Smashwords
TERMS OF SERVICE
Updated March 10, 2026
Most recent updates:
March 10, 2026:
- Updated to reflect Smashwords’ focus as an online bookseller.
- Policies related to Smashwords' former publishing and distribution services removed
- The former Section 9F has been moved to its own page
Introduction
Founded in 2008, Smashwords is a global online ebook retailer. We became a Draft2Digital company following our merger with Draft2Digital in March 2022. Former Smashwords authors and publishers now manage their publishing operations at Draft2Digital.com.
Registration at Smashwords is free. Unregistered guests are welcome to browse the store, but registration is required to purchase or download books, or to access our full range of tools and services for readers.
1. Smashwords Overview
These are the Terms of Service (the “Agreement” or these “Terms”) for registered and unregistered use of Smashwords.com (the “Site” or “Smashwords” or the “service”). This is a contract between you, the user of the Site, whether or not registered or unregistered (“you”, “user” or “customer”) and Draft2Digital, LLC d/b/a Smashwords (“Smashwords” or “we” or “us”).
This Agreement governs your use of the Site and outlines rules, guidance, and expectations for how Smashwords conducts its business and how we expect our visitors, customers, user agents, and partners to collaborate with us toward ensuring Smashwords remains a safe, friendly, and positive bookstore experience for everyone. For the purposes of this Agreement, a book or an ebook acquired through the Site may be referred to as a “Work” or a “book.”
By utilizing the services of Smashwords, you agree that you and your designated agents, if any (personal assistants as well as any automated spiders, bots, and AI agents operating on your behalf), agree to abide by this Agreement. Without limiting other remedies we may have, violations of these Terms may lead to account suspension, reversed purchases, reporting to law enforcement, litigation or other technical and legal steps necessary to protect Smashwords and its other users. If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use the service.
2. General Smashwords Matters
2a. Purchasing Works at Smashwords. By purchasing a Work, customer agrees to pay the price presented by Smashwords at the time of purchase. Customers can review final purchase prices in the shopping cart prior to confirming purchase and payment. Customers agree to pay all applicable taxes. For the purchases of any physical products at the Site, the customer agrees to pay applicable shipping and handling fees.
2b. All Works Listed As Is. Smashwords lists, merchandises, and sells Works as they are delivered to us by their publishers. ALL WORKS ARE PROVIDED AS-IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND ALL WARRANTIES FOR BOOKS, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, ARE DISCLAIMED.
2c. No refunds. Book purchases are non-refundable. Customers are encouraged to download a book’s free sample to assess the author’s writing before deciding to purchase the book of an author who is unknown to them. If the purchased book is corrupted or unreadable, or if the wrong book was provided, please contact Smashwords for a replacement.
2d. DRM-free ebooks. The books at Smashwords do not include digital rights management (DRM) copy protection; this means you can enjoy Smashwords books on any epub-compatible e-reading device or app now or in the future. With DRM copy protection absent from all Smashwords books, authors and publishers who provided these books are trusting you, the Smashwords customer, to honor their copyright and respect their intellectual property. Don’t betray the trust. Customers may make copies of a purchased book for their own personal enjoyment, but it is illegal and a violation of these Terms to copy books for sharing with others.
2e. Listing at Option of Smashwords. Smashwords may decide not to list a particular Work or may decide to discontinue one or more listings of a Work for any reason or no reason at any given time. The Site, the functionality of the Site, and the Works provided through the Site may change with or without notice for any or no reason.
3. Account Security.
When users sign up for a Smashwords account, they must provide Smashwords with a permanent email address and a password as login credentials. This is necessary for Smashwords to confirm account creation and perform services for you. For example, if you purchase a book, we need to email you a receipt and your download links.
The User is responsible for controlling access to their Smashwords account and is responsible for all purchases made through that account.
Below are three recommended best practices Smashwords Users can employ to protect their sign on credentials and ensure privacy over their Smashwords account and library:
- The email/password combination provided Smashwords should be unique; never use the same password at Smashwords that has ever been used at any other website.
- Choose a password that cannot be guessed. Avoid using easily guessable phrases, or short passwords that are words only. Consider using a password management app or tool that can generate and manage robust passwords that are impossible to guess.
