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Episode 0:  Series Trailer for the Smart Author Podcast (4 min.)

Introduction to the Smart Author Podcast with Mark Coker.   The Smart Author Podcast teaches writers and subject matter experts how to publish ebooks with pride, professionalism and success.

Supplemental links:

None.

Transcript:

Welcome to the Smart Author Podcast, where you'll learn to publish ebooks with greater pride, professionalism, and success. I'm your host, Mark Coker. Let's get started.

Welcome to the series trailer of the Smart Author Podcast. Over the course of next several episodes, I'll teach you how to publish an ebook like a pro. I'll teach you how to turn your manuscript into an ebook, how to get your book listed for sale at major retailers around the world, how to make it purchasable by public libraries, and how to make your book stand out, so it's more discoverable and more desirable to readers. Whether you're preparing to publish your first book, or you're, already, a successful multi-published author and you want new ideas to take your sales to the next level, this series will help you reach more readers.

The podcast is structured to guide writers step by step from the basics of ebook publishing to more advanced topics, each episode builds on the episodes that precede it, although, you're welcome to listen to the episodes in any order, I think you'll get the most out of the series if you listen sequentially, from episode one forward, especially, if you're new to self-publishing. Throughout the series, we'll explore the best practices of the most successful authors.

Best practices are what separate self-published professionals from self-published amateurs. I'll teach you how to publish like a professional. For each episode, you'll find detailed show notes at Smashwords.com/podcast. The notes will contain edited transcripts, as well as, supplemental information and links. I'm releasing multiple episodes at once, for those of you who want to binge listen.

Before we jump into the first episode, a quick introduction is in order. Who am I, and why did I create this podcast? Well, my name is Mark Coker, I'm the founder of Smashwords. If you're not familiar with Smashwords, it's a free service that makes it easy to publish an ebook and get that book distributed to retailers and public libraries. Today, Smashwords has grown to become the world's leading distributor of self-published ebooks. One hundred and thirty thousand authors now publish and distribute nearly 500,000 ebooks with Smashwords, but this podcast is not about Smashwords, yet, it's my experience with Smashwords that will inform the podcast.

Over the last 10 years, I've had an amazing front-row seat to the self-publishing revolution. I've worked directly with thousands of our authors. It's through this experience I've observed the best practices of our most successful authors and just as importantly, I've observed the worst practices of our least successful authors. For this podcast, I'll share what works and what doesn't work based on real world experience. I'll provide you practical no-nonsense insights that will give you an advantage in the market place.

That's enough about me for now. From here forward, I want to focus on you. You're the writer. You've got something important inside you that yearns to be shared. Whether your book offers a great story or great knowledge, your book has the potential to change the world. The Smart Author Podcast series provides the roadmap to begin your journey, and it provides detailed instruction on how to take full advantage of the amazing tools available to you.

Until the next episode, keep writing. I'm Mark Coker.