In the past two years I have learned a lot about publishing. I have a whole pool of knowledge that has helped me as I have navigated the world of being an indie author. As with any industry, there are big players that don’t always make it easy for the little guys to succeed. But, there are also those who are trying to specifically help indie authors.

My favorite platform to date has been Smashwords! They help authors get their books out to all of the major retailers and into libraries. You might think that they charge an arm-and-a-leg to do so, but they actually have the best royalty rate that I have seen in the marketplace. That means when you, the reader, buy a book through Smashwords, the author gets more of the cut.

From today until March 11, Smashwords is hosting the Read an e-Book Week event on their website. Many authors are participating by discounting their books this week to encourage more readers to go to the Smashwords site and explore their catalog. You can see the full list of books on sale this week here.

I would highly recommend that you check it out. Books for every genre are available and it will give you the opportunity to try out these indie authors at little to no cost to you.

In the past year and a half I have been asked if I would do a giveaway of one of my books for marketing purposes. I have always said no, because my books are already $0.99. If someone isn’t going to spend less than a dollar on it, then they probably won’t take the time to buy it for free. (Also, my books are already available for free at many local libraries) But, when Smashwords asked authors to include their books in this promotion I had to reconsider.

That is why, for this week only, you can “purchase” The Games You Cannot Win for FREE at Smashwords. In an effort to get more readers to their site I figured it couldn’t hurt. Hopefully some of you will take the time to read my latest collection of short stories. More importantly, I hope that you give this retailer your attention and your business beyond this week.