Thursday, October 15, 2015

Smashwords Announces Distribution to Gardners Books: Expanded distribution to over 400 retail stores, 2,000 public libraries and 400 academic libraries

Smashwords today announced a comprehensive distribution agreement with Gardners, the UK's largest book wholesaler. 

The agreement significantly expands the global footprint of the Smashwords ebook distribution network, enabling Smashwords authors and publishers to reach hundreds of online retailers, public libraries and academic libraries.

On October 22 Smashwords will begin delivering 230,000 ebooks sourced from the over 100,000 indie authors and small independent presses to 400 ebook stores powered by Gardners operating in 32 countries and serving customers in 138 countries; 2,000 public libraries in the U.K.; and 400 academic libraries in the UK, Europe and Middle East.  The agreement excludes Smashwords erotica titles.

Gardners clients and their customers will gain access to many of the world's bestselling indie authors, including numerous New York Times and USA Today bestsellers. The Smashwords catalog features a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction titles, and is especially strong in popular genre fiction including romance, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy and science fiction.

Agreement Spans Retail and Libraries

The comprehensive partnership covers both retail and library distribution.

1.  RETAIL

Gardners Extended Retail Distribution - Gardners powers the online ebook store operations of over 400 small and medium-sized booksellers globally as part of its white label ecommerce and digital content fulfillment & distribution services.

Notable retailers with ebook stores powered by Gardners include www.hive.co.uk, www.books.telegraph.co.uk , www.indieebook.co.uk in the UK, www.bokus.com in Sweden ,  www.takealot.com in South Africa and www.saxo.com in Denmark.  Hive.co.uk, which is owned and operated by Gardners, is interesting because it features and supports hundreds of independent brick and mortar retailers.  Every sale benefits the consumer's selected shop. Hive features a large range of titles from the Gardners catalog of over five million items which include ebooks, print books, DVDs, audiobooks, stationary supplies and more.

Smashwords authors and publishers will earn 60% of the after-VAT list price at Gardners-powered ebook stores, the same terms as they earn with Smashwords at iBooks and other major retailers.

2. LIBRARIES

Gardners library ebook distribution will allow Smashwords authors and publishers to reach both public libraries and academic libraries.

Askews & Holts Library Services - Askews & Holts (A&H) is a sister company to Gardners, and operates the UK's largest library ebook service.  A&H currently powers the ebook checkout systems of 81 public library authorities in the U.K. comprised of 2,000+ public libraries.  This represents over half of the UK library authorities, serving a local population of 17 million people.

The A&H library service is really interesting.  Unlike conventional library ebook services that require the library to purchase the book prior to allowing the patron to discover and sample it, A&H offers libraries a truly patron-driven service.   All Smashwords titles will be available and discoverable to library patrons.  Patrons can search the catalog and when they check out a book it triggers a purchase by the library, assuming it wasn’t previously purchased or checked out at the time.  This patron-driven approach to library ebooks solves a significant budgetary challenge faced by all libraries - namely that libraries under other systems routinely waste precious budget to purchase books that are never read.  Libraries can set monthly budgets to control costs.  Once budgets are met, library patrons are given the option to purchase books that aren't yet in the library's catalog, or that might already be checked out.  Also in a significant first, A&H will include all Smashwords books priced at FREE so library patrons can access the books at no cost.  By contrast, Smashwords partner OverDrive, the world’s largest library ebook platform, doesn't support free books and prices all sub-$1.99 and free Smashwords ebooks at $1.99.  This minimum pricing requirement has disappointed some Smashwords authors and publishers that want to show their support for libraries by offering their books at lower-than-retail prices including FREE.  With the Smashwords Pricing Manager tool in the Smashwords Dashboard, authors and publishers can set custom prices for libraries.  Similar to our library distribution deals with OverDrive and Baker & Taylor Axis 360, Smashwords authors and publishers will earn 45% of the list price for all library sales.  Also similar to our other library deals, once an A&H library purchases a Smashwords title, they own it can check it out to one patron at a time.

