Leaving Smashwords!
From author and TPV regular M. C. A. Hogarth:
The bad news: in one month I’ll be shutting down my Smashwords account. If you’ve bought something from me there, now’s the time to make a back-up!
The good news: If you have wanted to buy my work from Kobo or the Apple store, my work is shipping there in big clumps. I think most of my work’s already made it to Kobo, in fact.
But Jaguar, Why? Several of you have asked this question. The answer, in brief: I hate the Smashwords interface. I hate that they are fussy about uploaded documents and have mysterious/inexplicable delays shipping my work to retailers. I hate their quarterly payment schedule. I despise their customer service. Or lack of thereof. And I dislike that they have this quasi-retailer face (more about that later).
Some people have had good experiences with Smashwords. My experience with them, from the moment I started using them, has been a struggle. I have never thought ‘oh, right, I’ll just get this to Smashwords, no problem.’ It’s always ‘Oh, LORD, not the Smashwords part of this process. Why can’t it be as easy as NookPress or the Kindle dashboard??’
. . . .
Some people have asked why I want to leave at all? Can’t I just keep the account open and stop uploading things there? And the answer to that is ‘sure, I could,’ but it creates far too much accounting overhead. As long as I have a Smashwords account, I need to continue keeping tabs on whether they’re paying me on time, whether I’ve gotten a W-4, what’s there that’s not somewhere else, etc. Not to mention baseline computer stuff like ‘has anyone hacked my password,’ ‘has Smashwords changed their terms of service,’ etc. They also have this habit of automatically opting you into new distribution channels, so I’d have to keep track of that.
Finally, I like to update/tidy up my older books as I have the time. Keeping them on Smashwords gives me one more place I have to upload to. I just don’t have the time anymore. I probably never did, I was just better at ignoring my overtaxed schedule’s cries for mercy.
Link to the rest at M. C. A. Hogarth and thanks to Liana for the tip.
Here’s a link to M.C.A. Hogarth’s books
PG has to admit that he long ago gave up on Smashwords because of many of the reasons mentioned. Policy questions like quarterly payments can be a judgement call, but the thing he disliked the most was the crude author interface and the Meatgrinder. It just never seemed very technically sophisticated to him.
It’s really tough to compete against Amazon, but priority one should be to come close to Amazon’s sophistication on the screen.
I unpublished my books from Smashwords almost three years ago and don’t miss it. When Draft2Digital came along, I tried them out and would recommend them over Smashwords to anyone who asked. I actually feel guilty that I de-listed most of my books on D2D last week so that I could enroll in KU. I did this on the day KU went live and I know D2D must have had a ton of others do the same thing, and yet, within a few hours, my books were removed from EVERY channel where they had been. I was floored, thinking I’d have to wait days or even weeks, but nope. I was able to enroll in KU that same afternoon.
When I want to use other channels, that’s the place I will use.
I also left Smashwords a long time ago, for the very same complaints: http://www.allisonmdickson.com/2012/12/why-i-left-smashwords.html
I’m ending my exclusivity with Amazon and just signed up with D2D. REALLY loving their interface and speediness and their monthly pay schedule. Smashwords has been slow to evolve, and their problems are still very much existent. The rest of the market will catch up eventually.
Same here, Allison. Ironically, you and I might be the only two leaving Select right now. I suspect there’s a flood of movement in the opposite direction.
I suspect we will see more of a ‘slosh’ effect as people move back and forth trying different avenues. I moved a couple titles to KU to see what happens, but not all of them. And I’ll say D2D was so easy to work with, comparatively.
PG said (re Smashwords): ” It just never seemed very technically sophisticated to him.”
To that I would add: and the customer service would take weeks if not months to respond. You’d think that the owners would take some of the profits and invest in customer service but I have not seen any evidence of that (ie through quicker responses etc).
@M.P.McDonald Draft2Digital is amazing. And they bend over backwards to get the customer service aspect correct.
I just recently started trying Draft2Digital because there were so many recommendations. I don’t get why they’re so popular. I don’t really make sales there, but I do at Smashwords. I mean, they’re okay. They’re a little simpler, which I like, but so far I’m not overly impressed either. I’ll stick with them to see what everyone is raving about.
They don’t have their own store, like Smashwords, so maybe you were getting sales there. I’m not really sure why you would get sales through Smashwords at other retailers, and not get sales through D2D at those same retailers. I was just starting to get sales at D2D, which is why I was hesitant to pull my books. Like any platform, it can take awhile to gain traction.
I used Smashwords for one book. Meat Grinder gave me no trouble. When I had a question, I emailed Mark. He responded right away — and, if I recall correctly, this was in the middle of the night or at least very late. There was only one reason I pulled the book: I wanted to put it in KDP Select. Otherwise, my experience at Smashwords was a good one.
It took them 2 months to get back to me about a tax issue. Two months. I even sent a reminder email at the 2-week, 5-week, and 7-week mark.
I emailed Mark directly. Did you do that?
Why should people have to email Mark directly when they have a customer service department?
I am suspicious of CEOs that take the time to answer individual customer service issues. That’s what a customer service team is for. The CEO has a job, he should be doing it. He should be doing it so effectively that he doesn’t have time to handle customer service.
Delegation is important once you get to a certain level of complexity. Someone who can’t delegate once they reach that level makes me nervous.
Exactly! I daresay if Coker were spending less time handling niggling customer service issues, he might have more time to stick his foot up the butts of his developers who are making his site into the Myspace equivalent of digital publishing.
Smashwords did not answer my question (customer service completely ignoring me for over 8 weeks via email inquiring)
I HAD TO POST ON MARK COKER’S PERSONAL BLOG TO GET A RESPONSE! (and he was not happy about that)
.
.
.
Finally I had to post the question on Mark Coker’s personal blog to get an answer. The fellow sent me a ‘do not post smashword customer service questions on my blog’ ready note he sends to anybody who dares and he immediately took down my request. But the customer service did finally answer me after that little indiscretion on my part!) Now I hated having to do that but it seemed the only way to get some attention.
.
I switched to D2D immediately after this nonsense .
Its very odd to me that Coker never responds about this topic. Also I dont like the fact that he supported the Big 5/6 in the collusion case AND supports Hachette in the Hachette/Amazon negotiations
(PG link here:07/2014/smashwords-ceo-on-why-he-as-an-indie-author-supports-hachette-against-amazon/ )
FYI Currently there is a shill for Smashwords posting on the above spouting all kinds of stuff about how great Smashwords is but his books and name do not appear anywhere on Smashwords store at all.
