While it’s unlikely to change the overall composition of the USA Today bestseller list by itself (see our earlier study), the Smashwords store recently began submitting sales data to USA Today’s bestseller list. The Smashwords store, established in 2008, has long facilitated direct-to-reader ebook sales for self-publishing authors. When Smashwords merged with Draft2Digital in 2022, Draft2Digital decided to keep running the Smashwords storefront. Note the Smashwords store also reports to the New York Times bestseller list and has done so for years.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
