Smashwords - Ebook Publishing and Distribution Made Easy

Over 10,000 authors and publishers around the world now use Smashwords as their ebook publishing and distribution platform.

I'm thrilled with the growth we've experienced over the last couple years, and I'm even more thrilled at how we've helped these authors and publishers collectively reach hundreds of thousands of new readers.

Yet the hypercompetitive side of me realizes there are several million talented authors around the world who still haven't discovered Smashwords. With your help, we can reach them. We can dream, can't we?

As I've mentioned previously on this blog, each new Smashwords author brings new readers who then discover and enjoy other Smashwords authors and publishers. It's a virtuous flywheel where new authors and publishers bring new readers, new readers bring more authors and publishers, and so on. We want to reach these authors and publishers before some Smashwords imitator reaches them first. Have I mentioned I'm competitive?

Below I embedded a brief introduction to Smashwords for the new and uninitiated. Feel free to share it with your favorite author/publisher friends by clicking the handy Facebook or Twitter links, embed it into your own blog, or email it to friend.

Introduction to Smashwords - Ebook Publishing and Distribution Made Easy

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Next month at the end of the month, I'll do another year-in-review post, similar to the one I did last year. Click here to read last year's annual update.

My thanks to all Smashwords authors, publishers, readers and retailers for your continued partnership and support.


Update: Join the Promotion

What began as a simple "Introduction to Smashwords" as morphed into a "Spread the Word about Smashwords" promotion. Below is a list of Smashwords authors who are spreading the love. To join this list embed the presentation into your blog or website, then send us the hyperlink at the "Comments/questions" link at the Smashwords home page.

Here's the current list of participants (BTW, this is great list to discover up-and-coming indie authors!):

1. Wayne Watson was the first with his blogs, Meddlers in Time and Oswald Bastable's Ranting
   
2. J. Alexander Greenwood wrote a blog post titled, "Ladies and Gentleman, the Future of Publishing"
   
3. Toni Leland wrote a fantastic post at her blog, Toni's Manuscript Musings
4. Sarah Ettrich did a great post over at her Self-Publishing Adventure Blog
5. Linda Nelson embedded the presentation on her home page at Young Adult Books by Linda Nelson
6. Shayne Parkinson at her blog, Shayne Parkinson's Writing
7. Tom Lichtenberg embedded the presentation at his Pigeon Weather Productions blog
   
8. Oliver Frances added a direct link to this blog post at his blog, Oliver Frances
9. AJ Davidson added a link to the Slideshare presentation at his blog, AJ Davidson's Blog
10. Sami Salkosuo blogged it at his science fiction blog, The Stranger's Universe, in a post titled, Dawn to Dawn and Smashwords
11. Ryne Douglas Pearson posted, What is Smashwords? Glad You Asked at his eponymous site.
12. Fred Bubbers embedded About Smashwords at his site, Fredbubbers.com
13. Robert Harper is spreading the word at his site, Robharper.com
14. H. Lovelyn Bennison has posted a great little piece titled, Smashwords - An Easy Ebook Solution
15. Leigh Ellwood added a post, Publishing with Smashwords, at her blog, Me Want Food
16. Stephen Shore embedded the presentation at his Best of Smashwords page
17. Abe of Aobibliosphere embedded the presentation at Smashwords - A Global Phenomena
18. Richard Sanders lit up the Internet among his multiple online presences: his Richard Sanders Tumbler page; his Richard Sanders blog; and posts on CrimeSpace, Bookblogs, LinkedIn and Twitter.
19. Audrey Driscoll integrated a link to the presentation into a broader post titled, Views on Book Reviewing that explores how book reviews are changing, and blurring the lines between professional reviewers and ordinary readers.
20. Cliff Ball embedded the Introduction to Smashwords presentation in his blog, The Writing World of Author Cliff Ball
21. Paul Diamond added the presentation to his blogs, Explore Your Career and Work/Life Fusion
22. Author and cartoonist Scott Semegran wrote a great post with embed, Smashwords - The Future of Independent Publishing, at his web site, ScottSemegran.com
23. D.R. Prescott embedded the presentation on his personal web site at InkSpot.com
24. Sharon Cathcart posted a piece on her Goodreads page
25. Wilson James blogged What about this Smashwords? at his blog, The Thoughts of Wilson James, Author and also Tweeted it a couple times.
    
26. David Burton embedded the presentation at his blog, Random Musings
27. Robert Ropars says Smashwords is the fastest, easiest way to distribute his work in a post titled, Smashwords.com and Self-Publishing on his blog, From The Library of Robert Ropars
28. Peter Salisbury has launched a blog, and his second post is Good News Everyone! Free Books! in which he talks about his books, his Smashwords experience, and embeds the presentation
29. The Ironic Catholic has embedded the presentation on the page below their book, Dear Communion of Saints, and credits Smashwords with assisting its e-publication (thanks!)
30. Lucy Felthouse in the UK posted Spreading the Word about Smashwords on her blog, Lucy Felthouse - Erotic Author
31. Jennifer Tribe at author services firm Highspot, Inc. posted a cool review of Smashwords at their First Issue Blog in a post titled, Smashwords = Easy Ebook Distribution
32. Tom Allen embedded the presentation on the contact page of his blog, Chapter 1, Verse 1
33. Carol Anita Ryan linked to the presentation on her site, Right Now is Perfect, with a post titled Ebooks and the Freedom of the Press: The Smashwords Revolution
34. Marsha Ward posted Smashwords: How about an Introduction? over at her blog, Writer in the Pines
35. Jaye Seay wrote about his Smashwords experience and embedded the slides in a post at his blog, Into His Word
36. Oh wow. I love this from Dodge Winston over at Dodge Winston's Blotter. I'll quote a small bit:

    "No longer must we send out query letters to New York literary agents who keep the keys to the masterful publishing houses tucked away for a select few. You and I, mere mortals of grammatical prose, can now bypass the entire, long-winded, life-sucking process of asking permission and take the world by storm with the Smashwords battering-ram."