I don’t know if he had a customer service department when I emailed him. It was quite a while ago. My issue wasn’t with Smashwords, but rather the annoying mail list I got put on when I purchased an ISBN for my Smashwords book. I wanted to know if there was a way to stop the mail and he told me the I’d have to pull the book to get rid of the junk mail, which I did. If I recall correctly, he put his email address in his book and invited people to email him.
yeah but good luck trying to get a response if you email him there. I tried. No dice.
I got a fast response when they claimed my NCX table of contents was bad, even though it had exactly the same contents as the previous short story I uploaded a few weeks earlier. It just told me absolutely nothing about why they thought it was bad, so I had to make random changes and resubmit until they accepted it.
Smashwords was great when it first started, because you could just upload one document and hit all the main sites other than Amazon. But that’s now hurting them, because they’re still using the same old technology which now seems backward compared to the competition. Just let me upload an epub and generate all the other formats from it, and I’d be happy… that would take me thirty seconds to generate from my master document, rather than two hours of reformatting for the Meatgrinder.
Oh my gosh! I’m on PV. O_O
I was all ‘great, settled in at the day job, let’s go check out the news over on PV, oh hey, someone else is leaving Smashwords too–OH!’ >.>
Heh.
Your 15 minutes of fame. May you have many more and may they be from your name being on best seller lists.
I have to admit to not having any problems with Smashwords except for slow sales. The files I uploaded were already formatted so I haven’t experienced the Meatgrinder torture. Once this crazy month is over, I’ll likely be uploading direct to Apple, Kobo, and Nook, and try D2D for the other channels.
Interesting. So many of the retailers seem to be having issues with catering to authors lately.
I will continue to use Smashwords as I have not had any sales there at all. I’m still building my readership. I’ve had no problem uploading to them so far. At the beginning I did but now have worked that out.
I do like Draft2Digiital and would recommend them. They were a lot faster at getting me into Barnes & Noble and the Ibookstore than Smashwords were.
The customer service team at Smashwords seems to be very small since its always the same small number of people who seem to handle it. Btw it took them 6 weeks to respond to simple question of mine last time.
I remember when I had a question for ACX I called their service number and it was answered on the first few rings… by a human being, not a PVR. I was so stunned I didn’t immediately respond to her greeting. *laugh*
(They took care of my issue admirably. Smashwords, on the other hand, still doesn’t have a public customer service phone number.)
I had so many issues w/ distribution with Smashwords. I once had fifteen books listed with them. They would all be marked as shipped, but at any given time, only a handful of them would be available at places like Kobo or Barnes & Noble. I emailed multiple times, only to get one unhelpful response after another, if I got one at all. Same for when I made price changes. WEEKS I would have to wait while something I previously had marked free for a promotion would be back to its normal price. They would spend more time blaming the other retailers, but I was sick of the excuses and the lack of attention. I was also sick of losing money.
This post made me chuckle, bc I have the opposite feelings when i publish a new (or updated) file: smashwords is the easy part. Probably that’s because i don’t sell enough via their channels to try for more than a basic ebook, and passing the meatgrinder is no issue because i basically write in Word with a template that would pass through. It’s when i do the mobi that i try to get fancy and want to pull out hair.
But i am glad to know d2d exists if things change
I would (reluctantly) concur. The reluctance part because I think Mark Coker is a genuinely nice guy and I’d like to see him succeed. However, I left SW over a year ago for all of the reasons listed.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was what appeared to be the focus on attracting more and more content over the the priority of improving the experience for the authors already there. When you can’t adequately service the clients you have, beating the drum to acquire more didn’t (and doesn’t) seem to be a good business model to me.
I also concur with the D2D comments. I unenrolled to go into Select (also with a bit of guilt), but the Draft@Digital experience was both seamless and pleasant and if I bale from Select, D2D would definitely be my distributor of choice. My question is that if a start up can get this right out of the gate, why can’t SW? Maybe Mark C. should buy out D2D but keep it’s management in place to run things? Just a thought.
I do think that Coker’s public image is a bit… overly anti-Amazon for my tastes. I don’t need him to be a cheerleader for Amazon, but the way he presents himself makes me uncomfortable as a former marketing/PR person. :,
I agree with you and R.E.: he’s a really nice guy, but I respond negatively to his anti-Amazon remarks. That last part is probably because I’m a card-carrying member of the Cult of Amazon.
I have been publicly inoculated against the Cult of Amazon following the Space Marine Trademark problem, so I don’t think I can be accused of it, and I still find Coker’s public response to them inappropriate. So if people dismiss you, send them to me and I’ll learn ‘em. :,
That seems new, though, doesn’t it? Or maybe he’s just more vocally anti-Amazon, or focusing there lately? I know he was always against exclusivity, but I don’t remember anything like his recent “Indie authors should side with Hachette” rhetoric. He’s always seemed a good guy, and honestly, I don’t love Smashwords in execution, but it’s genius in theory, and it’s obvious he’s put a lot of time and energy into making it real. I respect that.
It’s also worth noting how thoroughly Amazon is pretty much trouncing everyone else in terms of innovation and marketshare. I mean, gotta be that everyone‘s feeling that at the moment.
I don’t know if it’s recent, but it’s only recently that I’ve seen some of his anti-Amazon remarks (probably saw them right here). The siding with Hachette thing surprised me.
Didn’t surprise me. From the moment the collusion case came up, Coker wrote about his support for agency pricing and every time since, he’s been mostly mild, but emphatically on the side of the publishers in that.
I think that’s because most people confuse agency pricing with the structure Amazon offers KDP authors — that is, setting book price (which Amazon is within rights to discount but most often doesn’t).
The funny thing–and I think Mark, at least, knows this–is that if the publishers get their way, and move to an agency model wherein they can set their own prices, which Amazon can’t really discount, they’ll basically tank their own business. (Which I think is why he thinks indie authors should “side” with Hachette.)
I don’t “side” with Hachette but I am okay with them tanking themselves. They’ve had time to see the error of their ways. They’re completely convinced that this is the direction they want to go. Who are we to try to stop them? I think at some point you just have to sit back and watch the fallout. Their competition should be getting their ducks in a row though.
He seems to think Hachette can and should improve. If that were the case, they probably would have done it long time ago. They’re not interested in improving because they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong. I think that’s the part Mark is completely missing and why, I just realized, I don’t take most of his posts all that seriously.
Agree. He seems to have become more anti-Amazon as time passes too, which is strange since there are many authors that aren’t that impressed with Smashwords either.
I have to say I’ve had most of the same frustrations Hogarth has had. On top of that for a long time Smashwords didn’t accept serials (they do now, though) which is why I started using Draft2Digital to begin with — I needed a way to get my serial on iTunes.
