Tools for
Smashwords Authors

Smashwords Sample Reader

The Reader displays the .epub sample for a Smashwords book. It is designed to launch from a button or to be embedded in the page. We suggest using the button, as otherwise it will be triggered every time the page loads, and may slow the site down.

Constraints: It is designed to work with books which have an epub sample, and won't accept others. This will currently not pull in books that are free - as an e-reader it can display them but we need to check whether these will count as downloads with Smashwords. A Launcher note: Currently the div loads in a position relative to the link. Some plugins on the page - e.g. Flash or PDF - may appear through the widget. This is browser behaviour we can't fix, but the java applet will be unaffected.

Credits: Icons from shapes4free. PHP reader by tirial.

Launch from Button

This can launch from a text link, or image link, as shown: Open
or


To create a link, use the code below and replace "90181" with the number of your book:
For Text:
<script src="http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/clickyinc.js"></script> <a href="http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/reader_window.php?book=90181" target="_blank" onClick="DivAppear(this.href);return false;">Open</a>
For Image:
<script src="http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/clickyinc.js"></script> <a href="http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/reader_window.php?book=90181" target="_blank" onClick="DivAppear(this.href);return false;"><img src="http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/img/read_sample.png" alt="Read a sample" style="margin:0px;border:none;padding:0px;"></a>

By default the reader will launch in a popup, or a new window/tab if popups are turned off. To force it to always load in a new window, you can also use this variation:
<a href="http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/reader_window.php?book=90181" target="_blank">Open</a>

Embed Reader

Please use no more than one embed on a page, due to processing requirements. Use the code below and replace "90181" with the number of your book:

<iframe src='http://www.smashingreads.com/reader/reader_window.php?book=90181' style='width:400px;height:600px;' frameborder=0 border=0></iframe>

Screenshots

(Reduced height to 200 pixels or one third normal size. The reader loads at 400px x 600px).