37. Robert Tell, author of Dementia Diary - A Caregiver's Journal, integrated a link to the presentation into a post over at his blog, The Caregiver Chronicles
38. Rich Feitelberg incorporated a link to the presentation on a post titled Promoting Yourself on his blog, Paraphernalia in my Pocket
39. Joseph Lallo at the BrainLazy blog wrote a thought-provoking post titled Spreading the Word about Smashwords that explains why he decided to take publishing matters into his own hands.
40. Ruth Ann Nordin, a Smashwords best-seller, did a post promoting this cross-promotion promotion titled Cross Promote with Smashwords at her blog, Self Published Author's Lounge and on her new blog, On Being an Author
41. Steve Leggett has embedded the presentation at the bottom of his home page at his blog, Heirs of the Magi
42. Dr. Charles Claus added a link to the presentation at his Cotton Candy site
43. Paula Freda embedded the presentation on her Angelfire home page
44. Bonnie Turner embedded the presentation in her website, Aurorawolf and also posted a link in Facebook
45. Chrystine Julian embedded the presentation in an informative post titled Publish a Book?, in which she examines different publishing options for authors
46. David Knight has embedded the presentation in his blog, Ascensionforyou
47. Dana Donovan embedded the presentation in his blog, Author Dana E. Donovan
48. Linda Pendleton is supporting the promotion with a post at her blog, Linda Pendleton's Drops of Ink Upon the Page
49. Mara and Ford Smith link to this blog post from the resources section of their web site, Live Simply With Style, where they credit Smashwords with making it possible to produce their books in multiple formats
50. Nick Davis blogs over at Alt World that Smashwords empowers authors to "take their work directly to readers." Amen.
51. Joeleene Naylor has a great summary of what Smashwords offers to both readers and authors over at her blog, Amaranthine Night
52. Mary Kit-Neel embedded the presentation in a post at her blog titled How I published my ebook
53. Alan Baxter, previously profiled here in an interview at the Smashwords blog for his smart execution of a blog tour, has joined the promotion with a post titled, Smashwords - get busy with the ebook
54. Hugh Ashton, on his blog Beneath Grey Skies, wrote Smashwords - A Presentation, a post where he complements Smashwords for not sitting on its laurels. Amen to that!
55. Worth Godwin has a great post over at his blog, Basic Computer Training, Tips & More in Plain English, titled Writers, How to Publish Your Book at Smashwords
56. Edward G. Talbot has a cool post up titled, If You Haven't Caught on to Smashwords, You've Dropped the Ball over at his blog, Edward G. Talbot
57. Martin Chambers added a link to the presentation at his Martin Chambers website
58. Derek Prior embedded the presentation into his blog at Indie Fantasy Review
59. Margaux Sky embedded the presentation into her multiple blogs, including Story Time, Margaux Sky Music, Margaux Sky Original Recipes.
60. Denise Wy embedded the presentation in her web site, Deniswy
61. Donna Butler has a post titled Thank You Mark Coker! (you're welcome, and yes, Mark's a decent name for a kid!) where she eloquently captures the frustrations faced by authors who don't fit the myopic preconceptions of literary gatekeepers. She speaks to the joy of reaching readers directly on her own terms. I love this quote from her, especially the last line:

    And yes, I realize that Smashwords provides an equal opportunity for both talented and not so talented authors to get published. For every writer like me who majored in English, and spent a fortune on writers manuals and lived and breathed literature since they were old enough to read, there will be those who published on a whim. But that's fitting in the age of reality television, where the audience decides who is most qualified to entertain. Book lovers will be able to distinguish between those who've opened a vein and those who have opened one too many cans of beer.

62. Shelly Stout embedded the presentation at her blog, Shelley Stout's Spiral Noteblog
63. Randy Noble posted Smashwords - A Great Place for Readers and Authors
64. K.R. Smith added a link to the presentation in the acknowledgments section of her blog, The Circulate Series
65. Kristie Cook blogged about Smashwords on her blog, A Mused Writer
66. Amy Saunders posted 3 Reasons to Publish With Smashwords on her blog, amy & the pen, where the tag line is, "The fiction is all in your head."
67. Hank Brown embedded the presentation on his blog, Two-Fisted Blogger\
68. Miss Mae posted Check out Smashwords! on her website, Miss May - Author of Romantic Mysteries
69. David Mulholland added a link and some kind words on his website at David Mulholland Writer
70. Nigel Slater added a link on his blog, An Agent of the King
71. Chistopher Rick embedded the presentation in a post titled, Smashwords, Why I Use it, What it is, at his blog Living on the Box, Thinking Outside of it
72. LK Hunsaker integrated the presentation into great little intro to e-publishing page titled, Indie Publishing & How-to Articles she maintains at her blog, LK Hunsaker - Thoughts and Sketches
73. J.A. Loughlin embedded the presentation at Decendants Vampire Chronicles
74. Camy has added Introduction to Smashwords their blog, Camy's Idiocy
75. Michelle Gregory documents her reluctant entry into the digital world with a post titled, Dragging Me Kicking and Screaming into the Digital Age, at her blog, Beautiful Chaos (BTW, I must say I really like the titles of names of some of these blogs)
76. Sarah Woodbury, who writes historical fiction and fantasy, embedded the presentation in a post titled, All About Smashwords, at her blog, Sarah Woodbury
77. Stuart Aken embedded the presentation at the bottom of his publishing and writing blog, must mutter. Stuart does some interesting interviews with indie authors, and I see two Smashwords authors on the first page, so check him out.
78. Jacob LaCivita embedded the presentation in Smashwords, Ebooks, iBooks at his blog, A Blog of Timely Persuasion
79. Mistriss Milliscent posted a link to the presentation on her blog, Mistriss Milliscent
80. Colette Martin embedded the presentation in a blog post titled, Great Recipe Ideas & Learn How to Use Smashwords to Create Your Own Cookbook at her blog, Learning to Eat Allergy Free. Great to see authors integrating promotion of their own books into the posts. Smart!
81. Farida Mestek has embedded the presentation at Regency Sketches
82. A.B.R. has embedded the presentation with thoughts on self publishing titled, Why Ebooks
83. Ross Richdale in New Zealand posted Find Out About Smashwords at his blog, Ross Richdale's Fiction
84. Ravis Harnell embedded the presentation at his blog, Ravis Harnell
85. Anna Y. White embedded the presentation in her new blog, The Change
86. Tania Tirraoro posted a link to the presentation on her blog, Not As Advertised
87. Mel Comley has embedded the presentation at the blog for her crime novel, Impeding Justice
88. Saffina Desforges embedded the presentation on her blog, Saffina Desforges
    

Join the fun. Embed the Slideshare presentation into your blog or website, and I'll add you to the list. If I'm missing anyone, contact me over at Smashwords.

Nearly 10,000 Smashwords Ebooks Go Live at Australian iBookstore

Australian newspapers are reporting today the long-awaited launch of the Apple iBookstore in Australia. Nearly 10,000 Smashwords ebooks are included in the launch.