I still use Smashwords for the Smashwords store, and for the ancillary markets it provides that nobody else does, but it’s not one of the platforms I focus on overmuch.
After SW moved to accepting ePub, I considered using their services again, if only to access the broader distribution they enable, but I just wasn’t sure if that broader distribution was worth it. I’ve dealt directly with Kindle, Nook, iBooks, and Kobo, and I figure that covers the vast majority of the ebook market.
Also, from their distribution page:
Not true. None of the four ebook retailers I just mentioned require ISBNs.
I pulled out of Smashwords when it became a magnet for erotica.
Also, it was very hard to track stuff across the various publishing outlets.
Shame — SW stared as a bold initiative and Coker’s formatting guide is a foolproof tool for use elsewhere.
Can’t help thinking that Smashwords has become something of a self-pub MySpace: a good idea superceded by more sophisticated rivals.
You can find erotica everywhere, though. Would you pull out of Amazon, too? They have tons of erotica for sale.
Pull out? Heh.
heh heh
(tisk-tisk)
LOL =)
Whirlocre, hate to tell you this but my erotica cooties are all over the world except for Flipkart.
I don’t like the fact that (to my knowledge), to use a pen name, you have to make a whole different account. When I saw that, I was a little surprised. That seemed behind the times to me.
Kind of. You can create a publisher account with multiple author names, but those names are then all linked to that publisher.
So, for example, if you were writing furotica under a pen name and didn’t want it linked to your other books, I don’t think there’s any way to do so.
Yeah, that’s what it says on their FAQ page. They suggest you just make different accounts. I found that a little ridiculous. It’s just one more thing to keep up with.
But you have to do that with Amazon too. I’ve got one pen name where I just changed the name and the publisher name showed up as Liana Mir. Basically Smashwords style but on autopilot. My other pen names, I did a whole new account and set them up under a publisher name. Only way on KDP to keep them separate.
I’m a little puzzled by this. I write under my own name and a pen name. I opened my KDP account under my real name. When I added books under my pen name, I just entered that name as the author. All my books, regardless of author name, show up on my KDP page. I do have two different Author Central pages, though, one for each name.
I found my publisher name was the main name I had the KDP account under. But now that you mention it, I go look and they’ve removed publisher name and replaced it with sold by Amazon Digital Services. So that explains that issue. They both started with the issue, but looks like one of them fixed it.
I just saw this. It’s the same for me. I only publish under pen names and Amazon hasn’t given me any problems.
As a formatter I loathe their seemingly pointless rules. Okay, so they began to allow us to have zero indents mixed with indents (Mr Coker once declared that ‘novels have indents’ and so we couldn’t mix them, unlike trad-pub since forever).
They even now allow an epub upload – but wait… you still can’t use the style-generated ToC in Word to create an epub, you have to laboriously create one using the primitive bookmark and ‘link to’ method. I’m guessing they still pander to archaic reading devices in this regard.
But worst is their style guide. Last time I checked they still have not explained that line breaks created by Enter key presses don’t render (you have to create a ‘space after’ attribute) they seem unaware that if you bookmark a chapter heading it jumps to normal mode if you navigate via the NCX (bookmarks are best placed a line above the heading in a “space” character and you should not capture the pilcrow as well)
I can create a master docx that converts to both mobi and epub for clients but the extra cost to rejig it to a Smashwords doc is circa 60% extra – and then future revisions by the author have to be done on the master docx and also the Smashwords doc. As I already use ‘space after’ attributes for line spaces in the master docx, all I would have to do if they allowed style-generated ToCs would be to add “Smashwords edition” in the copyright and save it as a doc (not docx).
I hate waste such as this.
I’ll add to the choir about Draft2Digital. I had originally uploaded all the books onto Smashwords but for my new one I went with D2D. What a breeze! I can’t get over how fast their system works either. Need a price update? Done. Want your book online? Done.
Can’t say the same about Smashwords. I feel like I’m constantly waiting and waiting.
I’m still trying to decide if I want to pull everything from Smashwords and just switch to D2D but I don’t know if I want to invest the time right now.
“After SW moved to accepting ePub”
Well, more or less. Their system rejects books that contain the com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml file necessary to make custom fonts work on iBooks. It also rejects books that contain tables.
The official EPUB Validator from IDPF has no problem with either of those.
Granted, those aren’t super important for most novels, but not having them makes it tough to publish any kind of technical book.
I format all my ePubs myself now that Smashwords “accepts” them. The same ePub Smashwords told me Apple rejected was accepted by Apple the same day I uploaded it to Draft2Digital. :/
I’ve been lobbying Mark to fix the com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml validation bug—and it is a bug—since SW began accepting epubs (19 months). It cannot be a difficult fix, given that the validation script that SW uses has been customized—incorrectly—to look for items in the META-INF directory and declare the file invalid if it finds anything other than container.xml. After all, if that check is not in ePubcheck as delivered by IDPF then someone at SW must’ve added it.
I’ve even spelled out the logic for Mark:
1. Apple requires valid epub files
2. Apple requires com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml in META-INF for publisher fonts to work properly
3. Therefore, a file with com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml cannot be invalid
All I get is “thanks, I’ll tell the developer” or “it’s on our list.” I worked in software development as both a QA analyst and tech writer to know that the fix cannot be so difficult that it takes 19 months.
Meanwhile, my clients with embedded fonts in their ebooks who use SW—a declining number of the pro authors we work for are dropping it—have no choice but to upload epub files that may or may not display properly in iBooks.
Wow, that long?
Yeah, that’s not good.
And yeah, it is absolutely a bug — a serious one, given that some people are only going to be using Smashwords because they want to get in the iBookstore.
Actually, I’m a reader who prefers to shop there. It’s the one place where I know there will be NO DRM.
It’s the one place where I know authors get a “correct” share.
It’s the one place where I know authors sell to a wide range of resellers to keep Amazon on its toes.
But yeah. I understand how frustrating it is to you all authors.
I don’t put DRM on any of my offerings at any of the retailers. And as much as I like the ‘correct’ share, I much prefer the sales data and ‘also bought’ data that gets populated by shoppers at retailers, because the number one hurdle for success for authors (one you get past ‘write a book people want to read’) is being discovered, and that sales/also bought data helps new readers find the work.
I still distribute everywhere! But it’s helpful to me, as an author, when readers buy from retailers. I don’t care which! Buy from Apple, Kobo, B&N, whatever retailer you want to use, if Amazon is not your cup of tea! But buying direct from Smashwords doesn’t accomplish anything for me as a writer except give me money, and succeeding at this business requires more than that.
