Philosophy and business model behind Smashwords
Mark Coker Founder, Smashwords, Inc.
Scandinavian Executive Publishing Meeting 17 November 2011
ooh,pretty!
Change is upon us
Darwin’s rules determine what happens next
• We’re entering a new phase of rapid evolution in publishing• Mass extinction• Survival of the fittest• Exciting new opportunities to survive and thrive
Four macro trends to rock your world
Bookselling moving to the web
Brick &Mortar
Web
Today?
Ebooks to overtake print
Print books
Ebooks
Today?
Global ebook market to eclipse US market
Global
Today?
U.S.
Power of publishing shifting to authors
Author
Today?
Publisher
Enter Smashwords
About Smashwords
• Global ebook distributor• Launched May, 2008• Largest supplier of indie ebooks
The radical (but simple!) idea behind Smashwords
Give authors freedom to publish
Free publishing and distribution tools Publishing is a matter of free speech
Give readers freedom to decide what’s worth reading
Readers have always done this
What Smashwords offers authors and publishers
Faster time to market Global distribution Centralized metadata management Aggregated sales reporting and
payments Our free tools produce high quality
ebooks that sell (millions sold!) 85%+ net back to
author/agent/publisher
What Smashwords offers retailers
Access to massive content catalog, world’s biggest indie authors
Efficient, low-cost title acquisition, ingestion and updating
Our strict human-vetting exceeds Apple’s high standards
Army of 30,000+ indie authors promoting our retail partners
How are we doing?
32,000+Number of authors and publishers
utilizing Smashwords platform
7,600+ebooks released at Smashwords
last 30 days
86,000+ebooks now published at
Smashwords
0100002000030000400005000060000700008000090000
2008 2009 2010 2011
Indie ebooks published at Smashwords
1406,000
28,800
86,000 (today)
How have we scaled so quickly?
We make ebook publishing easy
Step 1: All you need is word processor & manuscript
MicrosoftWord
Open OfficeWriter
The ordinary word processor is the world’s most powerful ebook publishing tool (when married to Smashwords)
Step 2 – Authors/publishers implement our formatting guidelines
(over 130,000 copies downloaded!)
Step 3 – Upload Word .doc to Smashwords Meatgrinder
(instant multi-format conversion)
High-quality multi-format conversions for narrative & narrative + images, fast/free updating
Meatgrinder creates quality books that make readers and retailers happy
Reflowable Custom styling NCX navigation Hyperlinks Automatic error detection and correction EPUBCHECK compliance
Step 4: Distribution
What’s Next for Smashwords
• Evolve every facet of our business to better serve authors, publishers, retailers and readers
• Make ebook publishing faster, easier, more profitable for authors and publishers
• Expand global retail distribution network• Help retailers profit from our books
• Many surprises planned
Final thoughts: A survival strategy for publishing
• The old world• Publishers in charge• Capital intensive• Exploit the author’s assets to the benefit of the publisher
• The new world• Authors in charge• Darwin rewards efficient resource utilization, value-ad• Exploit the author’s assets for the benefit of the author
Connect with us!
Web: www.smashwords.comBlog: blog.smashwords.comTwitter: @markcokerEmail: [email protected]