This is great news for Smashwords authors and publishers, who now gain access to the fast-growing Australian ebook market. In addition to Australia, Smashwords is an authorized Apple aggregator supplying Apple iBookstores in Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.

Just yesterday I returned from a five week speaking tour to Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. Unlike in the U.S., where ebooks now account for nearly 10 percent of the overall trade book market (and a greater percentage of unit volume), ebooks account for probably under one percent of the book markets in Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. In other words, these markets are where the U.S. market was at a mere two years ago. These markets are poised for similar or faster growth, especially as device makers such as Apple open ebook stores and expand the availability and selection of affordable ebooks.

The ebook market in Australia, as it is in Brazil and New Zealand, may grow even faster in than in the U.S. because the consumer economics are so much more compelling. Based on my visits to brick and mortar bookstores in Australia, print books routinely cost 50 percent more in Australia than they do in the U.S. With the advent of ebooks, book-hungry consumers can purchase ebooks at a fraction of the cost of print. The average Smashwords ebook costs only $4.75, for example.

The first authors and publishers who get their books listed in the store will gain a head start at building readership, sales, reviews, reader buzz and sales rank.

If you're a Smashwords Premium Catalog author and we already distribute your book to other Apple iBookstores, your books will automatically ship to the Australian iBookstore. Our first batch of over 9,300 ebooks has already started appearing on Australian iBookstore shelves today, and in the next couple weeks we'll add hundreds more.

If you're not yet a Smashwords author or publisher, learn how to distribute ebooks to international Apple iBookstores by reading our iPad Ebook Publishing Checklist. As an authorized Apple iBookstore aggregrator, Smashwords makes makes it fast, free and easy for any author or publisher, anywhere in the world, to quickly reach global readers through the iBookstore. Authors and publishers who distribute through Smashwords earn 60 percent of the retail price.

In addition to distributing ebooks to international Apple iBookstores, Smashwords also distributes to Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and the Diesel eBook Store, as well as to important mobile ebook apps including Aldiko for Android devices, and Stanza for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. We'll announce additional retail distribution outlets in the months ahead. Learn how to earn free access to our Smashwords Premium Catalog at our Smashwords Distribution Information Page.

Smashwords Surpasses One Billion Words Published

12 months ago, I outlined a crazy goal called The Billion Word March in which we'd aim to grow the Smashwords catalog from 150 million words published at that time to one billion by the end of 2010.

I knew it was stretch, because it meant we'd need to grow the number of books published by 700 percent in 15 months.

Yesterday, we surpassed our goal nine weeks early.

I know some folks consider word count an odd measure of progress. I admit, it's an unusual metric. If you think about it, though, at an atomic level every word comprises an essential building block for a sentence, a paragraph, a message or a book. It also represents a measure of liberation. I created Smashwords to unleash the creative talent of the world's indie authors. The talent of an author is manifested in their words.

Word count is only one of several yardsticks we use to measure our progress. We also look at number of books published (22,310), authors and publishers represented (we hit 9,700 today[!]), traffic to Smashwords.com (growing every month), the quality and quantity of Smashwords retail distribution relationships, and our payouts to authors and publishers. On all these metrics, we continue to grow right along with word count.

As the Smashwords ecosystem of authors, publishers, readers and retailers grows, it opens up exciting opportunities for authors and publishers who participate in the Smashwords network. Every new author or publisher at Smashwords brings new readers, and new readers bring new authors and publishers, which in turn bring more great reading material for our readers. It's a virtuous, self-reinforcing flywheel.

As our catalog grows, and the number of great authors at Smashwords increases, more retailers want to carry our books. In the last 12 months we've become the leading distributor of indie ebooks. We've established relationships with the largest ebook retailers, and in the months ahead you'll see us open up new doors of distribution opportunity for our authors and publishers.

What's next for Smashwords? After two and half years, I feel like we're still getting started. In the next several months, you'll see us add more retailers, new sales and marketing tools, and a steady stream of both incremental and major enhancements to the Smashwords ebook publishing and distribution platform. We have hundreds of enhancements and new features planned on our technical roadmap, and many of these features are a direct result of feedback and suggestions from Smashwords authors, publishers and readers (keep them coming!).

My sincere thanks to the 9,700 authors and publishers now publishing and distributing their books with Smashwords. We look forward to serving you in the months and years ahead.

The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

This past weekend at the Self Publishing Book Expo in New York, I presented my Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success. I embedded the presentation below for your Powerpointing pleasure.

The presentation builds on a previous presentation (and blog post here) on how the rise of indie ebooks will transform the future the future of publishing.

For this session, I added new material, including the all-new seven secrets plus one bonus secret that covers how authors can maximize the virality of their books.

The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

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The Seven Secrets (plus bonus):

1. Write a great book - Your reader's time is more valuable than their wallet. Readers have unlimited choice for high-quality content, so authors must respect the reader's time by publishing the highest quality book possible. As the publisher, it's your responsibility to do what many traditional publishers do so well, and that's to honor the editing and revision process.


2. Write another great book - The best-selling authors at Smashwords offer deep backlists. Think of each book as a fish hook in the ocean. When each book cross references the other books with simple hyperlinks (both inside the book and within the retailer's merchandising systems), you create a net. A deep backlist also offers you the opportunity to earn the trust of the reader. Once the reader trusts that you'll respect their time with a great read, they'll be more inclined to sample and purchase your other titles.


3. Maximize distribution - Availability is the precursor to discoverability. If your book isn't serendipitously discoverable in multiple places via topical or themed search engine queries, or via keyword or categories searches at retailers, it might as well be invisible. Get your books distributed in as many online bookstores as possible. Many readers go to a bookstore with the intention to find a great read, and they're not necessarily looking for a specific title, so if your book isn't there it's not discoverable or purchasable. Some of the same rules of print publishing apply to ebook publishing. The more bookstores that carry your book, the more chances you have to connect with a reader.


4. Give (some of) your books away for FREE - The highest grossing authors at Smashwords offer at least one book for free. FREE is one of the most misunderstood and underutilized ebook marketing secrets. Free works best if you have a deep backlist.
   


5. Trust your readers and partners - Some authors don't publish ebooks due to fear of piracy. That's silly. Piracy cannot be prevented. J.K. Rowling doesn't publish ebooks, yet within hours of each release of her Harry Potter series, her books were available online as pirated ebooks. Don't make it difficult for your fans to purchase legitimate copies of your book. Trust your readers to honor your copyright (and for those readers who won't, there's little you can do about it). If you limit the accessibility of your book by infecting your book with DRM, then you'll limit your ability to connect with readers. Last week during my trip to Brazil, I spoke at an ebook publishing presentation sponsored by Singular Digital alongside Rodrigo Paranhos Velloso, the director of business development for Google Latin America. Rodridgo made an absolutely brilliant observation about DRM. He said, "when you DRM something, you make the non-DRM'd versions more valuable." In other words, when you apply DRM, you encourage piracy.