As a Canadian e-book enthusiast, retailers suck.
Amazon is probably really good in most regards, (and indeed, if people ask me for for suggestion of reading device that ‘just works,’, Kinde is the only one I would suggest.) However, I manage a large library of books which has followed me over several generations of devices and retailers. My one and only goal for a purchase is to get an epub into my Calibre library. Amazon can do this with their DRM free titles, but it’s by far the most friction to accomplish.
Kobo is a joke. Aside from the higher prices overall, Kobo won’t even tell you what formats the books are available in before purchase. (Oops, that new books is available in Kepub only, good luck getting a refund.. if your lucky, maybe a store credit.)
B&N I actually like. If I have to buy from one of the big retailers, as a last resort, thats my favorite. However, 1. There’s no pre-purchase indication on the product page whether or not the title is DRM free. I know yours are, but only because you say so here / on your blog, etc.
2. As a Canadian, I had to create a dummy U.S. mailing address, since they otherwise refuse to sell many books to us. (Again, no indication which books, until an attempt to purchase is made.) Somewhere, some overeager lawyer is probably chomping at the bit to call that international wire fraud.
I realize your decision is a straightforward business decision for you, and none of this rambling changes that. And I hate meatgrinder too; I don’t even have to upload to it, just try to fix up the books that I buy. I just thought I would point that some of those single digit sales didn’t really have anything to do with wanting to get you an extra 10c. It really confuses me, however, why so few indie authors with good websites don’t offer a direct purchase option (gumroad or similar direct digital good sales service.)
This is good information – I have to remember to go through my listings and put in the text that my offerings are DRM free. I just assumed it was listed somewhere, but now that I think about it, I haven’t seen that listing.
It really confuses me, however, why so few indie authors with good websites don’t offer a direct purchase option (gumroad or similar direct digital good sales service.)
Right now, I don’t because of time. As a one-person shop, I’ve got to produce new product and dealing with customers can be time-consuming. I’ve already fixed situations where the reader received corrupted files/had difficulty downloading from legitimate retailers who gave the customer the runaround. I have to because it’s my name on the book. Not Smashwords’. Not Barnes & Noble’s. Not Amazon’s.
Time spent on this type of customer service will increase exponentially when I set up my own online storefront. So until Genius Kid heads off to college in four years, my own storefront will have to wait.
I just signed up with Payhip! Super super easy to set up a storefront, very clean interface, and the money goes instantly to your PayPal account!
I despise PayPal the way Ahab despised a certain whale. It’s one of the reasons I plan to wean myself off of Smashwords soon.
And who takes care of a problem? You or Payhip?
I haven’t had a problem yet, so I can’t answer that. lol
But Payhip also works with Stripe, a PayPal alternative.
I’ll add it to my list of potential POS vendors. (Point of sale, not the other thing.
)
Haha! I’m glad I have a retail background so I got ya, but sadly in this world, it seems the meanings of the acronym are interchangeable.
This also. I wish I had the time (or lacking that, the money to hire an administrative assistant). I don’t, though, so.
I’m curious–does the Amazon.ca site not work effectively for Canadian customers?
I do wish there was a better option for international sales. I’m experimenting with Google Play now, see what that’s like. I hear that’s a good experience for non-US customers.
For people whose only concern is reading on a Kindle device or app, it’s probably the cat’s meow. (at least, I’ve never even heard a rumor otherwise.) That’s why it’s my go to suggestion for “just works.”
Hmph. Well that’s uncool. I will keep an eye out for alternatives. Thank you for bringing it up…!
From what a couple of Canadian friends have said, a lot of books available on the U.S. site don’t show up the Canadian site even though the books in question are appearing on the U.K., France, Germany, etc. sites just fine. There’s also been problems with Kindle downloads not showing up on their device, hanging up during a download, etc., if they try to buy from the Canadian site.
They actually have an easier time using the U.S. site.
I stuck with the U.S. site when the Canadian site came out. I just had a hunch.
Same here.
Also, more books are on special/sale on the US site only. (at least as far as I can tell)
One reason why I won’t sell directly on my site at this time — WA state taxes. I must charge the state tax for the buyer for each purchase. So if someone lives in Minnesota, I must charge Minnesota state tax.
This isn’t too bad–there’s software for that.
However. Then I have to total up all the MN state tax that I’ve charged and enter that separately in my WA business tax forms. And those forms won’t accept a spreadsheet or anything handy. So I have to enter each one of those numbers by hand.
Up to 50+ separate lines in my tax form. And heaven help me if I get one of those numbers reversed, as I am wont to do.
So I won’t sell from my web site. Not until I am making enough to hire minions to help me enter in the taxes.
YMMV.
That’s an excellent point, Leah.
I was a beta tester for D2D. Their customer support has been stellar from the beginning.
Their CS is da bomb. I had two issues yesterday and both were cleared up or addressed…yesterday. Love them. D2D is so freaking easy it’s scary good.
I know one of the first ebooks I uploaded helped them (D2D) figure out some “bugs” with their conversion process.
It still wasn’t quite “there” yet though, so I pulled the 2-3 I’d uploaded to continue with Smashwords. But I’m switching back now that I have time and their conversion process has all the kinks worked out.
I’ve been using ebookpartnership.com for over a year now, and I couldn’t be happier. They don’t take a percentage of my royalties, but rather charge a small, flat fee for their distribution services. This means I save a ton of money.
They’re UK based (but deal with people worldwide) and they always answer my queries within a day. I tried Smashwords once and it was a nightmare. When I needed help, it took them weeks to reply. WEEKS. Not acceptable.
Thanks for this recommendation. Will check them out.
I also use ebookpartnership and can recommend them. Coming up on 1 year now.
Re: Smashwords…
PROS – new channels, unique channels, their own store, coupons, series, first mover, and I like their startup story.
CONS – Pretty much everything else.
I stopped maintaining unique procedures to satisfy the meatgrinder and only ship them EPUBs now (teeth-grittingly modified to bypass their digestion errors).
I dislike their unique ISBN/copyright page notice requirement (which is apparently wrong, contrary to their website, according to a comment discussion with Mark Coker at TPV a couple of weeks ago).
I dislike that the metadata they provide causes some retailers to list them as Publisher=Smashwords even when it’s my own ISBN, not theirs.
I can’t use them as an intermediary for rapid price changes, hence any site I want to run sales on I go to directly (Amazon, B&N, Kobo — no Mac, so not Apple). As I understand it, D2D only provides the common vendors I can go to directly, so I haven’t been tempted by them.
