Smashwords Hosts Site-wide “Authors Give Back” Sale

Smashwords, one of the leading distributors of indie authors’ ebooks, has put together a month-long site-wide sale of ebooks, ranging in price from free all the way up to 60% off. The sale is titled Authors Give Back and runs through April 20th. . Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, wrote that he expected the site to host 30,000 deep discounted titles as well as 80,000 free books in this ground-breaking sale.

According to the Smashwords blog, the sale came about “to help readers and authors cope with the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic.”

Coker explained, “several of our authors contacted me in recent days, asking if I'd consider running a special sale where they could make their books more accessible and affordable to readers suffering in self-imposed or government-mandated isolation. These authors wanted to help fellow readers gain strength, comfort or entertainment from the power of their books.” The sale can be found at the top of the Smashwords home page.

In addition, Cocker also lamented that many writers’ conferences had been cancelled due to the mandated isolation, so Smashwords will be hosting a one-day Author Education Day online. “The need for continuing education doesn't disappear simply because most of us find ourselves trapped at home… [We are offering] a one-day online educational event where we'll teach veteran authors how to take their ebook publishing to the next level, and we'll teach aspiring authors how to publish ebooks with ease, professionalism and success, Cocker added. The Smashwords Author Education Day event will be held next month on April 18, and is open free to all writers and publishers, even if they don't publish with Smashwords. However, advance registration is required. To view the full event description and to register, visit the Smashwords Author Education Day event page.