Let's do this ebook thaing: Where are the Smashwords readers?

It’s time to turn CINE HIGH into an ebook. What’s CINE HIGH? It’s the book I wrote. (It’s my fourth book, but we’ll ignore those first three for now.)

I “published” the entire novel on Twitter, sentence by sentence, from Aug. 6 to Dec. 5, 2011. My readers were small – infinitesimal by Twitter standards – but loyal, so I’d consider that experiment a success.

Now, an ebook. I’m learning as I go, so I’m going to blog about it as I go. Because I’m a total internet guy now and that’s what internet guys do.

Today’s bit of research was an initial foray into Smashwords. Looks like a fun site, lots of books to peruse, with publishers and self-publishers side-by-side. I can see why so many self-publishers are attracted to the site, as it has an attractive “publish with us” link in a prominent, easy-to-spot place.

Here’s my question: What about the readers? How many readers are getting their books from Smashwords? I hear people all the time talking about books they got from Amazon, about self-published books they found on Amazon for their Kindles, I hear about self-publishers making their books available as PDFs on their own sites, but I never hear, “I found this great book on Smashwords, you have to check out.” I also never hear, “Oh, man, all those books on Smashwords are awful.” In other words, all the talk about Smashwords comes from the writers and the publishers, but never the readers. Are the readers there? If so, they’re not making their presence known.

(Side note: Dictionary.com informs me that one of the definitions of “infinitesimal” is, “pertaining to, or involving infinitesimals.” I find that hilarious for some reason.)