CONCLUSION – I’ll keep using Smashwords for their pros, but everything I can offload to a more professional distributor or myself, I have.
I’m similar except that I already formatted in a Meatgrinder compatible way by default and I like just changing the edition to Kindle Edition, resaving the same file as an rtf, and just uploading that sucker straight to KDP. So I’ve got one extra pro. I tried making my own epubs and it was too time-consuming with too little return for me to bother.
I’ve looked into ebookpartnership, but I think that “small flat fee” is too large for me. It actually charges more for each title than I’ve made in all non-Amazon sales combined. Maybe if I was getting as many sales from Nook, Kobo, et al as I was from Amazon, it would be worth it (With my first novel, I’ve sold almost 2600 copies on Amazon; I’m at about 25 with everyone else combined. The ratio is slightly better for my novelette, but that’s only $0.99, so the impact is still horribly insignificant), but I don’t see the value in spending almost $100 per title for distribution to small fries.
Well said, MCA!! I left Smashwords long ago for D2D and haven’t missed it. They really need to bring their interface into the modern age.
I’ve used Smashwords for a few years, and whenever I’ve had an issue, their customer service team has been responsive (emailing within 24hrs, and not with a canned response). I haven’t tried D2D, but perhaps eventually.
I just in the last week decided to leave Smashwords. I didn’t want to, I honestly believe that it’s better to have several different routes to the reader but…
1) In two years I’ve made less than fifty sales via SW vs the 15,000 that I made through Amazon.
2) The set of the file required too many man-hours for too little financial return.
3) Getting paid without the US taxman getting a cut was far more of a pantomime that it should have been. I already had an ITIN, I supplied the correct forms but it still took months to get sorted.
That’s another thing. It would seem that ITINs are no longer required on the W8-BEN form if you provide a foreign tax ID, and Amazon appear to be accepting that now, but apparently Smashwords doesn’t. I don’t want to have to get an ITIN/EIN for the 10% of my sales that go through Smashwords.
Thanks for the info about Amazon finally accepting foreign tax IDs! I just tried it, and everything went through on KDP, but Createspace still hasn’t caught up, it appears. Hopefully they’ll get that figured out soon.
That’s great news! Will try that immediately.
I admit, I haven’t left Smashwords and haven’t wanted to simply because they bring me a good 80% of my sales. I sell far more at Apple, B&N, and Kobo through them than I do going direct with Amazon. I did go direct with B&N for a while but after I ran into a bunch of tiny issues, I just threw it on Smashwords and stopped having trouble.
I had the same issue with Kobo, Liana, (major frustrations going direct). So threw it back at Smashwords and don’t have to think about it now.
For me, Smashwords has been brilliant. Once I mastered the formatting I have not had any issues uploading files. I’ve received fast customer service from the beginning, and now they have improved their “premium catalogue” processes, my books are usually approved within a few hours. Shipment to Apple and B&N has sped up, sometimes on the sites within a day of being sent. But Kobo is still painfully slow in some regards, which would lead me to believe it’s a Kobo problem and not a SW one.
I agree that quarterly payments are annoying, but I love receiving my royalties via PayPal, as opposed to cheque which Amazon had always (until recently) used to pay New Zealand based authors. I also benefit from Mark Coker’s SW bestseller offers, e.g. trialling beta preorders etc. or being included in goodie bags for writing conventions.
All in all, I’m a Smashwords supporter. With 24 books in their system, even if I wanted to leave, I’m not sure I’d have the time to switch publishing platforms. There would have to be an extremely good reason to do so. And at the moment, there’s not.
As I remember, a couple of years ago it was a nightmare to get into Apple without some kind of distributor. That was back when iPads and iPhones were still hitting the market with force majeure, and everyone thought Apple was going to be a more important piece of the pie. Also, there was some thing about needing a Mac to run the proper software in order to upload…? Memory getting fuzzy.
Things have changed. I’ve used SW to help give away free copies in order to held build readership, but I haven’t gotten much response. My paid titles do a lot less there, too. If distribution has become an easier game, distributors are going to have to be really on their games in order to keep authors.
It’s still not ideal. Up until October 2012 it required an ISBN number, and up until very recently it took upwards of a week from upload to going live.
Both have changed.
As for needing a Mac (or a Hackintosh, which is PC guts running Apple software), that’s still mostly true. The main mechanism of upload is iTunes Producer, which is Mac-only software. You might also be able to do so via iBooks Author, but that, too, may be exclusive to Mac (I’m not sure. I use iTunes Producer).
I long wondered why that was the case, but then, the other day, I think I actually figured it out. When you upload books to other place, via the web, it’s to a web store, like Kindle to Amazon.com or Nook Press to B&N.com.
The iBookstore–like the iTunes store and the App store–is not a web-based platform, though; it’s an application exclusive to Apple software, and may be exclusive to Mac hardware, as well (though iTunes isn’t). There’s no web version of it.
Not saying that makes it any better.
Ebookpartnership has no trouble distributing to Apple. I agree that the “need a Mac” requirement is both loopy and arrogant.
SW has unique agreements with Apple which I value, but I’ve decided that wherever Ebookpartnership and SW overlap, I’ll let Ebookpartnership carry the distribution. That’s made easier (to SW’s credit) by its ability to let you choose individual channels.
Despite having had issues with SW myself with a few files and mixed cs experiences, I have to say that Mark does advocate for the authors. He’s gotten programs of recognition with retailers he works with, like the Free First in Series with Kobo and Apple (not sure that they promote those directly), which has given my series boosts. He’s also arranged a new beta program for preorders for those of us with long track records of reliability and steady production that goes beyond what one can do directly through Apple. I’ve been with SW since a friend suggested them to me five years ago. Don’t forget, Mark is active with RWA (yes, I realize he does more for romance, but it’s also the biggest selling genre and any smart businessperson is going to put most of their attention where the money is) and helping to promote authors of romance at their conventions/conferences and such.
Despite the problems I’ve had that made me consider leaving SW, there are things behind the scenes that go on that have convinced me to continue to use them. However, I do diversify by not using only SW and Amazon for everything.
I’ve heard SW is very good for romance authors, but I wouldn’t have any data on that since I write mostly SF/F (with a smattering of nonfiction and children’s books).
I write SFF also, sometimes YA, sometimes dark fantasy, sometimes strongly romance. I’ve been lucky to have my toes in the romance pool while remaining true to my interests.