6. Have patience - It takes time to build your publishing business. Unlike traditionally published print books that hit store shelves and usually go out of print soon after, ebooks are immortal. When your book lands at a new retailer, think of it as a seedling. With time and proper nourishment, it has the chance to build deep roots (customer reviews, sales rank, SEO). Never remove your book from a retailer's shelves because you're dissatisfied with its sales compared to other retailers (see distribution above).


7. Marketing starts yesterday - Start building your marketing platform before you finish your book, and then invest time every day to build that platform. Implement a solid social media strategy. Participate in social networks, and more importantly, contribute to your social networks. If you view your Facebook and Twitter followers has people to be sold to, you'll hurt yourself. Instead, add value. Help your fellow authors be successful. When it comes time for you to launch your book, your social network friends will want to return the favor by opening unexpected doors of opportunity.


8. Architect for virality - In the presentation, I described my concept of "first reader," the person you convince to purchase your book. Every reader is a first reader. If your book resonates with them, they'll promote the book to their friends. If it doesn't resonate, they won't promote it. Since readers will determine the success of your book, you, as the author or publisher, can take steps to facilitate the virality (word-of-mouth) of your book. The presentation outlines those steps, as well as how to avoid what I call Viral Decay and Negative Virality.

As I write this, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Adelaide, Australia. I'll be in Australia for most of the rest of the month, here to speak at a series of if:book Australia's "future of publishing" Next Text seminars in Adelaide (Oct. 6, 7), Brisbane (Oct 10), Byron Bay (Oct. 13) and Perth (October 18, two events). I look forward to meeting Smashwords authors and publishers at these events. Register now at the links above.

On October 29, I'll probably do a half day ebook publishing event in Auckland, New Zealand, hosted by the New Zealand Digital Publishing Forum. More on this later once things are confirmed.

October 6 Update: Read an updated and slightly modified version of this post over at the Huffington Post.

Smashwords Publishes 20,000th Indie Ebook

Smashwords author Charlene Bays Rothenberger yesterday published the 20,000th book at Smashwords at 8:23pm Pacific time.

Two months ago we reached 15,000 books and five months ago we hit 10,000.

To put the growth in context, we published 140 books in 2008, our first year of operation. By the end of 2009, we reached 6,000. We're on track to surpass 25,000 by the end of the year.

Do numbers matter? Yes. Each new author at Smashwords brings more books, and more books bring more readers and more readers bring more authors who bring more books. It's a virtuous flywheel, catalyzed by the word of mouth of authors and readers who mutually benefit from the dynamic.

The strength of numbers helps Smashwords open up new distribution opportunities for all authors participating in the Smashwords collective (Btw, we signed a new retailer yesterday. We'll announce them in a few weeks after we complete the technical integrations).

Our catalog features many strong sellers including Brian S. Pratt, Ruth Ann Nordin, Randolph Lalonde, J.A. Konrath, P.B. Ryan, Shayne Parkinson, Rebecca Forster, Janice Daugharty, Jack Gregory, Ann Somerville, Lynn Flewelling and Carl East. I could list dozens more showing promise to become tomorrow's big indie names. In the months ahead, we'll work to showcase some of these authors at Smashwords by introducing new lists and ranking filters.

A growing number of our authors, including some on the short list above, have been previously published - or are currently published - by large traditional publishers.

Until recently, most authors aspired to land a traditional book deal. That sentiment is changing, judging from the emails I receive each week from authors who are done waiting months or years for a publisher to discover them. These authors have decided to turn their backs on traditional publishing because they recognize the creative, economic and time-to-market advantages of indie ebook publishing.

Self-publishing is shedding the negative stigma it once held as successful indie authors bring new credibility and respect to self publishing.

The Magic of Distribution

Although we've seen traffic and sales climb each month at our small Smashwords.com retail operation, the greatest sales growth is coming from our distribution network. The growth is driven by the addition of new retailers, the organic growth at retailers as they grow their businesses, and the sales rank effect as our books build sales, readership and reviews at each retailer.

Our distribution network includes the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo (in addition to operating its own retail store, Kobo also powers Borders in the US and Australia, Whitcoulls in New Zealand, Samsung and others), the Diesel eBook Store, and more on the way. On the moblile apps front, our books are in the native catalogs of Stanza on the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, and in Aldiko for Android devices.

To keep your salivary glands in check, it's important to note that not all Smashwords authors are participating in this growth. We create the opportunity for discovery, sales and readership, though it's the author's responsibility to write and market a great book that resonates with readers, and then they must have the patience it takes to plant and cultivate seeds for the future harvest.

As I blogged earlier this week in The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Failure post, authors must also be careful to avoid poor decisions that might limit their success.

Success Comes in Multiple Forms

Success isn't measured by financial performance alone. For some authors, success is defined not by monetary gain, but by reaching readers with their words. Smashwords authors now publish over 2,000 free ebooks, and some of these books reach thousands of readers. They too are successes.

Congrats to all 8,798 pioneering Smashwords authors and publishers who inspire us every day.

The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Failure

On October 2 in New York, I'm giving a talk at the Self Publishing Expo Conference titled, "The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success."

While preparing the presentation, I started thinking about how it's possible to succeed as an author yet still fail to achieve your full potential.

Every author is the CEO of their own budding publishing empire, full of unrealized potential. Decisions you make today will determine your success in the future.

We all make multiple decisions every day, and some of our decisions will inevitably prove incorrect or ill-conceived. The secret to success is to recognize our mistakes before they become business-limiting. Just ask Mr. Big Fish in the image above. Maybe he should have favored a smaller meal.

Today, I'm going to share the Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Failure.

All of us authors have probably made some combination of these mistakes at one time or another.

My intention is not to ridicule the authors and publishers who inspired these tips. Instead, my goal is to help you, the CEO of your business, avoid these business-limiting mistakes that might prevent you from achieving your full potential.

The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Failure

1. Fail to respect the reader - Don't waste your reader's time. Some authors, empowered by the ease and speed of ebook publishing, rush books to market that haven't been thoroughly revised, edited and proofed. Books get better with revision and editing, so don't skimp. If your book or story isn't the absolute best you can make it, don't release it until it's ready. With so many great books out there, you have to compete to earn and deserve the reader's attention, and their word of mouth.


