Summary: On episode 53 of the WRITER 2.0 Podcast, I interviewed Mark Coker, one of the major players in the e-book revolution. We discussed:<br> <br> the origin of Smashwords—the free e-book distribution platform he helped create;<br> how authors work with Smashwords to self-publish their e-books;<br> what a good cover needs to do and why it can make all the difference;<br> how to tap into the 1 billion users of the iTunes bookstore;<br> why he thinks authors should avoid KDP Select;<br> why pre-orders are so important;<br> what writers should be looking for in the industry over the next few years.<br> <br> And on “Today in Writing,” happy birthday to Madhur Jaffrey.<br> About our Guest:<br> <a href="https://i1.wp.com/acfuller.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/pt_1910_454_o.jpg"></a>Mark Coker is the founder of<a href="http://acfuller.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/www.smashwords.com"> Smashwords</a>, an ebook publishing and distribution platform. He’s also an author, entrepreneur, angel investor and advisor to technology startups.<br> Mark and his wife Lesleyann co-authored <a href="http://acfuller.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/3">Boob Tube</a>, a novel that explores the wacky world of daytime television soap operas. Their book was rejected by every major New York publisher of commercial women’s fiction, despite representation by a top NYC literary agency. The experience inspired him to start Smashwords, a free publishing platform that allows authors to instantly publish their work online.<br> Today, Smashwords is the world’s largest distributor of self-published ebooks. The company has helped over 50,000 authors around the world publish and distribute over 200,000 ebooks to major retailers such as the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony and Kobo.<br>