VLeBooks - Smashwords titles will also be accessible on the VLeBooks service, the ebook platform for Browns Books for Students, another sister company of Gardners that serves academic libraries.

VLeBooks is used by 400 schools & colleges in Europe, the Middle East & Asia and 78 universities in the UK, with over 200,000 students registered on the platform. More than 16,000 academic librarians and teachers utilize the platform for their digital and physical book orders.  The terms of sale for VLeBooks are the same as for Askews & Holts.

How to Distribute Ebooks to Gardners

Smashwords shipments to Gardners will begin on October 22, seven days from today.  If you want your books distributed to these new Gardners channels, your Premium Catalog-approved books (excluding erotica) will automatically flow to them starting in one week.

If you wish to opt out of either the Gardners retail or library channels (NOT recommended), you'll find the option in your Dashboard's Channel Manager.  Two channels are listed separately, one is labeled Gardners Extended Retail Distribution and the other, which comprises both library channels is labeled Gardners Library Distribution.  With distribution beginning in one week, Smashwords estimates that most Smashwords books will be listed at these services within six to eight weeks, although titles may appear earlier or later than anticipated.

Thank you Gardners for supporting Smashwords authors and publishers!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

250 Smashwords Crime Fiction Authors Featured at Bouchercon 2015

Two hundred and fifty Smashwords authors will be featured this week at Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Bouchercon, now in its 46th year, is the world's largest mystery convention.  It's expected to draw 1,500 readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, booksellers and other lovers of crime fiction.

Included in the conference registration bags will be a Smashwords thumb drive.  On that drive will be 430 ebooks from 250 Smashwords authors.  The drive features breakout indies, New York Times bestsellers, USA Today bestsellers, hybrid authors that publish both indie and traditionally, and future breakout authors.

Invited authors were selected from among Smashwords crime fiction bestsellers, Bouchercon attendees and members of Sisters in Crime.

We've done similar drive promotions for RT Booklovers, RWA and Penned Con, and they're always a hit with readers and writers alike.  It's a great chance for the industry's most enthusiastic crime fiction fans to discover their new favorite authors.

Jim Azevedo, Smashwords marketing director, will also be on hand at the conference manning a Smashwords table and participating in workshops. 

On October 8 at 11:30am, Jim is on the "Changing Face of Publishing for Writers & Readers" panel at the Marriott, room University A/B. Immediately following the panel, Jim will be right down the hall, in room University C, presenting a workshop titled "The Secrets of Best Selling Indie Authors." In this workshop, he'll share best practices of the bestselling indie ebook authors. Consider adding Jim's session to your schedule via the excellent Bouchercon app, which you can get here: http://bouchercon2015.org/bouchercon-app/

Here's a summary of the participating authors and their books.