2. Limiting your Distribution - Some authors treat retailers like a religion, sports team or political party. They think they must only choose one and shun the rest. This is counterproductive. Authors should work to expand distribution of their books across multiple retailers, rather than concentrate distribution on only one. So what if 80% of your sales come from a single retailer today. It won't always be that way, as many Smashwords authors already realize. If you shun other retail opportunities, that 80% will become a self-fulfilling prophecy and you'll leave sales on the table as the rest of the ebook market develops without you. Cherish your retail partners. Each is investing millions of dollars to attract readers to their stores. They will gladly provide you the benefit of their investment if you'll allow them. Every time an author deliberately removes their book from a retailer's shelf, a little angel in heaven sheds a tear, or stabs itself in the eye.
   


3. Limiting your sampling - The other day I learned approximately 450 of the over 19,000 books at Smashwords don't permit sampling. What are these authors thinking? They might as well encase their books in cement. Why would any reader in their right mind purchase a book they can't sample first? Don't shoot yourself in the foot. Books with disabled sampling are automatically removed from our catalogs in Stanza (iphone, ipad, ipod touch) and Aldiko (Android devices), because these catalogs require samples.
   


4. Laziness - It's tough work writing a great book. Some authors, after spending years or a lifetime investing their heart and soul to finish their book, look at the Smashwords Style Guide (or Amazon's DTP publishing requirements) and give up because they say it's too difficult to format an ebook. If these folks can't spend thirty minutes or an hour to study the Style Guide (written for novices), or can't shell out $45 to hire a fellow Smashwords author for formatting help, or can't find a fellow Smashwords author friend to help them for free, can they be helped? If free-to-$45 is all that stands between you and widespread distribution to all the major retailers, why give up now? Maybe this is a form of Darwinian natural selection.


5. False expectations and Impatience - I admit, I think millions of people would enjoy my novel if only they gave it a chance. You probably feel the same way. Unfortunately, you and I are probably wrong. Most of us will never reach millions of readers, so we should set more realistic expectations, lest we enjoy wallowing in bitterness and regret. Every once in a while I'll hear from authors who are giving up on publishing and unpublishing their books because their sales didn't meet expectations. Why deny future readers the chance to discover you? See Darwin.


6. Play the Blame Game - Some authors, when their books fail to live up to their inflated expectations, try to point the finger at someone else. Some might blame the reader for not understanding their brilliance, or blame their agent, or blame their publisher for not promoting it enough, or blame the retailer for whatever. Almost once per month, like clockwork, I'll get an angry email from an author complaining they haven't sold a single copy through Smashwords or any of our retailers, and they'll threaten to unpublish their book and remove it from distribution if we don't do something about it. See Darwin. You're the CEO of your publishing business. Take responsibility, and don't shoot yourself in the head with tempestuous, foolish decisions. It's tough to sell any book. Write the best book you can, revise and edit it until it's squeaky clean, market it with passion and commitment, and then cross your fingers readers love your book as much as you do. Readers are in charge here.


7. Failing to Trust your Partners - There have always been bad seeds in publishing (including publishers who do a good job of following these seven rules for failure), and thousands of authors have been burned by them. Yet it doesn't mean you should be mistrustful of every player. The vast majority of people I've met in publishing the last three years are honest and ethical. We'll often get emails from authors who tell us their book's sample has been downloaded 30 or 40 times yet they haven't had a single sale, and they'll accuse us of not reporting the sales. We've even had authors who had trouble getting accepted to our Premium Catalog (hint: read the updated Style Guide) demand to know why we were discriminating against them, their book or their religion. More than a couple have said, "if you don't want to publish my book why don't you just tell me." Paranoia runs deep in some authors, possibly because authors are so great at imagining things that don't exist. It's tough to reason or do business with folks like this. Another author last week, not realizing our retailer sales reports weren't fully loaded, accused us of illegal activity and threatened to "take the matter to the authorities." They even complained to our retail partner before they bothered to check with us, or read our online site updates. Business cannot run without trust. As the CEO of your business, you should trust your distributor (Smashwords or other), your retailer and even your customer. Give your partners the benefit of the doubt and recognize that any of us who plan to build a long term business can only do so by treating each other with honesty and ethical integrity.

So there's the list of failure secrets. I don't want to give the impression the mistakes above are common, because they're not. I've highlighted a few true, rare and extreme examples to illustrate my points.

Once I do my session at Self Publishing Expo, I'll summarize the seven secrets to success here on the Smashwords Blog. Until then, happy CEO'ing!

New Smashwords Style Guide & Meatgrinder Blades Take Smashwords Ebooks to New Level

I released a new revision to the Smashwords Style Guide that makes it easier to produce, publish and distribute a great-looking multi-format ebook with Smashwords.

In parallel, in the last 30 days we developed, tested and introduced new EPUB and MOBI Meatgrinder conversion blades that give authors and publishers better control over the final look and feel of their ebooks.

The new Style Guide marks the 42nd and most significant update to the Style Guide since we first released it in November 2008. Our last major revision was in April, which is when we first introduced new guidelines for paragraph construction and linked Tables of Contents.

The new Guide draws upon our experience helping over 8,500 authors publish nearly 20,000 books at Smashwords. We analyzed the most common formatting problems and then enhanced the Style Guide's instructions to make it easier for authors to use Microsoft Word to create higher quality source files.

Here's a summary of some of the most significant enhancements:

• More screenshots - We added more images to make it easier than ever to understand how to control the look and feel of your ebook's formatting


• Samples of well-formatted books - The Style Guide now contains links to two examples of well-formatted books. Download their RTF files for free.
  


• Faster formatting - Dozens of time-saving tips help you clear out hidden corruption and create the cleanest, highest-quality formatting in the least amount of time.
  


• Paragraph construction - The bulk of the most important Style Guide enhancements fall under this category. New instructions show how to manage and modify paragraph styles to improve readability and formatting quality. Learn how to modify your line spacing, code for first line paragraph indents, control fonts and paragraph styles, or code for block paragraphs.


• Hyperlinked Table of Contents - Updated instructions make it easier to create clickable ToCs, footnotes and endnotes using Word's bookmark feature.


• How to check your work - Learn how to use use Adobe Digital Editions and Kindle for PC (or Kindle for Mac/Linux) to troubleshoot your EPUB and MOBI files.


