For independent authors, if you have an ebook or are creating one, you might consider expanding your distribution avenues and uploading it not only to Amazon, but also to Smashwords.

The main issue for many authors when considering uploading their ebook to Smashwords is that they don’t have the same size market as Amazon, but it’s quite useful in other ways. Amazon will only prepare your eBook for reading on a Kindle or Mobi device, while Smashwords converts documents to all formats seen by e-reading devices. Whether a customer has a Nook, Iphone, Sony Reader, Kindle, Blackberry or other device, Smashwords will create a version of an ebook that works for them. Epub, MOBI, RTF, LRF, HTML, PDB, PDF, JavaScript… that’s useful. As for the money, Smashwords pays authors 85% of royalties from any sale, while Amazon currently pays only 35% as of March 2010. (Amazon will increase that figure to 70% in July 2010, provided the e-books are priced between $2.99 ​​and $9.99). .) Smashwords also distributes its eBooks to multiple online retailers and mobile phone apps. This list of retailers includes Barnes & Noble, which sells independent author eBooks as long as they’ve been accepted into the Premium with Smashwords program, which simply means an eBook is formatted correctly and has a quality cover.

Smashwords also does not encrypt your conversions with DRM (Digital Rights Management). In this way, a customer can download an e-book and transfer it from their PC to any device or multiple devices. Essentially, the customer has more choice with the book, which is different than the way Amazon distributes a DRM-encrypted book, basically good for a reader. All retailers let you set and change your price, but Smashwords also lets you enable sample chapters so customers can browse as much of the book as you want (a great way to hook readers), and they also have coupons you can set up to any amount with any expiration date. The main drawback of Smashwords is a limited customer base compared to Amazon, but other than that, it’s a pretty useful place to be, especially for freelance authors. (And soon, Smashwords will be distributed to Amazon as well.)

To upload in the proper format, the Smashwords Style Guide is a must read, as it is the way to understand their protocol. These are most of the main tips, although the Style Guide goes into more detail.

• Do not use large font sizes, anything more than 12 or 14 maximum for the title.
• Don’t have fancy fonts. Stick to the commons. Times New Roman. Garamond. Arial. Delivery courier.
• Do not use tabs or spaces for indentations. Just use the basic settings in the ruler bar: left and right indents for the margins and first line indent for the location of a new paragraph.
• Have no more than 4 paragraph returns in a row. They create blank screens of e-book pages.
• Do not include page numbers anywhere. Ebooks have different screen sizes, so page numbers don’t mean anything for these things.
• Do not include images larger than 3 inches. Resize them to be small enough to enjoy on those tiny screens.

Microsoft Word.doc files work best for upload, and .rtf files are second best. Once you’ve followed the Style Guide completely, upload your book and cover following the publishing instructions. Remember, a good cover image is needed to be eligible for the Premium program that gets you into Barnes & Noble and other retailers. But don’t worry, if for some reason you are denied, just make changes and try again.

For more information about Smashwords, you can visit their website.