Author (click to view profile) - Participating title(s) separated by semicolons.
A. J. Davidson -  An Evil Shadow; Churchill's Queen; Paper Ghosts
Al Rennie -  Clearwater Ambush; Clearwater Diaries; Clearwater Journals
Albert Simon -  Coachella Valley Traffic Jam; For Sale in Palm Springs; Mystery on the Tramway
Amy Saunders - Auf'd (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Two); Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One)
Angela Crider Neary -  Li'l Tom and the Pussyfoot Detective Bureau
Anna Castle -  - Black & White & Dead All Over; Death by Disputation; Murder by Misrule
AnnaLisa Grant -  Five
Anne Louise Bannon -  Fascinating Rhythm
Anne Marie Stoddard - Murder at Castle Rock
Annelie Wendeberg - The Devil's Grin
Aya Walksfar  - Old Woman Gone; Run or Die; Sketch of a Murder
Barbara E Brink - Roadkill (Double Barrel Mysteries #1)
Barbara Ellen Brink - Entangled (The Fredrickson Winery Novels #1)
Barbara Loos - Disillusioned; Unidentified Person in Italy
Bobbi A. Chukran - Dye Dyeing Dead
Bryan James - LZR-1143: Evolution; LZR-1143: Infection; LZR-1143: Redemption
Bryce Allen - The Spartak Trigger
Bryna Butler - Wrong Side of the Grave (Mothman Mysteries)
BV Lawson - Played to Death
C. A. Newsome - A Shot in the Bark; Drool Baby; Maximum Security
C.A. Larmer - A Note Before Dying (Ghostwriter Mystery 6); Killer Twist (Ghostwriter Mystery 1); The Agatha Christie Book Club
C.L. Bevill - Bubba and the Dead; Veiled Eyes
Carole B. Shmurak - Deadmistress
Carolyn Arnold - Eleven; Ties that Bind
Casey Peeler - Full Circle Series Box Set; Losing Charley
Cathy Perkins - Cypher
Cecilia Peartree - Closer to Death in a Garden; Crime in the Community; Reunited in Death
Charlotte Boyett-Compo - Under the Mayhaw Tree
Chris Seaton - Dairyland Murders Book 1: Head in a Haymow; Dairyland Murders Book 2: Femur in the Fieldstone; Dairyland Murders Book 3: Cop Incognito
Christine Benedict - Anonymous
Claudia Hall Christian - Suffer a Witch; The Fey; The Tax Assassin
Colin Cotterill - Pool and its Role in Asian Communism
Connie Shelton -Deadly Gamble: The First Charlie Parker Mystery; Legends Can Be Murder: Charlie Parker Mysteries Book 15; Sweet Masterpiece: The First Samantha Sweet Mystery
Cori Lynn Arnold - Northern Deceit
D. D. VanDyke - Loose Ends
Dale T. Phillips - A Memory of Grief; Crooked Paths; More Crooked Paths
Dana E. Donovan - Eye of the Witch; The Witch's Key; The Witch's Ladder
Dane McCaslin - A Bird in the Hand
David H Fears - Dark Blonde; Dark Lake; Dark Quarry
David Housewright - The Devil and the Diva
Dean Wesley Smith - Kill Game
Deb Baker - Murder Passes the Buck
Debbi Mack - Deadly Detour; Five Uneasy Pieces
Debra Lee - Redemption; Taken
Dee Davis - Eye of the Storm
Deirdre Verne - A Countdown To Death; Water Under the Bridge
Demelza Carlton - Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer
Diana R Chambers - Stinger
Diane Burton - The Case of the Bygone Brother
Diane Fanning - The Trophy Exchange
Diane Henders - Never Say Spy; The Spy Is Cast
Dianne Emley - Cold Call
Dianne Venetta - Ladd Springs; Not Without You
Don Gutteridge - The Bishop's Pawn
Donna Huston Murray - What Doesn't Kill You, The Mystery
Dorothy McFalls - Birds in Paradise
Drew Lindsay - Black Mountain Affair; Coral Sea Affair; Get Charlie Noah
Edith Maxwell - A Fire in Carriagetown; Just Desserts for Johnny; The Stonecutter
Elaine Orr - Behind the Walls