- Activate Smashwords’ optional two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication adds a robust layer of account security by preventing any unauthorized person from signing into an account or accessing an account’s books without also being in physical possession of the account owner’s primary device, which is usually the account holder’s cell phone.
4. Legal Matters and other Important Stuff
4a. AI training notice. Smashwords expressly forbids scanning, scraping, and analysis of the Site and any book contents for AI training purposes, whether books are purchased or free.
4b. Book “purchases” are license purchases. When a Smashwords customer “buys” or “purchases” a book from Smashwords, the customer is licensing that book for their own personal use only. Smashwords books are licensed to the purchaser (or giftee) individually and are otherwise non-transferable. This means that, unless otherwise stated on the title page of an individual book, you agree that all Smashwords books are licensed solely for the personal, non-commercial enjoyment of the purchaser or giftee only.
4c. Redistribution of books, free books, and sample works: All books and book samples at Smashwords are the copyrighted material of the publisher. Redistribution of purchased and downloaded books is expressly forbidden. Third parties are not authorized to download, host, replicate, resell, rent, or otherwise redistribute any Smashwords books, listings metadata, or artwork without obtaining prior written consent from Smashwords. Directory services and affiliate marketers may only reproduce the metadata found on each book's book page (cover image, book description, price, etc.) within apps and websites provided all hyperlinks direct users to only the Smashwords book page of the title in question, and provided users are not charged for access to these directory listings, and are not required to register their personal information to gain access to these listings.
4d. User Conduct. Smashwords and its users work together to keep Smashwords a safe and comfortable place to explore and enjoy books. While using the Site, services and/or Works, Users agree they will not:
• violate any laws, third party rights, or any policies which we have posted on the Site from time to time;
• register using temporary “burner” emails that expire shortly after first use
• distribute any material to Smashwords which violates this Terms of Service;
• use the Site, services, or Works if you are not able to form legally binding contracts, not using your own legal form of payment, are under the age of 18, or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from our Site;
• circumvent or manipulate our fee structure, the billing process, or legal tax collection;
• use robots, spiders, shills or other underhanded methods in an attempt to manipulate the site's ranking systems, or hire others to do the same
• engage in advertising, marketing, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or money laundering involving or using Works or payment systems on the Site;
• engage in any criminal activity involving the books or customers found on the Site, including but not limited to money laundering, tax evasion, fraud, and unauthorized credit card use;
• use Smashwords book reviews for any purpose other than to leave a legitimate book review; within reviews we disallow marketing or advertising other books, products or services, or using reviews as a method of contacting publishers, or to leaving toxic comments with the intent to bully, intimidate, or cause emotional distress
• distribute viruses or malware, or utilize other technologies or social engineering techniques that could harm Smashwords or the interests or property of Smashwords users;
• copy, modify, or distribute content from the Site, or Smashwords’ copyrights and trademarks;
• engage in abusive or profane behavior toward Smashwords, its employees, its publishers, its authors, or fellow Site users; or
• threaten Smashwords or Draft2Digital with legal action for any illegitimate reason or frivolous case; if you need us to fix something quick, write us a friendly note over the support link today!
4e. Smashwords content policies
Smashwords lists books across a wide range of diverse categories, including erotic literature. By default, Smashwords automatically removes titles classified as erotica from home page merchandising shelves and search results. Registered users must affirmatively request to view this content in search results by adjusting the erotica filters found at the top right of every Smashwords web page.
For the benefit of readers and prospective publishers alike, visit https://smashwords.com/erotica-content-guidelines for detailed information on our erotica content policies.
4f. Ownership. You acknowledge and agree that the Site and services are proprietary to Smashwords, and that the Works listed at Smashwords are proprietary to their respective owners and publishers, and that all rights in the foregoing are reserved and none are proprietary to you, the User.
4g. Termination. Either you or Smashwords may terminate this Agreement at any time without notice. Registered Smashwords members may cancel this Agreement and their account at any time, or opt out of email subscriptions at any time.