I love romance! I just don’t seem to be very good at writing it. -_-
I like romantic tension, not full on romance, but I just write what the story wants and call it what it is in the end, usually SFF, but I can sneak it into romance categories sometimes with good results
I must be the only one on the planet that had an incredibly bad experience with D2D.
And no, I’m not saying Smashwords is the cat’s meow, but I’ve never had anyone from their customer service call me a liar when I had a problem. I just wish Coker would take all the time he spends bashing Amazon and put it into improving Smashwords.
Wow. That sounds a horrible experience. My experiences with D2D have been excellent, but I know people who have very good experiences with Smashwords while mine have been pretty similar to MCA Hogarth’s. I suppose there’s a random element involved — if you get the weakest link in the chain it’s sort of irrelevant how strong the rest of the chain is, because that’s not the part you’re dealing with.
Honestly, Christopher, I glad your experiences with them have better than mine. I know sometimes people just have bad days, but this took place over a three-day period with one CSR in particular. I really tried to keep my cool, but as my husband said, he gets scared when I”m NOT cursing.
Oh yeah, I didn’t mean that in terms of “well MY experience was FINE” (in other words I wasn’t intending to nullify your experience). I was trying to say that it doesn’t matter if there if there are 50 good reps and only one bad one… if you encounter the bad one, your experience is toast and the organization’s reputation is damaged.
There’s no excuse for a CSR to accuse you of lying, even if they really think you are. They should say “I can’t verify that at this time, let me escalate you.” The fact that someone actually said that to you is not in the organization’s favor.
Sorry I was unclear.
Oh, no, Christopher, I so didn’t take it that way! We’re copacetic!
I don’t think I’ve but once had to wait more than 24 hours for a response from Smashwords Customer service, and that was due to a holiday.
On the other hand, I do dislike the being paid quarterly, the having to have “Smashwords Edition” in my books, the not having my publishing company properly listed as the publisher at EVERY retailer, and my God, the website. I had such high hopes when it was announced they were redoing it.
I do like the new book listing pages.
Mark is a nice guy, and he has done some pretty awesome things. Having said that, I don’t much care for his constant commentary against Amazon.
Mark DID work out a deal with Amazon, but Amazon hasn’t given Smashwords bulk uploading ability. Since there’s no bulk uploading ability, Mark’s apparently decided only titles with $2k in sales will be uploaded to Amazon, since they have to upload one at a time (just like us peons).
The thing is, that only punishes the authors who are waiting to be distributed to Amazon from Smashwords (if any still are by now), and Smashwords itself, because it loses out on its share of Amazon sales from those who wouldn’t have gone direct if that point of contention hadn’t arisen.
I went with D2D for my short story collection after having issues with Smashwords. I got error messages for the .epub, which I didn’t realize wouldn’t be converted to anything else, meaning I had to compile _another_ document to get the other formats. I got error messages for that.
Then there was the issue with the cover, and with the cover in the interior file. Non of which I understood, and all of which took several tries to get accepted.
Then I forgot about the Smashwords wording on the copyright page. All on me, but again requiring changes and recompiling and waiting, waiting, waiting to upload again.
Oh, and the ISBN, which it seems nobody actually requires, except for Smashwords. Maybe it’s needed for Overdrive, or something? But yet another thing I had to fill out before the wait for acceptance and inclusion in the premium catalog.
D2D? Uploaded within minutes and on sites within three days. No issues with the exact same file (.epub) I tried to upload to SW. No issues with the cover. No issues making an account (wish I could say the same about Google Plus).
I still use SW for sales on their store — if I ever get any — and to reach the places nobody else does right now. But for the retailers that D2D goes to, I’ll use them.
I don’t think Mark is a bad person, or his company is bad, but the thing about siding with Hachette was too much, and the lack of updating on the site really hurts the business.
I think ISBN is required for Overdrive, yes, for library purposes.
OverDrive require ISBNs for both their library and retail partners, but as per our more in-depth comment further down, Smashwords isn’t getting indies into OverDrive as they promised, to it’s pretty academic.
Good points.
It seems everyone’s experience is different, which makes sense, as we all write different things and have different levels of technological expertise. I’m a very small fish who happens to like Smashwords. Making the first book of my fantasy family saga free on Smashwords is the only way I’ve been able to gain sales traction on Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc. I’ve certainly had my moments of cursing at the Meatgrinder, but in the end, I have always managed to figure out the problem and get my books into the premium catalog, I suspect because I tend to keep my formatting very simple. I have to. I live in a rural area in the mountains where satellite internet is expensive and iffy, so I still have dial-up internet in my home office and no working cell phone (no decent cell reception here. No cable either–cable company refuses to run it out here, so that’s not an option). As far as customer service goes, I’ve never had a serious problem with Smashwords or KDP. However, I did have many problems when I went direct with Barnes & Noble, back in the old days before it was called Nook Press. I’m grateful to Smashwords for giving me the opportunity to actually sell some books on Barnes & Noble, because I sure wasn’t selling any there when I published directly through the B & N interface.
What gets me about all this is the name Smashwords, to say nothing of Meatgrinder, which is even worse. Doesn’t Mr. Coker realize he’s dealing with writers? You know, those people who care about words and their meanings? Perhaps he meant this as tongue-in-cheek, but to me it comes across as pejorative.
I’m happy with Smashwords, but I can see the problems with it. The main driver for me is “not-Amazon”. I like Amazon, and it provides sales, but I have a self-inflicted obligation against exclusivity and also not to throw all my money at the winner of a market.
Of course, I only sell a book or so a week now, so… it doesn’t really impact me as much.
But, even if I was selling more, I’d stick with spreading the love out.
As for Meatgrinder: It was annoying at first, but then I wrote a program to do all the work for me. Now, I just type `make` and it belts out a Meatgrinder-friendly version that I haven’t had problems with in almost a year.
I can understand your point of view about Amazon, but I also find it strange. When Amazon’s competition has *so* many problems, it becomes really hard *not* to throw money at the winner of the market.
Everyone starts small. My parents (and me) are all small business owners, so I come from a different direction. I’ll pay 20% to buy locally and small; if anything to support the smaller places that need that boost to even have a chance to stand on their own.
It’s kind of like Walmart verses Hyvee (local to Iowa, where I live). Walmart is slick, has everything nice and pretty and consistent. I am also just a line item for them. Hyvee, on the other hand, listens to people and tries to change; they don’t have as much money or flexibility, but they listen.
I see Smashwords (and M. Coker) to be the same way. Yeah, they aren’t as big, they don’t have as much cross-selling, but they are trying. And, I consider that worth sending my money. If anything, just so I know there is something besides Amazon in 20 years (I used to live in a town where people were surprised to know there was a non-Walmart there).
