Just got the news today that Smashwords is being acquired by Draft 2 Digital. This is really earth-shaking news for anyone who has been a part of the “wide” independent author scene. For those people who don’t publish direct to platforms like Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble (and there are various reasons not to!), one has had to choose either Smashwords (the first ebook distributor, which started in 2008) or its competitor D2D, based out of Oklahoma City, quite slick with templates and layouts and so on, but less friendly to erotica authors. Smashwords has its own store, obviously quite attractive to D2D. Smashwords CEO Mark Coker is joining the board of D2D and will be part of senior management. So, all’s well that ends well? Nobody’s quite sure, but here is a link to the extensive PR announcement and here is the pertinent section that describes a live Q&A taking place tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 9!
Draft2Digital will broadcast a live Q&A session for authors and publishers on Wednesday, February 9th, at Noon Central [10am Pacific], with Kris Austin and Mark Coker, moderated by Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital’s VP of Marketing & PR. Kris and Mark will share additional insight about their plans to support the indie publishing community and welcome questions from the audience.
Visit https://D2DLive.com for links and launch time, and to attend live on either Facebook or YouTube. The live broadcast will be recorded for future inclusion in the Draft2Digital podcast, Self Publishing Insiders, and will be available as a blog post at Draft2Digital.com/blog.
Never underestimate the Year of the Tiger! While initially wary, I find it all very interesting and do think there’s a certain logic to these two companies joining forces. So we will see. While Smashwords has been a rock for me since 2011, I knew going in to indie publishing that I would have to roll with the punches. At least many of the awesome features of Smashwords will stay: author interviews, coupons, and so on. And while I’m at it, my latest MM romance Once You Are Mine is 55% off through Feb. 16 🙂
Gabriella West 