• How to pass EPUBCHECK - If your EPUB file doesn't pass EPUBCHECK validation, we can't distribute your ebook to Apple. New tips show you how to repair problems in your source file so you produce EPUB-compliant files. I expect we'll continue to update these tips as we learn more.
  


• New fast-track tips - Learn how to reduce the time it takes for your book to earn inclusion in the Smashwords Premium Catalog, and gain faster and more reliable distribution to our growing retail distribution network.


• Keyboard shortcuts - A new section provides a refresher course on how to use keyboard shortcuts and Word's FIND AND REPLACE feature to reduce formatting time and errors.

Access the new Smashwords Style Guide here.

I'd like to thank the thousands of Smashwords authors and publishers who have entrusted Smashwords to produce and publish their ebooks. In the last 2 1/2 years, we've worked to continually improve our Meatgrinder file conversion technology based on your feedback. As a result of your feedback, the files we produce today are dramatically better than what we produced just a few months ago. With your support, we'll work to improve it further in the months and years to come.

Author David Robinson Essay on Virtues of Indie Ebook Publishing

Several weeks ago, Greg McQueen released a 100 Stories for Haiti Podcast focused on ebooks, offering an insightful and well-balanced look at the state of ebooks. He interviewed multiple authors and even yours truly to explore what ebooks mean to authors, readers and the future of publishing.

For me, the highlight of Greg's excellent podcast was Smashwords author David Robinson, a 60-year Yorkshireman who presented an audio essay on indie ebook publishing. This is a must-listen.

Mr. Robinson is a gifted orator, and he has created one of the best-articulated manifestos on e-publishing I've heard. One comment that struck me as particularly insightful is when he explains how it's not so much rejection that bruises the soul of a writer, it's the chronic condition of being ignored.

As you'll hear below, his wry wit and precision delivery add a richness and meaning his written words alone could never convey. I think after you give him a listen, you'll be a fan too!

Click the play button above to listen to David Robinson's essay.

To listen to Greg McQueen's entire podcast episode about ebooks, here's the full audio (see episode 3):

Smashwords and Diesel Partner to Expand Ebook Distribution Opportunities for Indie Authors and Publishers

Smashwords today announced a two-part ebook distribution partnership with the Diesel eBook Store, a leading independent ebook retailer.

The agreement expands ebook distribution opportunities for thousands of current and future Smashwords authors and publishers.

Under the first part of the agreement, Diesel has become the latest ebook retailer to join the Smashwords distribution network. In addition to Diesel, we now distribute our books to the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Sony, as well as to mobile app platforms such as Aldiko for Android devices, and Stanza for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

All Smashwords Premium Catalog titles will go live at Diesel by August 19. If you're a Smashwords author and your books have been accepted into the Premium Catalog, your books will automatically go to Diesel unless you opt out from your Dashboard's Channel Manager in the next two days (the only reason to opt out is if your book is already distributed to Diesel via a different distributor).

Smashwords authors and publishers will set the retail price and earn 60% of every sale. If you're not in the Premium Catalog, or you're not familiar with the process, please click here for the Smashwords Distribution Information page.

For the second part of the agreement, Diesel has selected Smashwords to power its new Diesel Publishing Portal. Like most smart ebook retailers, Diesel is committed to offering its customers the broadest possible selection of ebook titles. By partnering with Smashwords to power its publishing portal, Diesel makes it faster and easier for indie authors and small publishers to sell their titles on Diesel. Diesel is the second major ebook retailer to choose Smashwords to power their co-branded publishing portal. Sony was the first.

I expect more retailers in the future will select Smashwords as their publishing portal partner. Why? It's very expensive for a retailer to enter into contractual distribution relationships with each individual indie author and small publisher. For most retailers, large and small, they pay essentially the same amount for every book sold, whether they source the book directly from the author or publisher, or from a distributor such as Smashwords. By utilizing Smashwords, a retailer can quickly and efficiently ingest thousands of new books at no cost, whereas the alternative is to spend millions of dollars to staff and duplicate what Smashwords has already created.

In Diesel's case, they will encourage all authors and publishers with fewer than 100 titles to utilize Smashwords as the recommended onramp into the Diesel store.

As a Smashwords author or publisher, it's important you maximize the digital shelf presence for your books. Smashwords is committed to helping you do this, as demonstrated by our agreement with Diesel today.

Smashwords has multiple other signed distribution agreements in our pipeline that we haven't yet announced.

As I mentioned in my July 24 post, How Indie Ebooks will Transform the Future of Book Publishing, ebook retailers are an essential component of every indie author's book marketing strategy. If you're only selling your book at the largest ebook retailers, you're selling yourself short. Each ebook retailer helps you reach new and unique readers that don't shop at other retail outlets.

Click here to read the full press release, issued this morning.

Joy Berry, Erotica Author Who Knows Kids?

Q: What right does one author have to stake sole claim on an author name?

A: Quite a lot, if you have the funds to hire a lawyer to intimidate the other author.

Last Friday, I received a threatening letter from a lawyer in New York City representing Joy Berry of Joy Berry Enterprises. The name Joy Berry was unfamiliar to me, but after a quick look I realized she was one of the 7,000+ authors publishing an ebook at Smashwords. Her specialty is erotic fiction.

However, the lawyered Joy Berry was a different Joy Berry, and she was upset that an alleged imposter was trading on her good name to hawk erotica ebooks. Huh?

I poked around and learned the lawyered Joy Berry is a parenting expert whose web site marketing slogan is "Joy Berry Knows Kids." She has an interactive app called, "I Love Potty Training."

I can understand why she wouldn't want Google searches for 'Joy Berry potty training' showing up alongside Joy Berry erotica. But what I don't understand is why one author's fans would ever cross paths with the other's. The erotica author doesn't write about children or parenting, and the children's author doesn't write erotica.

Long story made short, the potty-mouthed letter accused the erotica author Joy Berry of deliberately attempting to confuse consumers by usurping the good name of the other Joy Berry.

I posted the letter below with contact info redacted so you can blow it up if nasty is your thing.

At first glance, after reading the letter you might think the erotica author Joy Berry was some evil villain. How dare she peddle her wicked wordy wares to adults struggling with dirty diapers! Ohh, sexxxy.

Was the lawyered letter a ploy by non-erotica Joy Berry to use the threat of legal action to intimidate an innocent person and keep her name and her Google ranking to herself?

Like most people, I don't respond well to threats. This is the second time someone has threatened us with legal action. The first time was when Priceline's law firm wrote me an equally outrageous nastygram which I kindly reprinted. Why don't some of these lawyers do their research?

