Formatting is Fun

Published by Mark Coker at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Mark Coker

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Here’s another good one

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Formatting is Fantastically Fun

By Mark Coker

Copyright 2011 Mark Coker

Smashwords Edition

Do not write "Kindle Edition” or “Ebook available in the Apple iBookstore;” otherwise it won’t qualify for the Premium Catalog. This is your Smashwords Edition. Also don’t write, “Printed in the United States,” because this is your Smashwords ebook, not your print edition. Don’t confuse readers.

As a courtesy to ebook retailers who promote and sell your Smashwords Premium Catalog titles, please restrict your hyperlinks to only your Smashwords author page and book pages, or your personal home page or blog. Do not add hyperlinks to online ebook retailers that may compete with current or future Smashwords retail distribution partners. It’s not considerate, for example, if to advertise your Kindle or Apple ebook in your ebook sold at Barnes & Noble. Such advertising will only alienate your retail partners, confuse your customers, and will cause a retailer to remove your book from their catalog.

It’s not necessary to place your ISBN inside your ebook. Instead, it’s VERY IMPORTANT you attach your ISBN via your Dashboard’s ISBN Manager at Smashwords. If you don’t attach the ISBN via the ISBN Manager screen, your book cannot ship to Apple and Sony.

If the book is also available in a print edition, rather than naming retailers, just write, “This book is available in print at most online retailers.” Also remember that once your book is listed on Smashwords, you can add hyperlinks within your Smashwords book page to online outlets where the book can be purchased in print, assuming you still employ that quaint method of publishing (I love print books, but some of the best-selling indie authors are selling over 1,000 ebooks for every print book. This is probably why some indie authors are starting to skip print altogether).

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21c - Add a Smashwords License Statement below Copyright Page

All Smashwords books are sold DRM-free, without copy protection or encryption. This means you’re trusting your customers not to pirate your books. In our experience, the vast majority of customers are honest. Yet without proper education and reminders, a well-intentioned customer might feel inclined to share your book with someone else.

To minimize this accidental piracy, we encourage Smashwords authors and publishers to add the Smashwords License Statement to their book. Feel free to modify the Smashwords License Statement to suit your preferences. Or, for authors and publishers who prefer a Creative Commons license, that’s acceptable too.

The Smashwords License Statement is an original creation of Smashwords, and it has been widely adopted by thousands of ebook authors and even some competitors. The Smashwords License Statement acts as a friendly Trojan horse. Even if your book is accidentally copied or shared, the recipient of the book is gently reminded of their legal and ethical obligation to compensate you for it.

To use it for your book, add the following text to the title page or copyright pages of books that carry a price: