Saturday 7 May 2011

Digital Dealing


Scroll on up for the latest smashing words

DIGITAL publisher and distributor Smashwords has signed a deal with the largest supplier of branded apps in the iTunes App Store, opening up a wider potential audience for independent authors and publishers.


Under the deal, ScrollMotion will create, promote, merchandise and distribute Smashwords ebooks as mobile applications across a variety of platforms and marketplaces. These will include Apple’s App Store, the Android Market and the HP App Catalogue, covering such platforms as Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 and WebOS.

“Our mission at Smashwords is to help authors and publishers reach readers,” said Smashword’s founder, Mark Coker. “We partnered with ScrollMotion to expand our distribution into the major app marketplaces.”

The company, based in Los Gatos, California, already distributes its Premium Catalogue titles to outlets such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, and the Diesel eBook Store, as well as selling its titles direct from its own site. Titles are proved in a range of formats (.mobi, .epub, .lrf and others) for devices such as Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s eReader, Nook, iPad and other devices.

With the ScrollMotion partnership, it opens up even wider access to markets for the 18,500 independent authors and small presses that make use of its services. To date, Smashwords, which was established in 2008, publishes and distributes aome 45,000 titles, with 34,000 now in its Premium Catalogue for sale through third party retailers.

Mobile Apps are a growing market and therefore considered a prime opportunity for independent authors to market their ebooks. By 2015, the app market is expected to be worth US$38 billion. Last year it had already achieved a valuation of some US$2 billion.

“Smashwords has done an amazing job of making it fast, free and simple for indie authors and small presses to enter the ebook marketplace,” said Josh Koppel, founder and chief creative officer of ScrollMotion. “The mobile application marketplace is becoming the key to success for publishers and our collaboration with Smashwords will bring their fast-growing catalogue of independent titles into the mobile realm.”

MC

Category: NEWS

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