Smashwords: your ebook, your way.

In a search conducted for ebooks, I found Smashwords! This is an ebook publishing and distribution platform. It offers DRM-free ebooks (without digital rights management) for sampling and purchase for any e-reader.

This is a very cool website! After free registration, users have access to tools for search, discovery and personal library stock. New features are added weekly. Authors who wish to publish but experience roadblocks with traditional publishing methods can market their work and retain complete control over the sampling and marketing (including price) of their written works. For those authors who wish to publish their works, including every imaginable genre, it’s FREE to publish and distribute!

They offer a style guide, which is their formatting bible, complete with FAQ. Additionally, low-cost formatters and cover designers are available for Smashwords authors, by Smashwords authors.

The founder, Mark Coker, along with his wife, attempted to get a book published. After repeated rejections, they revised the book and tried again. Continued rejections inspired them to create an alternate method for those seeking the publication of their written words, thus Smashwords was born. In just four years, Smashwords is the leading ebook distributor and serves authors, small presses, and literary agents around the world. Over 100,000 books have been published by over 35,000 authors through Smashwords. And they distribute ebooks to some of the major retail markets including Barnes & Noble and the Apple iBookstore to name a few.

Now the fine print for the reader:     

Readers can search under the multitude of tabs to find a plethora of reading materials. I went directly to check out the YA list. Filters can be set to narrow the search including genre and then newest, best sellers, units sold, most downloads, and highest rated. Price filters can be set and include FREE as well as varying increments from .99 cents or less up to $9.99. And for the readers who are on “word budgets,” length filters are also available. Checking out the free list, I found lots of interesting descriptions in the long list of titles.  

While there are books that might not be family-friendly, the site has value for the media center and classrooms. I’m not sure if this would be blocked by school internet security forces or not, but an amazing opportunity to find new authors and books is presented. But better, this site could offer the opportunity for budding YA authors to launch their books, plays, short stories, poems, etc. I can see usage of this site in the school media center and classrooms. 


*There is an “adult filtering” feature which prevents ebooks labeled as “adult” from appearing on the home page and in keyword searches (unless the reader so chooses). Books not intended for under age 18 are marked adult. I imagine this could be set on school computers with the capability for changing the filter out of the control of students.

Several years ago I taught a creative writing class, and this would have been the perfect vehicle for my students to use to get their products “out there.”

Here is just one sample that caught my eye from the YA list:

Short description

Zuri's biggest problem in life wasn't her mother's lesbian relationship or her mixed heritage, it was the hideous fat rolls that hung loosely from her body. Her issues with weight causes her to spiral down a destructive path that could destroy her both physically and emotionally.

By Brandy Martin

Rating: Not yet rated.

Published: March 30, 2012

Words: 35368 (approximate)

Language: English

Price: $2.99 USD

WOW! This is one of those books that offers just about everything a YA reader could ask for if in any sort of similar situation or who might just want a good read. It addresses body image to start, and then moves on to multi-racial and the whole gay/lesbian issues too, striding full force into the intellectual freedom arena. All for only $2.99!

Many of the books can be sampled for free, and some authors are willing to let the readers sift through up to half of their books before payment. What a treat – especially for the YA set who often get bored with books long before they are half-way through!

I registered for free and who knows? Maybe one of my future books will marketed and I will be an official “Smasher!”

And of course, you can follow them on Twitter and/or Facebook and become a fellow “Smasher.”


https://www.smashwords.com/

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is one of my favorite novels of all time, YA or not.

This historical fiction presents the timeless story of the sacrifices of true friendship set against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Lenny, a huge mentally deficient man with enormous physical strength, is paired with George, a smaller intelligent man. Between the two, they have the strength and brains necessary for surviving. The two depend upon each other to forge their survival working as “bindle stiffs” from one ranch to the next. Lenny usually gets the pair into some kind of trouble due to his childish, fetish-like desires to “touch soft things” and look at pretty girls. He is really a huge, harmless man with childlike qualities that eventually turn deadly, but more so out of an oblivious innocence rather than any sort of malice. The realization of his wrong doings are usually accompanied by his dull sense of knowing that George will be mad rather than any kind of sense of the awareness between right and wrong.