I agree, the multiple book management is horrible once you get a quantity of them. But, that is something will (hopefully) change in the future. I’d also like a management API, but… that’s me. There is a lot to like that isn’t Amazon (I like most of the book display page, searching is okay, discovery is fairly nice, they use the Miller test for removing books as opposed to Amazon’s secret magical formula).
… I could do without the Smashwords edition stuff though.
M.C.A., I’m very sorry to hear you’re leaving after four years. We’ve made many improvements to the service over the years, and those improvements will continue. Over the last 12 months we’ve added preorder distribution, enhanced series metadata, same-day listings at iBooks, faster deliveries to all retailers, and exciting new channels such as Oyster, Scribd and OverDrive. In the months ahead we’ll have other exciting announcements that, like these improvements over the last 12 months, will give Smashwords authors an edge. I hope you’ll reconsider but even if you don’t, I wish you the best.
mark
I’d be delighted to reconsider once all the issues I mentioned are addressed:
1. Interface making it too difficult to manage large numbers of books.
2. Customer service issues.
3. Lack of basic customer service requirements, like a phone number.
4. Issues with ePubs not shipping correctly.
5. Monthly payment.
You have a great thing going. It would be wonderful if you could iron out the problems before adding new features.
Let me add my 2 cents:
*they don’t support 3D covers; Amazon does
*they don’t work well with pdfs that are illustrations; instead, I get the message that I have to fix it before they can use it…huh? So yeah, I go with Kindle Comic Creator, and Amazon gets that book exclusively.
*copyright Smashwords edition? really? why, when no one else requires that? I have to redo my files just for that and half the time I forget.
I still have my books with Smashwords there and will continue. I appreciate all Mark and his team have done to date, but it needs to be an evolving process. With the Draft2digital.com excellent interface, ease of use, quick file turnaround, etc. I go directly to them to create my files. They have no problem with me distributing them as I like (and I distribute through them). I wish Smashwords process would keep up and work that easily.
Mark, the Daily Sales tool has been a nice addition, but please fix some of existing problems before jumping into the new, exciting stuff. In addition to the issues listed above:
- Listing Smashwords as publisher when distributing to retailers even though I’m using my publishing company’s ISBNs needs to be fixed.
Smashwords was the forerunner for indie e-book distribution. I don’t want to see you or your company fade away because of irrelevancy.
Suzan, I’ve been seeing that fixed on my listings at the retailers. Now SW shows only as the “Seller” (Apple) or “Imprint” (Kobo). I set up a publisher account with my two pen names as authors and that’s what appears as the “Publisher”.
Melanie, I know this is going to sound pi**y, but it’s not aimed at you.
When I first started with Smashwords, a publisher’s account wasn’t an option, just like loading books directly onto Apple and Kobo weren’t an option. However, there was a field for the publisher’s name on the publishing page. That field has been totally ignored by Smashwords when they ship books since day one.
All of my books are finally uploaded on Apple and Kobo through Smashwords after a zillion headaches. I’ve considered combining my accounts under my business name since that option is now available. I haven’t because I’m paranoid that something else will get FUBAR’d in the process.
Now that the Sony store has closed (believe it or not, I did more business there than I did on Amazon last year), I really don’t have a reason to continue working through Smashwords, especially since Apple and Kobo have their own self-pub portals. DH is already looking for a Mac for me (his suggestion) so I can upload directly to Apple. It’ll take a little extra time, but I’m already looking to outsource formatting and covers so the time factor becomes moot.
I like Mark as a person. I’d like to see Smashwords succeed. But it’s kind of like a guy in our neighborhood bitching about how the family across the street isn’t taking care of their home (grass is a half-inch over HOA regulation) when his own place has falling gutters, obvious termite damage and a cracked foundation.
I totally get that. I joined before a publisher account was an option. I did buy a Mac last year after some big time headaches with a novelette. Apple had it up in a week and to this day, SW still says there’s a problem that wouldn’t allow it to be approved for Apple, even though I unchecked them for distribution. I’ve put up several books directly to Apple and enjoy that extra monthly payment rather than quarterly.
I had some issues with Kobo’s Writing Life and said to h**l with it and went back to SW. At least SW seems to have some clout with them. I couldn’t get anywhere as a single little author.
Thanks for the heads up about KWL, Melanie. I figure I’ll try on my own, but they’re already in the doghouse after the Kernel Pornocalypse episode.
YMMV. Some people love KWL. I was upset with that incident too, but then a book cover came up on suggested reads on my Nook, which is the device my kids use. Um…My attitude changed about the whole erotica kerfuffle. While I wasn’t happy with having my books stuck in limbo, I appreciated why they took the measures they did. Being a mom puts a different perspective on things, at least for me. But I wasn’t making enough for monthly payouts from Kobo, so I opted in for distribution through SW.
Mark, as we’ve just dealt with in some detail on our own blog, OverDrive is indeed an exciting channel, but there is no evidence that Smashwords authors are getting into the OverDrive store.
Two months after you told us 200,000+ indie titles would be available from OverDrive, why is it we cannot find a single Smashwords author who can run a search for their ebook on OverDrive and get a result?
We’ve also searched for your own books on OverDrive and likewise have drawn a blank.
Several authors, in comments above, mentioned Ebook Partnership. Ebook Partnership have had NO problems getting indie authors into both the OverDrive libraries and the OverDrive retail stores like Waterstone’s, and Ebook Partnership authors are easily found using the standard OverDrive search engine.
Back on June 19, right here on The Passive Voice, you told us you were investigating the matter. When can we expect this disaster to be resolved?
http://ebookbargainsuk.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/overdrive-gets-better-better-but-is-smashwords-delivering-on-its-promises/
Overdrive keeps them in a special self-pub portal instead of the standard search.
Just to note that I’ve sold copies of my books through Overdrive via Smashwords. So obviously _some_ librarians must be able to find them.
Mark Ill come back when you stop supporting Hachette and the Big 5. Oh and you get some decent customer service.
Mark, my main problem with Smashwords (and the reason I’m slowly moving to D2D and eBookPartnership) is that your people won’t approve my beautifully formatted ePubs to be distributed anywhere besides your dedicated store.
My ePubs have a tiny extra space between paragraphs, because that’s the way I want them formatted. It’s a choice. They are MY books, and I think this looks nice. I directly publish to Apple, and they are fine with my formatting–and is anybody more picky than Apple? NO. Well, except for Smashwords.
