning-links-mark-cokers-2013-publishing-predictions/ http://www.teleread.com/morning-roundup/morning-links-mark-cokers-2013-publishing-predictions/#comments Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:04:10 +0000 Dan Eldridge http://www.teleread.com/?p=75869 Mark Coker’s 2013 Book Publishing Industry Predictions (Smashwords) B&N will give away free ebooks in stores, including Big Six titles (Paid Content) Top 100 Business, Leadership and Technology Twitter Accounts You Must Follow (Huffington Post) The Ray Kurzweil era begins at Google (Digital Trends) Kindle Daily Deals: We the Animals by Justin Torres {and 3 [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ereaders/review-kobo-glo-with-sleepcover/feed/ 5 My 5 Favorite Sources for DRM-Free E-Books, part 2 of 2 http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-5-favorite-sources-for-drm-free-e-books-part-2-of-2/ http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-5-favorite-sources-for-drm-free-e-books-part-2-of-2/#comments Sun, 21 Oct 2012 12:00:39 +0000 Joanna Cabot http://www.teleread.com/?p=73357 From Part 1: I love DRM-free books! I know that for most people, DRM is an issue they might not think about often; if their books work, they’re happy. But for many more experienced e-book users, it’s an issue to care about. Unless, that is, you buy and read books that are DRM-free. The books referenced [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-5-favorite-sources-for-drm-free-e-books-part-2-of-2/feed/ 6 Smashwords announces new Library Direct service http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/smashwords-announces-new-library-direct-service/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/smashwords-announces-new-library-direct-service/#comments Thu, 09 Aug 2012 03:30:02 +0000 Dan Eldridge http://www.teleread.com/?p=68148 This morning, Smashwords launched Library Direct, a new service that allows libraries and library networks to acquire and establish large opening collections of ebooks direct from Smashwords. Commitments have been with three library systems so far, with each acquiring some variation of Smashwords’ top 10,000 best-selling titles. The three library systems involved in today’s announcement are Douglas County Libraries in Colorado; [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/smashwords-announces-new-library-direct-service/feed/ 0 Four Smashwords authors make the New York Times Bestseller List http://www.teleread.com/smashwords/four-smashwords-authors-make-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list/ http://www.teleread.com/smashwords/four-smashwords-authors-make-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list/#comments Wed, 01 Aug 2012 04:49:39 +0000 Dan Eldridge http://www.teleread.com/?p=67687 “We knew this day was coming,” writes Smashwords founder Mark Coker, on his company’s blog.  ”Self-published ebook authors are landing on the New York Times bestseller list in a big way.” As for myself,  I cancelled my subscription to the Sunday Times ages ago (too expensive; impossible to read in one week), so I probably won’t [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/smashwords/four-smashwords-authors-make-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list/feed/ 3 Jonathan Maberry On The Convergence of Indie and Traditional Publishing http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/jonathan-maberry-on-the-convergence-of-indie-and-traditional-publishing/ http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/jonathan-maberry-on-the-convergence-of-indie-and-traditional-publishing/#comments Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:10:26 +0000 Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords http://www.teleread.com/?p=67351   JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His books have been sold to more than a dozen countries. Besides writing fiction in multiple genres, he’s also written many non-fiction books as well. [...]

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