If Joy Berry's nastygram was true, then yes, she might have had a case to go after this erotica author. After perusing the erotica titles of Ms. Berry, however, it's fairly obvious the plaintiff Ms. Berry had no interest in going after the lawyered Ms. Berry's esteemed parenting clientèle.

Did I miss some smoking gun? I asked the lawyer, Craig Spierer, to offer me a hand.

My response to him was as follows:

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Re: Joy Berry

Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:29:24 -0800

From: Mark Coker

To: Craig Spierer

References:

Craig,

We are the distributor of these works, not the publisher. If you can
drop the threatening and unnecessary lawyerly rhetoric, I'll be happy to
work with you to pursue a rapid and equitable solution.

First, a question that will help me help you: Other than the publisher
(Ginger Starr) using a common name identical to that of your client's,
has Ginger Starr done anything to trade on your client's name or
reputation, or anything that deliberately serves to confuse readers or
search engines? Possible examples of such malfeasance to link Joy Berry
the erotica author to Joy Berry the parenting author might include
Smashwords book descriptions, author bios, tags or book content that
utilize such keywords as "lesbian erotica" with keywords possibly
associated with your client as "potty training" or "parenting" that I
see on her own site at http://joyberrybooks.com/ , or using images or
branding in their erotica works that are similar to your client's, or
that parody your client's work? If you can share any evidence of the
above, it will help me help you more quickly.

Based on my quick review, and without taking a position either way, my
guess is that what we have here is an unfortunate, random coincidence,
not a deliberate attempt by anyone to trade on your client's name or
reputation.

Surely, if Ginger Star the publisher wanted to reach erotica consumers,
there are many more equally common names they could use to more
effectively reach their target audience. And if Joy Berry the erotica
author wanted to continue using their name, I'd think they might have a
strong case to do so. Even if we removed the books from Smashwords, if
Ginger Starr chose to fight you, it would only serve to more closely
connect your client to the erotica author.

Even if you don't have the above evidence of any deliberate attempt from
this Ginger Starr to trade on your client's name, branding or
reputation, I'm willing to contact the publisher, express your concern,
and politely suggest they change the author name of their books to
something else, such as Juice Berry, or whatever.

Best wishes,
mark

Moments after I sent my conciliatory note to Mr. Spierer, I received an email from one of our retailers that they, too, had been served with a take down notice on behalf of Joy Berry, the non-erotica author, and they had quickly complied with the request. So now, an apparently innocent indie author had her books removed from a major retailer. Was that really fair? And is it fair to Smashwords that some hired mercenary could falsely label us as a purveyor of illegal content to our valued retail partners?

I don't blame the retailer. On the handful of occasions when we've been contacted with complaints that a Smashwords author was infringing the rights of another person, we removed the works until the two parties could settle their dispute. It's a shoot first ask questions later policy, and I admit, it's not fair. Unfortunately, we don't have the time or legal resources to take sides in such complaints.

Yet the more I thought about this case, the more it bugged me. What right does one author Jane Doe have the right to squelch the publishing rights of another author Jane Doe, just because they sell different products that don't look so great described together in the same sentence?

Mr. Spierer's response to my request for hard evidence proved flaccid.

Mark,
Thank you for your prompt response. This is no mere coincidence or accident, Ms. Berry's name is not a common name, and there is no doubt that the publisher has taken intentional actions in bad faith and are violating my clients' applicable rights. If you are merely the distributor, I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide me with the contact information for the publisher so we may get to the source to stop these unlawful actions, which is my clients primary concern.

Further, I would be happy to speak with you further on Monday if you are available.

Thank you.

This communication is sent for settlement purposes only and shall not be construed as a waiver of any right or remedy, all of which are expressly reserved.

Kind regards,
Craig M. Spierer

*sent from my blackberry*

Contrary to Mr. Spierer's assertion that 'Joy Berry' is a rare name, the name is quite common. A search over at Switchboard.com for Joy Berry yields at least 300 results, as does a search for Joe Smith, so my guess is that there are thousands of Joy Berrys in the United States alone. Does this mean none of them can write their own book? Is a lesser known author not allowed to slip into the Google results of the other, as did the erotica Joy Berry?

I don't blame the lawyer for his letter. I give credit to Ms. Berry, the non-erotica parenting author who bankrolled this misadventure, and who couldn't be bothered to do her own research, or contact us herself with a polite request to work things out.

Over the weekend, I had an email thread with the publisher behind Joy Berry, and sure enough, she told me the similar names were pure coincidence. She thought 'Joy Berry' sounded like a good name for an erotica author. Although I believe she has every right to use the name, on Monday she decided to change Joy Berry to Ginger Starr.

Another search at Switchboard.com shows another six people by that name. Is any name safe?

How Indie Ebooks will Transform the Future of Book Publishing

On July 9 in New York I gave a presentation to a group of students participating in NYU's Summer Publishing Institute.

The topic was how indie ebooks will transform the future of publishing.

The presentation is embedded at the bottom of this page for your Powerpointing pleasure.

I started the presentation by quoting lyrics from Rosetta Stoned, possibly one of the best Tool songs ever written. The song is about an ordinary guy who's abducted by space aliens. The aliens tell him:

"You are the Chosen One,
the One who will deliver the message.
A message of hope for those who choose to hear it
and a warning for those who do not."

The lyric basically summed up my presentation to these hundred or so students, all recent grads from around the country who hope to land careers in publishing.

I told them I believe the opportunities for authors and publishers to reach readers are greater today than they've ever been in history. The challenge these future captains of the publishing industry face, I said, is to help publishers take advantage of the change, rather than become victimized by it.

As I explained, some publishers are taking a bunker mentality to this change. They're handing their business decisions over to risk-averse bean counters, and adopting policies and practices detrimental to their authors (fewer acquisitions, fewer risks on unknown or unproven authors, less marketing support) and readers (DRM, artificial ebook scarcity, high prices). Some of these practices that are causing them to act less like publishers, which then causes authors to ask the simple question, "why do I need a publisher?"

I talked about how publishers for the last century or so controlled the means of book production and book distribution. They determined what readers read. In the new world order, now starting to unfold with ebooks, their oligapolistic grip is waning.

The future belongs to the indie author, who can now gain access to the same digital shelves as their traditionally published brethren. With ebooks (and with a little help from Smashwords), access to the digital shelves of major ebook retailers is now becoming fully democratized.

Publishers have a bright future too, if they play their cards right. To survive and thrive in this new world order, they need to serve their authors better than their authors can serve themselves.

