Competition In Digital Publishing

The digital age has given us the e-book, and with the e-book has come the need for publishers to format manuscripts into multiple formats.

For those who self-publish, it can be daunting to face the foreign language of this modern technology. And where there is confusion, someone finds a way to help writers navigate through the rocky shoals.

Sure you can turn to Kindle Direct Publishing and use their software to format your novel, but all you end up with is a Kindle-ready manuscript that can't be read on a Nook or a Sony e-reader or an iPad unless the app is installed.

Then you can use Nook's publishing site to repeat the process and end up in the same place.

Along came Smashwords to slice and dice word documents into multiple formats, all at once, and all for free, along with the means to get the e-books to market.

Unlike Amazon, Smashwords doesn't take a huge cut of the writer's profits, selecting to turn a profit via slim margins on high volume. For writers, they can earn back a larger share of the sales than Amazon is willing to give, and reach more readers who don't own a Kindle.

It's such a popular system that someone else has come along to compete with Smashwords at the same game.

A fictional tale of a true story about Irish nationalists in Chicago and the plot to overthrow an empire

Draft2Digital is the new kid on the e-publishing block, offering writers a place to go when they want to turn their manuscript into an e-book and get it out there on the market.

D2D will take a 15% commission on your sales, and like Smashwords, they only make money when you do. Like Smashwords,they will get your e-book listed at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks or Kobo.

So which one is better? They seem very much alike, offering almost the same access to multiple e-book stores, although Smashwords is working towards a library lending program to get its authors greater access to the reading public. With libraries becoming more popular as the cost of books goes up and disposable income goes down, it could be an important portal for new writers wishing to get noticed.

For now, Smashwords is a known commodity, with founder Mark Coker out there promoting his invention and generating buzz, to attract more users.

A newcomer to e-publishing has to overcome the headwind he's created, and do something either better than Smashwords, or differently than Smashwords. Doing the same thing for the same cost, in other words building an identical mousetrap, won't make much of a dent.