Bye Week

Sorry all, this is a bye week for the Flash Fiction Challenge. [For those unfamiliar, a BYE WEEK is a sports term for when a team has the week off. The challenge will be back this weekend. Please also keep in mind that IU is run by ONE person, so sometimes these things happen. Thanks for your patience!]

Here’s a photo for you, though, if you want to just write something with no competition for this week since it’s short notice. If you do want to have the competition anyway, just let us know in comments and I’ll make it so. I hope you are all well and safe and happy on this last day of February!

Aurora borealis in ne washington state KS Brooks

Breaking News: Draft2Digital Acquires Smashwords

From the Draft2Digital website:

We’re betting that’s a headline you never expected to see, and we’re already anticipating the chatter this will cause in the indie author community!

We know this is going to feel a bit unexpected and out of the blue, but we’re very excited to make this announcement, and even more excited about what this means for you and the rest of the author community.

Since Draft2Digital was founded, in 2012, we have always believed that Smashwords was a vital and integral part of the self-publishing community. In many ways, Smashwords ultimately built the very industry in which we all work and thrive. Their work laid the foundation, and we’ve all been building on that foundation ever since.

And though Draft2Digital and Smashwords have always been cast as rivals in this little drama, the truth is it was, at worst, a friendly rivalry. In the end, we share the same goal: Empower self-published, indie authors and publishers to build and grow their publishing careers.

At the core of each company there has always been a love and appreciation of the author community. Many of us are authors ourselves, and each company was founded to provide the sort of services and support that we need. We understood your needs because we share them.

To read more, go to the Draft2Digital website here.