Elizabeth Spann Craig - A Body in the Backyard; A Dyeing Shame; Progressive Dinner Deadly
Ellery Adams - A Fatal Appraisal; A Killer Collection; The Path of the Crooked
Ellie Oberth - The Hudson Agency - Chicago Style; Who Murdered The Ghost?
Emily Mims - Never and Always
Eric Meyer - Black Ops Heroes of Afghanistan; Fury of the Tiger; Killing Faith (A Gabriel De Sade Thriller)
Eric Wilder - Big Easy; Bones of Skeleton Creek; Primal Creatures
Erica Stevens - The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval
Eva Pohler - The Mystery Tomb; The Purgatorium
Foinah Jameson - Mostly Dead Melvin
Francesco Zampa - Double Murder for Maresciallo Maggio; There Is Always a Reason, Maresciallo Maggio!
Gail Oust - Murder Is Dicey
Gary K. Wolf - Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
Gemma Halliday - Luck Be A Lady (Tahoe Tessie book #1); Spying in High Heels; Unbreakable Bond (Jamie Bond Mysteries #1)
Giacomo Giammatteo - Murder takes Time
Gin Jones - A Dose of Death; Four-Patch of Trouble (a Danger Cove Quilting Mystery)
Gina Fava - The Race; The Sculptor
H H Fowler - Javier
Haena James - Elysium Dreams; Mercurial Dreams; The Dysfunctional Affair
J Jackson Bentley - 48 Hours; Chameleon; Shadow of the Burj
J L Simpson - Lost Causes (A Daisy Dunlop Mystery ~ Book 1)
J. Robert Kennedy - Depraved Difference; Rogue Operator; The Protocol
J.J. Chow - Seniors Sleuth
J.J. DiBenedetto - Dream Child; Dream Doctor; Dream Student
J.L. Abramo - Catching Water in a Net; Clutching at Straws
J.T. Lewis - Gabriel's Revenge; kidNAP Inc.; Murder! Too Close To Home
Jake Needham - Killing Plato; The Ambassador's Wife
James D Best - Murder at Thumb Butte
James J. Murray - Cuffed; Lethal Medicine; Unforeseeable Consequences
Jan Coffey - Silent Waters; The Janus Effect; Trust Me Once
Janel Gradowski - Christmas Canapés & Sabotage; Pies & Peril (Culinary Competition Mysteries book #1)
Janet Dawson - Kindred Crimes; Take A Number; Till The Old Men Die
Jaron Summers - The Adjal of Jimmy Temple
Jay Amberg - Bone Box
JD Nixon - Blood Ties; Heller
Jeffrey Marks - Under Investigation
Jenna Bennett - A Cutthroat Business; Ditching David; Island Getaway
Jennifer L. Hart - Murder Al Dente
Jennifer Oberth - Married to Murder; Masked Rider: Origins; Mr. E in Cabin 187
Jeremy Robinson & Sean Ellis  - Flood Rising (A Jenna Flood Thriller); Herculean; Prime (A Jack Sigler Thriller)
Joel Gomez-Dossi - Pursued
John Edward Mullen - Digital Dick
John Ling - Fallen Angel
John Locke -  Promise You Won't Tell
John W. Mefford - Booker - Blood Ring; Booker - Streets of Mayhem
Jon Messenger - Wolves of the Northern Rift
Josh Lanyon - Winter Kill
Joyce Ann Brown - Catastrophic Connections: A Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery
Joyce Mason - The Crystal Ball
Judith Copek- The Shadow Warriors
Judy Fitzwater - Drowning in Air; Dying to Get Even; Dying to Get Published
Judy Hogan - The Sands of Gower: The First Penny Weaver Mystery
Julia C. Hoffman - The Enemy Within
Julie Coulter Bellon - All Fall Down
Julie Lomoe - Hope Dawns Eternal
K.B. Owen - Dangerous and Unseemly
K.C. Tansley - The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts
K.G. McAbee - Double Double Cross; Me and the Bank; The Case of the Sinister Senator
KA Laity - Chastity Flame
Kaine Thompson - FemCorps; Nobody
Karen McCullough - A Gift for Murder; A Question of Fire; Unmasking
