Smashwords vs KDP

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I recently published another in my long line of failed Science Fiction ebooks. However, unlike before, I decided that this time I was not going to limit myself to publishing my book exclusively through Amazon’s KDP program. The advantages of pushing books to other platforms would appear to be rather intuitive, save for the fact that KDP commands a staggering percentage of the ebooks market. This makes all the other platforms somewhat irrelevant.

SmashWords

Anyway, having decided not to put all my eggs in one basket, the next logical step for me was to create an account with SmashWords. See, the really great thing about SmashWords is that it simplifies life for the wannabe eBook publisher.

Instead of having to submit your book to Kobo, Apple, Amazon, etc, all that you need to do is upload to SmashWords and your book will appear on all of these platforms. Now, this article looks at which, between Smashwords and KDP, is easy to use when it comes to getting ebooks published.

Which is easier to use, between KDP and Smashwords?

  1. It’s easier to format your book for KDP. There can be no doubting this fact. Getting your book ready for publication using SmashWords can be really painful. No doubt, this has to do with the fact that SmashWords carters for a wide range of markets, all of which have different requirements.
  2. SmashWords, as already noted, simplifies life by pushing your book to many other markets, including Kobo and Apple. Indeed, SmashWords can also get your book published on Amazon’s KDP, though this offer is conditional.
  3. You are likely to get you book uploaded to KDP quicker than to Smashwords. Again, this boils down to the fact that it’s easier to format a book for KDP.
  4. The Kindle publication guide is easier to use than the Smashwords Style Guide.

It is clear, in my view, that, as already mentioned, it’s easier to publish books on the KDP platform than on Smashwords. Getting everything right tends to be difficult, as far as formatting is concerned, when it comes to Smashwords. Anyway, hope you have found this Smashwords vs KDP article useful. Feel free to leave comments in the section below.

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