Smashwords Announces Distribution Agreement with Gardners Books

Smashwords is expanding its global marketing reach in a partnership with the UK’s Gardners Books. From the Smashwords blog:

On October 22 Smashwords will begin delivering 230,000 ebooks sourced from the over 100,000 indie authors and small independent presses to 400 ebook stores powered by Gardners operating in 32 countries and serving customers in 138 countries; 2,000 public libraries in the U.K.; and 400 academic libraries in the UK, Europe and Middle East.  The agreement excludes Smashwords erotica titles…

Notable retailers with ebook stores powered by Gardners include www.hive.co.uk, www.books.telegraph.co.uk , www.indieebook.co.uk in the UK, www.bokus.com in Sweden ,  www.takealot.com in South Africa and www.saxo.com in Denmark.

Via this agreement, Smashwords will also distribute to libraries via two different avenues:

Askews & Holts Library Services – Askews & Holts (A&H) is a sister company to Gardners, and operates the UK’s largest library ebook service.  A&H currently powers the ebook checkout systems of 81 public library authorities in the U.K. comprised of 2,000+ public libraries.  This represents over half of the UK library authorities, serving a local population of 17 million people.

VLeBooks is used by 400 schools & colleges in Europe, the Middle East & Asia and 78 universities in the UK, with over 200,000 students registered on the platform. More than 16,000 academic librarians and teachers utilize the platform for their digital and physical book orders.  The terms of sale for VLeBooks are the same as for Askews & Holts.