Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform serving thousands of independent authors and publishers around the world. Smashwords has gained international attention for its simple but radical idea: Provide a free service that enables any author anywhere to publish their ebook in seconds, making it available for immediate sampling, sale and distribution to a worldwide audience via major online ebook retailers and mobile smartphone platforms. Mark is a contributing blogger to the Huffington Post's books section, where he blogs about ebooks and the future of publishing.