4h. Limitation of Liability. THE SITE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." WE WILL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS, COST OF COVER OR OTHER SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, RELIANCE OR SIMILAR DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN RELATION TO THIS AGREEMENT OR USE OF THE SITE OR WORKS ACQUIRED FROM THE SITE, HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF THEORY OF LIABILITY (WHETHER CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTORY, EQUITABLE REMEDY, DISGORGEMENT OR OTHERWISE). IN NO EVENT WILL OUR LIABILITY UNDER OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT OR USE OF THE SITE OR FOR ANY WORK EXCEED THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF THE COST OF THE BOOK TO WHICH THE CLAIM RELATES OR ARISES OUT OF AND WE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM, WITH RESPECT TO ALL SERVICES, THE SITE AND CONTENT OR WORKS PROVIDED BY, THROUGH, OR ON BEHALF OF US IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OR WARRANTIES THAT MAY ARISE OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, USAGE OR TRADE PRACTICE. USERS OF THE SITE ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT NEITHER SMASHWORDS NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH SMASHWORDS WILL HAVE ANY LIABILITY ARISING FROM A FAILURE OF ANY SECURITY SYSTEM OR FOR TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET. SMASHWORDS RELIES ON COMPLEX SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES. WE STRIVE TO MAKE OUR SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES ERROR-FREE AND EFFICIENT, BUT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT THEY WILL BE, AND WE WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY ARISING FROM SYSTEM OR PROCESS FAILURES, INTERRUPTIONS, INACCURACIES, ERRORS OR LATENCIES.
4i. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and defend Smashwords and its representatives and owners from and against any claim, demand, action or suit, or other legal proceeding and all resulting liability, costs, fines, penalties and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) that in any way arise out of your violation of these Terms.
4j. Entire Agreement. This Agreement is the entire agreement between Smashwords and you concerning the subject matter hereof.
4k. Governing Law; Severability. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of Oklahoma. If any portion of this Agreement is held invalid, the parties agree that such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Agreement.
4l. Legal venue. The exclusive venue for all disputes arising or relating to this Agreement or use of the Site or services shall be the federal or state courts sitting in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, and the parties hereto hereby consent to such jurisdiction and venue. If any action or other legal proceeding relating to this Agreement or the enforcement of any provision of this Agreement is brought against any party hereto, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and disbursements (in addition to any other relief to which the prevailing party may be entitled).
4m. No Agency. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or other joint relationship is created hereby.
4n. Acknowledgement. By using the Site you acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions.
4o. Smashwords DMCA Policy. DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Smashwords is an ebook retailer and is not the publisher for the works listed at Smashwords.
Smashwords maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding rights violations. If you believe your rights have been infringed, please contact us immediately via the Smashwords support form and please provide the following information: (1) A simple electronic signature (typed full name), address, phone number and email address of the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on their behalf; (2) An identification of the copyright or right claimed to have been infringed; (3) a notation of the specific aspects of the violation in sufficient detail to permit Smashwords to understand the nature of alleged infringement (i.e. is the book pirated, plagiarizing, or using unauthorized cover art?); (4) hyperlinks to the infringing work at Smashwords; (5) and a statement by the Infringed party or their representative that: (a) you believe in good faith that the use of the content that you claim is infringing is truly unauthorized by law; (b) under penalty of perjury, that all of the information contained in your Infringement Notice is accurate, and (c) a statement noting if you’re the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf.
Upon receipt of such a submission, Smashwords will investigate the matter and Smashwords reserves the right to suspend or remove Works and other content pending investigation. If Smashwords removes a Work, such a Work will generally only be restored on the Site if (1) the accused and the accuser stipulate to Smashwords that the parties have resolved their dispute, or (2) Smashwords receives a court order.
4p. Reporting TOS violations
Please help us ensure that Smashwords remains a safe and enjoyable bookstore experience for fellow customers and visitors. If Users become aware that another user has violated or is violating the Smashwords Terms of Service, please report the violation to the Smashwords customer support team.
5. Privacy and Email Policy
Smashwords has strict policies to protect the privacy of Smashwords customers and visitors. Smashwords further places customers in full control over the email communications they receive from Smashwords. The full privacy and email policy is outlined at https://www.smashwords.com/about/privacy and, by agreeing to these Terms, you also agree to that policy.
Thank you, we hope you enjoy the Site! Contact the Smashwords support team if you have questions or comments. We welcome your feedback and thank you for helping to make Smashwords a safe and comfortable online bookstore.
Smashwords is a Draft2Digital company.
Draft2Digital LLC
2524 N. Broadway
Edmond, OK 73034
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