After much arguing, I did manage to get some of my books approved with the tiny extra space between paragraphs, but then I updated my back matter (which I do often) and couldn’t get them reapproved. I suppose with enough arguing I might manage to do that, but frankly, it isn’t worth the effort, aggravation, and weeks of back-and-forth emailing. I have much better things to do with my time.
I also hate the fact that I need to state “Smashwords Edition” in my books. I’m not at all thrilled with the 3-month delay in payments. I think automatic opt-ins for new vendors is the wrong way to do business. But the supreme effort it takes to get my pretty books approved is what finally sent me over the edge.
I hope this information will help you figure out how to save your relationships with other authors. I sincerely thank you for everything you’ve done to advocate self-publishing and turn it into a smart choice rather than a last-ditch choice–there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ve been a real leader in the ebook revolution. I’ve met you several times and shared a couple of enjoyable meals with you at NINC conferences (I’m one of the Jewels of Historical Romance–we all enjoy your company!), and I think you’re a really nice guy. But I’m done.
I’m okay with Smashwords. The only real issue I have with them is the stupid requirement to put “Smashwords” on the copyright page, to make sure the entire freakin’ world knows you’re self-published.
I agree with you Sarah. I have a brother who is a lawyer and he said that it might even lead to legal problems if whoever inherits Smashwords after the current owner decides he wants extra rights/money because of it. The chances are very slim and would fail but why does Coker insist on it if Amazon which is far far bigger company and D2D and Kobo etc do not insist on it? It is not a good practice.
Just adding my voice to this in case SmashWords is listening. I have left them also and won’t go back until I start hearing amazing things about how they’ve improved customer service, don’t require us to put a mention of them in our books, and will accept normal .ePub files. I shouldn’t have to go through a whole separate formatting process just for their site.
I too use Draft 2 Digital and couldn’t be happier with them. Their customer service is amazing. They are very prompt to see to my requests, and even send follow up emails for things that might take a bit longer.
Hey, Mark, taking a beating here today, huh?
Your stance on taking any side in the stupidity of Hachette/Amazon did not do you well. Might want to stop defending that position.
And over two years ago now I started e-mailing you about the quarterly payment problem and how in a modern world you holding author’s money for months and months was not going to be a good idea. Two year’s later it’s still not. Do you have that money you collect months ahead of time in an “agency” account? God, I hope so, if you get audited.
And the person I have who uploads books to your site (we have over 400 titles now and growing) hates dealing with your site, and I will often walk into the room and he’s swearing at something random your tech has done. He flat told me he can upload a book to all of Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, B&N, and GooglePlay COMBINED faster than he can upload a book to your site. That’s his job and he’s a professional at it, so I can only imagine the stress caused by your “meat grinder” or epub upload system to regular authors.
So yes, you say you are doing all this new and nifty stuff. But as others have said, you might want to back up and get some of the problems taken care of first. M.C.A.’s list would be a great place to start.
And to be clear, I have been a supporter of you and Smashwords from the beginning. You know that. But after two years of not fixing the money situation, I’m starting to get worried to be honest. From one businessman to another.
Yes I am worried about that also. This is, I’m sorry to say, not a very upstanding practice in my book in the current climate. Now I have worked at an investment institution and can tell you there are all kinds of things you can do with ‘held’ money before giving it to the earner which would profit you and which, unfortunately, would prevent the earner from doing the same thing because you are giving it to him later than sooner.
I’m not saying Mr Coker is doing that but there is absolutely no justification in holding onto earnings for so long before giving them to the earner.
I checked into SW to distribute some of my books. The style guide I downloaded was literally unreadable. When I contacted customer service, I was told they know about it and to download a different format. Well, if they know about it, take the dam* thing off the website! If this is all they care about their OWN document, what would they do with my books? That was about the point I started getting queasy enough to look into alternatives.
I went with Draft2Digital and have been completely happy with them. No tedious, time-consuming formatting hoops to jump through. Just upload your Word document and cover, choose your outlets and categories and set your price. Boom, you’re done. And my experience with D2D’s customer service has been excellent.
Me too. I left Smashwords because they didn’t answer my emails. I don’t want someone handling my money if they won’t communicate with me. I’m with Draft2Digital now which I’ve found really easy to use and simpler for me than going to the various distributors direct. Sales are tiny though – Amazon is definitely my main outlet.
I want to love Smashwords, but I don’t.
The Meatgrinder hates almost everything I try to feed it. No other site has ever had problems with the files I create. Just Smashwords.
I hate having to put the notice about publishing through Smashwords. That means having two different versions of my TOS page and making sure I remember to include the correct one.
I’d hate being paid quarterly, but as I hardly ever get a sale through there, I guess it’s not really an issue that comes up often. (And I write erotica!)
I ABSOLUTELY HATE BEING AUTOMATICALLY OPTED IN TO EVERYTHING. Every new venue, I have to go and opt every one of my books out of it. Every new book I upload, I have to opt my book out of every venue I either already direct publish to or don’t want my books available on.
I’ve been thinking about leaving for awhile, but I keep hoping that the site will come into its own. I want it to. I have a fondness for it still – but that fondness fades a little more every time I upload there. I have accounts at five different publishing sites, at least one of which is arguably less advanced than SW… but SW is the only one I hate uploading to.
I have unintentionally conducted a rather revealing experiment into the Smashwords vs Draft2Digital debate regarding the relationship with retailers.
1. On 18 July I opted out of Page Foundry at Smashwords with the intention of using Page Foundry via D2D.
2. On 23 July I asked Smashwords to remind Page Foundry as the books were still on the Versent/Inktera sites.
3. On 24 July I got a reply from Smashwords that opting out had the same time span as unpublishing i.e., 1-3 weeks.
4. On 24 July to avoid future hassles I removed the book I had at Page Foundry via D2D.
5. On 25 July the D2D distributed book with 7 days less notice had already disappeared.
6. 26 July the Smashwords distributed books are still up at Versent/Inktera.
So it appears that Smashwords blame the retailers for delays but in fact they are behind it probably in the hope of further sales before the take down occurs. Maybe it is because D2D have far less customers to deal with, but if I were Page Foundry I would not be giving such poor attention to my main supplier, so I suspect that this is either Smashwords holding back the opt-out request or a deal with Page Foundry to remove the books slooowly.
I will continue to sell through Smashwords store, but go direct to Apple, Kobo, Nook (plus Amazon whom Smashwords don’t do anyway). I will use D2D for Scribd and might even sent books to Page Foundry via them as them have them taken down within a day. Of course only using Smashwords as a retail store means that I hate automatic opt-in even more, especially as Smashwords are slipping up on sending out publisher emails to advertise new channels.
P.S., I am also leaving XinXii for similar reasons.