Smashwords Blog: Smashwords End of Year Sale Starts December 25
By Mark Coker, Smashwords
Mark your calendar!
On Christmas day we kick off our first annual Smashwords End of Year Sale.
Already, 30,000 indie ebooks and nearly 6,000 authors are enrolled to participate with deep discounted ebooks priced at 25%-off, 50%-off, 75%-off and FREE. We expect thousands of more authors and books to join the sale in the next few days.
We’ll offer an incredible selection of the best in indie fiction and non-fiction.
The sale starts December 25 and ends at midnight Pacific the evening of January 1.
The first few days after Christmas mark the biggest ebook selling days of the year as millions of readers around the world unwrap their new e-reading devices and smart phones start loading them with new ebooks to read. Let’s help these readers read!
We’ll promote the sale to over one million readers at Smashwords. Like our other high-profile sales such as Read an Ebook Week in March and the Summer/Winter Sale in July, we’ll also promote it prominently on the Smashwords home page and across thousands of participating book pages.
To enroll, visit https://www.smashwords.com/dashboard/sitewidePromos today where you can enroll your books in the various discount levels. These discounts are exclusive to the Smashwords store and don’t affect prices at other retailers. Participating authors and publishers can modify their discount levels at any time between now and the end of the sale.
As with all sales events at the Smashwords store, this is a collaborative marketing event where authors help authors. Every participating author, through the promotion of their own books, amplifies the opportunity for fellow authors as readers stuff their carts chock full with deep-discounted ebooks from their favorite indie authors.
If you’re a reader, be sure to check in with the sale daily because new exclusive deals will join the sale each day.
With every ebook you buy, you’re directly supporting the hard work of these writers and small independent presses. Smashwords pays royalties of up to 80% of the list price, which means more of the reader’s dollar goes to directly to the author and publisher. The royalty level for the Smashwords store is based on dollar size of the customer’s shopping cart. It’s common for customers of our exclusive sales to load their carts full with dozens and sometimes hundreds of books. This means even 99-cent ebooks often earn authors and publishers up to 80% list during our sales. Indie authors earn only 35% list for such low priced books at Amazon. Thanks for supporting Smashwords authors and publishers!
Happy holidays, everyone. May your 2018 be blessed with more time to read!
Smart Author Podcast Begins Six-Part Audio Serialization of New 2018 Edition of Smashwords Book Marketing Guide
Posted: 22 Dec 2017 10:05 AM PST
Today on episode 10 of the Smart Author Podcast I kick off part one of my six part audio serialization of the new 2018 edition of the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide.
This is a Smart Author exclusive. Smart Author listeners will be the first to gain access to these new marketing insights and recommendations.
I’ll air one part each week through the end of January, and then after the last part airs I’ll release the new ebook everywhere for free.
The 2018 edition of the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide represents my most extensive revision yet. It’s been completely restructured and updated. It features a new introduction, two dozen new marketing ideas, updates to prior recommendations, and a new “Deep Dives” chapter that offers in-depth guidance on developing your social media strategy, working with beta readers, and how to earn free press coverage.
In part one, available now, I introduce this six-part series, provide a high level overview of key book marketing concepts, and then present chapter one which describes over 20 free book marketing tools at Smashwords.
In the next episode coming next week, Episode 11, we start digging into my expanded checklist of 65 book marketing ideas. I’ll cover the first 23 which pertain to author brand-building, book launch preparation, and knowledge-building.
If you haven’t yet subscribed to Smart Author, consider doing so today. By subscribing at one of the outlets below, it makes it easier to listen to all the episodes in the right order, and you’ll be the first to gain access to future episodes.