With the theme of The Great American Dream set against the backdrop of The Great Depression, the shared goal is to keep Lenny out of trouble long enough to save the money required to purchase their dream - a piece of land to call their own, farm, raise animals (especially rabbits for Lenny) and glean an independent existence during the worst of economic times. The depression sets the story in motion, expertly crafted to gently draw the reader into the timeframe without disrupting the storyline which is an integral cog in the wheel of the far reaching plot that leaves the reader in total sympathy for the actions George must take to protect his friend. 

Where can one even begin to respond to such a classic? The themes within this novel literally leap from the pages. True friendship is usually defined as the willingness to lay down your life for those you love. What about the opposite? Without spoiling the plot for any of you have not yet read this brilliant story, some questions to ask yourself might include the following:

Just how far would you go to protect your best friend?

*Is it ever acceptable to break the law of the land, as well as God’s law, if it is broken out of pure love?

*What should be done with people who commit crimes, yet due to mentally incapacity do not understand the implication of their actions?

*On another level, is the American Dream really attainable for every American or is it just propaganda introduced to sell America, the land of the free – home of the brave, as the land of opportunity?

Study guides abound for this classic. Usually introduced in the English classroom, it could be used in a variety of additional formats. It could be a great fiction to use alongside the teaching of the Great Depression. It could be used in psychology classes to present a study of the mentally handicapped as well as the study of co-dependent relationships. I see its use in government classes as well in which the study of crimes committed by the “innocent” can be examined. The 112 pages of this book are jammed full of themes, meaning, and the haunting story never to be forgotten once read.

Steinbeck, the master, is one of my all-time favorite authors. I don’t have enough thumbs to rate this book. Two simply are not enough.

Publisher: Penguin

ISBN-10: 0142000671

ISBN-13: 978-0142000670

Lists, sites and Events Continued... (backwards! Part 1 is below!)

Another Excellent Site:

VOYA - Voice of Youth Advocates  

This is a library journal dedicated to all things YA librarians could hope for – advocacy of young adults, promotion of YA literature and more. They offer regular columns and feature articles providing information on a wide variety of  topics. They claim the rights as one of the first to provide support and be strong advocates for the intellectual freedom for teens. They review over 2000 books per year and provide online reviews as well.

Take a cruise through this site. It’s informational and easy to linger for an extended visit. 

Lists, Sites, Events and Other Helpful Things

2012 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 

This is a great list to utilize for the YA readers who also  like to hear books. Additionally, it could be an avenue to get reluctant readers interested. Maybe a helpful list for school downloads too. Personally, I love the listen to books while I'm traveling. Maybe over the summer these titles could be offered to kids in transit! 

This is the YALSA list for their 2012 choices for audiobooks:

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison, read by Stina Nielson. Recorded Books, 2010.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, read by Libba Bray. Scholastic Audio, 2011.

Carter’s Big Break by Brent Crawford, read by Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio, 2011.

Chime by Franny Billingsley, read by Susan Duerden. Listening Library, 2011.

Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey, read by Steven Boyer. Recorded Books, 2010.

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve, read by Philip Reeve. Scholastic Audio, 2011.

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg, read by L.J. Ganser. Recorded Books, 2011.

Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith, read by Mark Boyett. Brilliance Audio, 2010.

Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud, read by Simon Jones. Listening Library, 2010.

Wake of the Lorelei Lee by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren. Listen and Live Audio, 2010.

Check out this event!

This looks like the place to be November 2-4! The YALSA YA Symposium will be held in St. Louis, and promises to be an event not to be missed. I would love to attend, and if at all possible, I am going to try for it! You can try the QR or click on the link for more information directly from the site. (I'm not sure if I got the QR code inserted correctly, but the link works!)
 http://yalitsymposium12.ning.com/

In need of a book? A list of books? 

This is one of my favorite lists sources. It started back in 1996, and has grown to about 1000 lists. I don't think there is anything you cannot find here. Check it out! Originally, this began as part of a librarian collaborative project in which librarians could use and contribute to. Apparently, it has been extremely successful and is now a wiki. The original website is still accessible (second link). I use this frequently. If you need a book for a boy, a girl, one about a horse or a toad, then cruise on in. You can find a book on almost any topic in the whole world - ok, maybe that's hyperbolic, but I have never searched for something on here and NOT found it!

http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.com/

http://www.nancykeane.com