Karen Rose Smith - Always Devoted; Her Sister
Kate Donovan - Trace Elements
Kate George - California Schemin'; Crazy Little Thing Called Dead, Take 2; Moonlighting in Vermont
Kathleen Bacus - Calamity Jayne (Calamity Jayne book #1); Calamity Jayne and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Lawn Gnome (Calamity Jayne book #8)
Kathryn Long - Whips, Cuffs, and Little Brown Boxes
Kelly McClymer - Shop and Let Die
Kelly Rey - Motion for Mistletoe (a Jamie Winters Mysteries holiday short story); Motion for Murder
Ken McClure - Chameleon; Pandora's Helix; The Lazurus Strain
Kevin J. Anderson, editor - Fiction River: Pulse Pounders
Kory M. Shrum - Dying for a Living
Kourtney Heintz - The Six Train to Wisconsin
Kris Nelscott - A Dangerous Road
Kristen Houghton - For I Have Sinned A Cate Harlow Private Investigation; Grave Misgivings
L. Barnett Evans and C. V. Rhoddes - Grandmothers, Incorporated; Saving Sin City; There's Something Wrong with Miss Zelda
L.L. Bartlett - Murder On The Mind; We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert
Lars Emmerich - Balls Deep; Devolution; The Incident
Laurie R. King - Hellbender; Mrs. Hudson's Case
Lee Driver - Chasing Ghosts; Fatal Storm; Full Moon Bloody Moon
Lee Hanson - Castle Cay
Leeann Betts - No Accounting for Murder
Leonie Gant - Not Famous in Hollywood
Leslie Langtry - Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (A Greatest Hits Mysteries holiday short story); Merit Badge Murder
LH Thomson - Quinn Checks In
Libby Hellmann, Christine Kling, Sujata Massey, Zoe Sharp, Julie Smith -  - Killer Femmes: 5 Irresistible Crime Novels From Around the World
Lillian Stewart Carl - Ashes to Ashes; The Secret Portrait; Time Enough to Die
Linda Johnson - A Tangled Web; Breaking the Cycle; Trail of Destruction
Lisa Phillips - Bait; Sanctuary Lost
Lise McClendon - Blackbird Fly
LS Sygnet - Beneath the Cracks; Daddy's Little Killer
Lucinda Brant - Deadly Engagement: A Georgian Historical Mystery
Lyn Hamilton - The Xibalba Murders
Maddie Cochere - Murder Is Where the Heart Is; Murder Under Construction; Sunshine Hunter
Marcia Talley - In Death's Shadow
Marcus Wynne - Johnny Wylde; Too Wylde; With A Vengeance
Maria Grazia Swan - Bosom Bodies; Love Thy Sister
Marie Moore -  - Game Drive
Marilynn Larew - The Spider Catchers (Lee Carruthers # 1)
Mark Arundel - Codename: Casanova; Codename: Moneyman; Codename: Santiago
Mark Sublette - Paint by Numbers
Mark Troy - Game Face; Pilikia Is My Business
Martha Carr - The Keeper; The List
Martha Reed - The Choking Game
Mary Clay - Bike Week Blues; Murder in the Stacks; The Turtle Mound Murder
Mary Kennedy -  Dead Air
Melissa F. Miller - Irreparable Harm
Melissa Pearl - I Know Lucy; Set Me Free
Mette Ivie Harrison - Saving the Moon; Ten Apprentices; The Queen's Truth
Michael Balkind - Gold Medal Threat; Sudden Death; The Fix
Michael F. Havelin - Ben Bones and the Deadly Descendants
Micheal Maxwell - Cellar Full of Cole; Diamonds and Cole; Helix of Cole
Milda Harris - Adventures in Funeral Crashing; Adventures of a Graveyard Girl; Killer Cupcakes
Milly Reynolds - Happy Deathday To You; The Hanged Cow; The Woolly Murders
N. L. Quatrano - Murder in Black and White
Nanci Rathbun - Truth Kills
Nancy J. Cohen - Hair Raiser
Nancy Jill Thames - Murder in Half Moon Bay
Nancy Sartor - Bones Along the Hill
Neil S. Plakcy - Genie For Hire; In Dog We Trust
Nicolette Pierce - Deadly Dancing; The Big Blind
