Mark Coker of Smashwords became the leader of indie ebook writers--including some with dirty minds--in a fight against censorship and PayPal. He also has strong feelings about the DOJ's ebook pricing lawsuit.Mark Coker is the CEO of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform. Coker recently won a highly publicized battle against PayPal, which briefly refused to work with Smashwords unless Coker removed certain naughty titles from the site. Fast Company caught up with Coker and learned, among other things, that writers of incest erotica can be very articulate.FAST COMPANY: What is Smashwords?MARK COKER: We’re probably the world’s largest distributor of self-published ebooks and ebooks from small independent presses. We were founded in 2008. A writer comes to Smashwords, uploads a Word document, which we instantly convert into multiple formats to be read on a Kindle or other device. Those are then available for sale at Smashwords.com at a price set by the author. 85% of all proceeds go to the author, so we flipped the compensation model upside-down. In traditional publishing, in the best case, an author earns 17.5% off an ebook’s list price. In 2008, we had 140 titles; in 2009, we had 6,000 titles; today we have just over 115,000.You recently came to prominence by picking a fight with PayPal, which threatened to stop working with you if you failed to remove some smutty titles from your store.On a Saturday, I received an email from PayPal notifying me I had... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2012-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Moranthology, Caitlin Moran’s 2012 compendium of her decades of brash, personal columns for the British press, Moran jokes that as a teenage girl living in public housing in Wolverhampton, England, her career options were limited to “prostitution,” “working the checkout at the Gateway... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In addition to the American contenders Karen Joy Fowler for 'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves' and Joshua Ferris of 'To Rise Again at a Decent Hour,' other nominees include Richard Flanagan for 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' and Ali Smith for 'How to Be Both.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica will attend the Frankfurt Book Fair's International Rights Directors Meeting for the first time to showcase regional talent. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Aleya Kassam explains how Kenyan writers are embracing the idea of branding and taking control of their careers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week, we reviewed the HTC One for Windows, investigated Amazon's controversial ebook-pricing model, played around with Hyperlapse, learned about LG's G Watch R and more! Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last seven days. Oh, and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blue Ash Publishing will give authors the "education resources" of the Writer's Digest community, alongside the distribution power of BookBaby's sales network. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sensing the changing tides in the industry, iPad magazine designer Joe Zeff is bringing his talents to the enterprise world.You may not have heard of Joe Zeff before, but if you've picked up an iPad edition of PC Magazine, Fast Company (full disclosure!), or Time's 9/11 memorial, you've likely... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After the BBCs commissioning of Walter, a police comedy drama submitted by ITVs Kevin Lygo under the pseudonym Ruby Solomon, some commissioners are said to be wearily preparing to find out all the names of their rivals kids, so theyre ready in future for scripts by good but unknown writers for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Laurie Kellogg has self-published nine romance novels since February 2012 and says she's making more money and having more fun than ever before in her life. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nearly 900 authors across world back criticism of online retailer's business tactics in ebooks dispute with US publisher HachetteThey include some of the biggest literary names on the planet, among them Stephen King, Donna Tartt, Paul Auster, James Patterson and John Grisham; a Pulitzer prize... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paypal has blocked the Belgian bookstore ‘t Vershil, specialising in books and DVDs for a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wattpad, an online writing and reading community, has acquired the Red Room, an online community originally described as a “Facebook for authors.” The site will be subsumed into Wattpad. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As things stand, Hachette is making ebook discounts impossible, and almost everybody else stands to lose, writes Hugh HoweyNews: New Amazon terms amount to 'assisted suicide' for book industry, experts claimHow much should an ebook cost? And how should that money be split? These two questions... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Food writer Diana Henry spoke with PW about the pleasures of "accidentally healthy" eating and why her latest cookbook, 'A Change of Appetite,' isn't a "diet" book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the NYTimes, Felicia R. Lee asks if the 'new wave of African writers' with an international appeal are drawing attention away from African-American voices. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It may surprise many Americans, but German authors are paid to read in bookstores, have access to numerous fellowships and discounted health insurance. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Book Industry Charitable Foundation is launching a matching grant pilot program that will add to the Foundation’s existing financial assistance programs. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The German ebook self-publishing market is exploding and here are 6 reasons why smart English-speaking writers should take advantage of the opportunity. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PayPal president David Marcus has left to steer mobile messaging at Facebook. Facebook claims that its standalone messaging app, called Messenger, is now used by more than 200 million people monthly. And the company's blog post today suggested that Marcus would lead that specific part of the... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spain's Pentian crowdfunding platform for books offers a new business model: paying 50% of profits from book sales to backers of the book and 40% to the author. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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