Smashwords provides free ebook publishing and distribution services to over 130,000 indie authors, literary agents and small presses around the world. The company's ebook publishing platform makes it fast, free and easy to publish and sell ebooks. As an ebook distributor, Smashwords distributes to most of the world's largest ebook retailers, including the Apple iBooks store, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, and most leading library ebook platforms.
The company has grown quickly. At the end of 2008, it was publishing 140 books. By the end of 2009, that number grew to 6,000. By the end of 2010, 28,000. By the end of 2011, 92,000. By the end of 2012, 190,000. By the end of 2013, 276,000. By 2017, Smashwords was publishing over 450,000 ebooks.
The company is privately held.