I have decided I am not going to publish my work on Smashwords. Formatting the manuscript to Smashwords' exacting requirements is a nightmare. Kindle Direct Publishing is much more straightforward. To be fair, Smashwords does have a 'how to' guide (100+ pages!), which I followed, but I couldn't get the contents page to work no matter what I tried. I even removed the contents, but still no joy. I briefly considered paying someone to do the formatting for me, but I didn't feel comfortable with that. That was when I decided to do some more research and came across some blog posts which basically said Smashwords wasn't the worth the effort. Of course some people think it's great - good for them - they are obviously a lot more patient than I am.
I may look into Kobo and the like separately, as I believe they're easier to upload to. I have also just discovered Draft2Digital - a competitor of Smashwords - which I will research. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't upload my novelettes anywhere else though, as I'm reliably informed that Amazon has 95% of the market in the UK (thanks, Louise). Sounds good to me.
I know some formatting is always going to be required, but a 100+ page guide and videos on YouTube? That tells you that formatting your manuscript for Smashwords isn't going to be a walk in the park. Does it really have to be so complicated? I don't think so.