O'Neil De Noux - Grim Reaper; John Raven Beau; New Orleans Confidential
Paisley Ray - The Rachael O'Brien Chronicles
Pat Camalliere - The Mystery at Sag Bridge
Patricia Dusenbury - A Perfect Victim
Patricia McLinn - Sign Off
Patrick Malloy - Bang Bang
Patti Larsen - Freak Show
Paul D. Marks - Angels Flight - A Noir Short Story; White Heat
Paul Pilkington - The One You Love
Peg Cochran - Confession Is Murder
R. Barri Flowers - Dark Streets of Whitechapel: A Jack The Ripper Mystery; Justice Served: A Barkley and Parker Thriller; Murder in Maui: A Leila Kahana Mystery
R. E. Conary - Life's A Bitch. So Am I.
R.E. Donald - Ice on the Grapevine
R.R. Gilston - World Without Safewords
R.T. Lawton -  9 Historical Mysteries
Rae Davies - Loose Screw
Ranae Glass -  - Chasing Daybreak
Rebecca Forster -  Before Her Eyes; Hostile Witness; Silent Witness
Richard L. Sanders - Betraying Nexus; The Phoenix Conspiracy; The Phoenix Rising
Rick Bylina - All of Our Secrets; One Promise Too Many
Rick Mofina - A Perfect Grave; Every Fear; The Dying Hour
Rob Bliss - Cut
Rod Hoisington - One Deadly Sister; The Price of Candy
Ronald L. Ruiz - Jesusita
Ross Cavins - Follow The Money
S.D. Tooley - Restless Spirit; The Tunnel; When the Dead Speak
S.J.A. Turney - The Thief's Tale
Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate; The Ex Who Wouldn't Die
Sandra de Helen - The Hounding; The Illustrious Client
Sandra Ruttan - Childhood Dreams; Harvest of Ruins
Sarah Ettritch - The Atheist
Sarah R. Shaber - Simon Said
Sarah Woodbury - The Good Knight; The Uninvited Guest
Scott Wittenburg - Double Trouble; The Barcode Murders; The Collector
SE Jakes - Catch A Ghost; Free Falling; Long Time Gone
Sheila Connolly - Relatively Dead
Sherry Siska - The Divas of Doom; The Floozies of Fate; The Madams of Mischief
Sheyna Galyan - Strength to Stand
Sibel Hodge - Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave
Sibel Hodge & Elizabeth Ashby -Murder and Mai Tais (a Danger Cove Cocktail Mystery)
Simon Jenner - Ethan Justice: Origins
SJ Rozan - Body English; Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case; Cooking the Hounds
Sonnjea Blackwell - Ghost of a Chance; Home Free; Killer Fate
Stacy Verdick Case - A Grand Murder
Stephanie Caffrey - Diva Las Vegas
Stephen Booth - Claws
Stephen Leather - Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon; Take Two; The Bestseller
Steve Anderson - The Losing Role
Sue Star - Murder In The Dojo
Susan Froetschel - Royal Escape
Susan Harris - Shattered Memories
Susan Mac Nicol - Love and Punishment
Susan Schreyer - An Error in Judgment; Death by a Dark Horse; Levels of Deception
Suze Lowden - Las Vegas Gamble: A Minkind Thriller
Tamara Ward - Private Deception
Teresa Blue - Letters From Inside
Terry Odell  - Deadly Bones; Deadly Secrets; Seeing Red
Tia Catalina - Blue Falcon
Tim Ellis - A Life for a Life; Footprints of the Dead
Todd Borg - Tahoe Blowup
Trace Conger - The Shadow Broker
Traci Andrighetti - Limoncello Yellow (Franki Amato Mysteries #1)
Tracy D. Comstock - Murder Is Our Mascot
Tracy L. Ward - Chorus of the Dead
V. J. Chambers - Skin and Blond
Vinnie Hansen - Art, Wine & Bullets; Black Beans & Venom; Murder, Honey
Wendy Dingwall - Celtic Curse; Hera's Revenge
Wil A. Emerson - Fatal Mistake; Oh Henry
Will Thurston - The Talent Scout
William Hertling - Avogadro Corp
Please join me in congratulating these fine authors.