Sony helping independent authors get books on the eBook Store
As readers here know I am becoming more and more of a Sony Reader fan due to their continued support of open formats and public library checkout systems. I was reading some feeds this morning and stumbled upon some great news on Mobility Site that links to a new press release announcing even more support for ebook content. Independent authors and small publishers can now access the re-launched Sony Publisher Portal, powered by Smashwords, and get books out in EPUB format for Sony Reader owners to enjoy.
I love to write and have been thinking of writing science fiction books for years. This capability to get work out to the Sony eBook store may spur me to finally put pen to paper and create some original stories. Smashwords and Authors Solution will work with their existing authors to get their titles on the Sony store. Authors upload their manuscript to Smashwords in Word format, select a price, and then they manage the conversion and distribution. It will be interesting to see how discoverable these titles are, but I imagine this will greatly enhance the number of available titles for those with Sony Readers and other ebook devices that support the EPUB format.