Smashwords
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Self-publishing, E-books |
| Founded | May 2008 |
| Founder | Mark Coker |
| Fate | Acquired by Draft2Digital, LLC in 2022 |
| Successor | Draft2Digital, LLC |
| Headquarters | Los Gatos , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Mark Coker (Founder) |
| Products | E-book self-publishing platform |
| Owner | Draft2Digital, LLC |
| Parent | Draft2Digital, LLC |
| Website | www |
Smashwords, Inc., headquartered in Los Gatos, California, operates as a platform for self-publishing e-books. Established by Mark Coker, the service became publicly available in 2008 and was later acquired by Draft2Digital, LLC in 2022.
Writers and independent publishers submit their manuscripts as digital files, which Smashwords then converts into a variety of e-book formats compatible with multiple devices. The resulting publications are retailed online, with pricing determined by the author or publisher.
History
The development of Smashwords began in 2005 under Mark Coker’s direction, culminating in its official launch in May 2008. Within just seven months of operation, the platform had released 140 titles. Initially experiencing minimal profits, Smashwords transitioned to a distribution strategy that offered retailers a 30% commission for hosting digital content. By 2010, the company achieved profitability and expanded its distribution network to include prominent retailers such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, and Amazon.com’s Kindle Direct Publishing.
In 2012, Smashwords formed a partnership with 3M Cloud Library to extend access to authors’ works through libraries. At that time, the catalog had grown to approximately 127,000 titles contributed by 44,000 authors.
Coker, previously a Silicon Valley publicist, created Smashwords with the goal of democratizing publishing by allowing writers to connect directly with readers without the involvement of traditional intermediaries like agents or editors. Reflecting this philosophy, Smashwords imposes no editorial review aside from rejecting content that involves plagiarism, illegal activities, or promotes racism, homophobia, or violence.
The platform does not implement digital rights management (DRM).
In early 2022, Draft2Digital acquired Smashwords, merging two leading independent distributors within the self-publishing industry.