Digital distributor Smashwords has launched a new preorder tool, helping self-published authors offer fans preorder options at Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
The new tool will also allow self-published writers to release a book in these three marketplaces on the same day instead of waiting for the book to hit each eBookstore. The company tested the new service with Kirsty Moseley’sFree Falling and followed by Abbi Glines’ Forever Too Far. Check it out:
Today we launched a public beta of our new preorder feature, available immediately to over 70,000 Smashwords authors and publishers around the world … During the preorder period, customers place advance orders. These advance orders accumulate in the days and weeks prior to the official onsale date and then credit all at once on the date of release, which causes the title to spike in the retailer’s bestseller lists.