Mark Coker is the CEO of Smashwords, the largest eBook distributor in America. Mark was kind enough to offer Mom’s Favorite Reads an interview, and his answers are truly fascinating, a must read for all readers and writers.

Smashwords is a wonderful platform for authors and publishers. What sparked the idea for Smashwords?

Smashwords grew out of my personal experience trying to sell a novel my wife and I co-wrote.

My wife is a former reporter for Soap Opera Weekly Magazine. About 12 years ago we wrote a novel titled Boob Tube that explored the dark underbelly of Hollywood celebrity.

Despite enthusiasm from beta readers and representation from a top New York literary agency, traditional publishers rejected it. Our agent told us that previous novels targeting soap opera fans had performed poorly which made publishers reluctant to take a chance on our book.

Our failure to land a publishing deal opened my eyes to what I perceived as a horribly broken publishing ecosystem that was no longer working for authors and readers.

Read the full answer and interview here