How Indie Ebooks Will Transform The Future of Publishing

View more presentations from Smashwords, Inc..

Speaking of Bunkers...
Next month, I'm sitting on a panel for the GigaOm Bunker conference in San Francisco, speaking to a related topic, "Disintermediation in Publishing." Should be interesting. I know there's a knee-jerk tendency among some authors to believe that with this huge trend of democratization-of-everything, and the shift in power to indie authors, that authors are best served by cutting out all the traditional middlemen (agents, editors, publishers, distributors, bookstores, etc). Not so, IMHO.

If the middleman adds value to your publishing exploits, they're a catalyst and a partner, not a parasite. Retailers, for example, earn every penny of their margin by connecting book buyers to your books. I'm amazed this epiphany isn't universal. Seems like every week I see some clueless person on a message board comment, "don't sell through retailers, just sell the book on your own web site and keep all the margin for yourself". That short-sighted strategy is about as smart as opening a taco stand on a deserted island. Distributors, which connect your books to bookstores, add value as well (I'm biased, since Smashwords is an ebook distributor).

Smashwords Publishes 15,000th Indie Ebook

Smashwords announced an important milestone today. Late Sunday evening, an indie author published the 15,000th title at Smashwords.

We've experienced tremendous growth in the last two years, thanks to the trust and confidence placed in us by nearly 7,000 indie authors and publishers around the world.

A lot has changed in the last two years. Indie authors are starting to earn the respect they deserve. We still have a long way to go, however.

It helps that more and more indie authors are stepping forward to share their success, and in the process they catch the attention of the industry and spark the imagination of fellow indie authors who can now build upon the success of these early breakout hits. Many of you have been inspired by the success of J.A. Konrath, who diligently shares his indie publishing experiences at his blog, The Newbie's Guide to Publishing.

Today, I have another indie author star to present to you: Smashwords author Brian S. Pratt. In the single month of June, Mr. Pratt earned over $4,000 for himself at just one Smashwords retailer, Barnes & Noble. His books have occupied the top 100 Sci-Fi & Fantasy titles at B&N for several months.

Now before your eyes blur with visions of dancing cherry plums, remember Pratt's experience is atypical for most authors, whether indie-published or traditionally published. However, as I view the sales reports coming in from our retail partners, it's encouraging to see that some of you are starting to earn some decent income. We'll report a new batch of retail sales reports to Smashwords authors the last couple days of this month, concurrent with our Q2 royalty payments. Some of you will be pleased, and others disappointed.

These financial successes aside, it's important to realize that the promise of monetary gain is the wrong reason to write a book. Many of our indie authors don't sell more than a couple copies. Luckily for book lovers everywhere, most writers write for reasons different than publisher's publish.

The other week, I was speaking with someone who has a retired friend who self-published the family's most cherished kitchen recipes, and their intended audience was not the world at large - it was their children, grandchildren, and their family's future generations. Is this book, which may only ever be read by immediate family members, any less valuable to the world because it lacks a business plan? I think not.

What excites me most about this indie author revolution is the unlimited, unexpected possibility it creates as we work at Smashwords to unleash the creative talents of indie authors.

Traditional publishers have always been challenged to predict which books will become commercial successes. They acquire books they think they can sell. In my view, the Achilles heel of traditional publishers is their myopic fixation on commercial potential. Sure, they have businesses to run, and Manhattan sky rise rents to pay. And yes, they employ brilliant and generous people who are passionate about books. Yet because they're running businesses limited by decades-old business models and cost structures, they're not able to take risks on every author. Nor do they want to.

I created Smashwords so I could take a risk on every author, including the author who writes for an audience of one. Because our platform is self-serve and extremely automated, we enjoy a low cost structure that enables this risk-taking, and also allows us to return up to 85% of all net sales back to the author or publisher.

Critics of self-publishing point to the incredible amount of drek that gets published when you let authors decide what to publish. My response: So what? I blogged about this last year when I addressed the Smashwords Community Filter.

Last month on a publishing mailing list I follow, a participant captured the prevalent concern about the volume of self-published material, and what it means to the future of publishing:

"...And we will be inundated in very cheap bad books. By bad I mean, unedited or poorly edited, badly positioned and largely unmarketed titles. By inundated I mean that it will be very difficult to find the good books in all of the content made available (a problem that we already suffer from but looks to be multiplying). And a very real difficulty in finding and creating an audience for the few good books that will be made available."

Hugh McGuire of BookOven and Bite Size Edits responded with a brilliant observation, one that fits perfectly with my vision of Smashwords and the future of indie authorship:

All this defines pretty well the challenges, well-met, in the world of the web - where anyone can publish what they want in a blog, the vast majority of it is uninteresting to the vast majoriiy of readers (which is why most blogs have readerships of 1-2 people) ... Blogs are, by the numbers, a vast sea of junk.

And yet.

And yet - as a reader, I constantly find wonderful stuff to read on blogs. I read many of your blogs, I read NYTimes blogs, I read BoingBoing - which usually points me to other blogs; I follow Twitter links to more blogs I have not heard of - almost exclusively now I find good blog posts to read through Twitter.

But, still, given the overwhelming preponderance of junk, how is it that I only read wonderful stuff on the web?

The answer is in the link. The link creates a currency for readers and writers to surface wonderful stuff. In the earlier days of blogging, links were an essential part of the ethic: we read each other, we pointed to the stuff we liked; people pointed back. Crucially, you could "see" when someone pointed to you (referrers, technorati, google alerts). And crucially, Google built a kind of reputation exchange, based on the link: the more links you got, the more "important" you were to Google's search; the more important you were to Google's search, the more heavily-weighted your links were in Google's algorithms - conferring your importance to others.

This created an ecosystem of readers and writers, that grew to the point that now blogs are a fact of life - and come in all flavours and shapes, from Samuel Pepys' diary, to the Tools of Change Blog, to Paul Graham, to cat-pictures and everything in between.

Fundamentally, though, the stuff in blogs - and in "books" - is not anything in particular. Blogs - like books - are just a means to transfer words from someone's fingers tips into someone else's eyeballs. Blogs made it easy for anyone to do that. Enter an era of more terrible and irrelevant writing than the world has ever seen. Enter, also, an era of more wonderful and important writing than the world has ever seen.

The good stuff gets found. If there is one thing the web is brilliant at, it's getting millions of people - billions? - to sift through junk to find what is valuable.

What do you think? What's your measure of success?

To read our full press release from this morning, access it here.


Image credit: Worldle