When asked the “Which abyss…?” question, Mark Coker, founder of SmashWords, replies, “In a startup business, you stand at the edge of the abyss every day!”  He goes on, “Every day you get tripped up, every day you make decisions that can make or break your company.”  Indeed, at the end of its first year, Smashwords – which publishes and distributes e-books for independent authors, had 140 book titles in 2008.  “It didn’t work as a business model,” Mark admits, “but we believed in our mission and pressed on.”

Mark and his wife – authors themselves – knew how authors struggled and wanted to help get more books out into more readers’ hands.  It paid off for everyone.  The number of books distributed by SmashWords went to 27,000 in 2010 and stands at 80,000 so far in 2011.  “When we began, e-books were not respected and we helped turn that perception around.” Dramatically.

What makes it all worthwhile being at the edge every day?  “We get emails from our authors that can bring tears to your eyes.  We have people tell us ‘You (SmashWords) helped me write again.’  We’ve brought authors out of poverty now that they have help publishing and distributing.”

Fish gotta swim.  Writers gotta write.  Founders gotta live on the edge.

by Thubten Comerford and Michael Coates

This interview is sponsored by WePost Media