From Gutenberg’s moveable type, to the printing press, to computer screens, to the Cloud, writers have seen the slow democratization of authorship.  The evolution of the printed word for consumption has taken hundreds of years. However, there’s been more progress in the last five years from one company that’s grown to become the world’s largest distributor of self-published Indie books.  On September 4, 2013, Smashwords reached the milestone of 250,000 books from over 65,000 authors around the world.

 “The previous stigma of self-publishing has largely disappeared, while at the same time the stigma of traditional publishing has increased,” asserts Smashwords’ founder Mark Coker.

Traditional Publishers

Not too long ago, authors attempting to secure a book deal with traditional publishers had to compose a pitch letter, find a literary agent who would submit a paper manuscript, only to endure the endless time lags associated with a lengthy review process. At the…