Read hundreds of free ebook samples from the authors and publishers of Smashwords.  Click to Smashwords to make your purchase.

	Sorry For Your Loss... Simple things to say or do when a friend loses a loved one	by Loretta Chen Oct. 06, 2011	$3.95	4295 words	Sample 15%
	Author bio: Loretta Chen has a B.A. in English from Yale University, and an M.F.A. in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. She works in the San Francisco Bay Area as a technical writer and volunteers as a wildlife rehabilitator.
	Modern Etiquette - A Practical Guide	by Dale Cameron Sep. 14, 2011	$2.99	16302 words	Sample 20%
	Author bio:
	How To Write Short Story Reviews	by Graham Murray July 30, 2011	$0.99	4489 words	Sample 30%
	Author bio: As a full-time author, I have what is possibly the best ‘job’ in the world, though I do not see writing as a job. Having been blessed with a vivid and active imagination, I am never short of material around which to build a story and have enough backlog material to last several lifetimes. In any event, storylines are everywhere. Just look around you - wherever you are - and there’s your story! Even a pitch-black room is a story in itself if you have the imagination. A writer without imagination is called a blank page, or ‘writer’s block (which I do not believe even exists). That said, my work tends to include elements of humanity, loss and grief, revenge, retribution, riddles and a plethora other hooks to keep readers turning pages (or hitting ‘Next”). Some of my simple riddles in stories have yet to be solved! (see “The Importance of Looking Right” for an example.) If you’re a ‘skipper’, i.e. you tend to ‘skip’ over blocks of text, then my work is definitely not for you. Very often in my stories, EVERY word is there for a reason, and if you’re a ‘skipper’ you are sure to miss a critical clue or aspect of the story which may render it meaningless to you. Who skips over stories anyway? Why read at all if you’re going to do that? In one of my stories, it is a single punctuation mark that emphasises the point of the story. Although it is a single ‘ . ’, the relevance of that single period runs into several paragraphs. The story in question is “Small Mercies”. All authors include aspects of their own life and personality in their writing. When I read back through some of my material, I often wonder how true this is. If a psychologist were to attempt to compose a ‘profile’ of me based on my writing, I would certainly either be the weirdest or most wanted person on earth! All of my stories contain a moral in one form or another and I like to keep these obscure and make the reader think about what they have just read. I never ‘spell it out’ in any of my stories. If you didn’t ‘get it’, your either skipped over a critical clue or misunderstood a vital part of the story. Read it again – the answer is ALWAYS there! Some people have read my short stories several times before they finally see the clues. And then they find them all! Try “To Be Frank” as a classic example of clues dotted all over the place. Many readers do not get this story, even right at the very end, where I DO spell it out. Amazing. As for my ebook entitled, “Li’l Red in the Hood”, I am always flabbergasted at how many people simply do not get what that story is all about. 99% of readers completely miss the point! Hint: it is British comedy! That may explain a lot . . . I take great pains to include these little titbits in my work, often taking days just to write a few paragraphs to ensure that the words are precisely the way they need to be. For me, writing is like building the innards of a fine Swiss watch. The face (cover) is easy, but the mechanism (story) is what makes it . . . well, Swiss. And therein lies the difference between experienced and new writers. New writers have yet to learn the subtle nuances and tend to blurt out stories, rather than sneakily guiding and misleading their readers and then smacking them with a punchline. My regular readers know that I make my books free for the first 24 hours or so, but then I charge for them. See my various works on the reasons for this. I don’t give away my work other than for promotional reasons. Freebies don’t pay the mortgage! Newbies just don’t get this. Between May and December of 2001, I sold just over 34,000 copies through Smashwords’ Distribution Channels, although I publish mainly on Amazon. 2012 looks like being a better year and hopefully we have now seen the end of all the vampire/werewolf/lesbian tedium and the real, adult fiction can come to the fore once again. I sure do miss it. If you need to contact me for any reason, the information is in any of my books, printed or ebooks. I look forward to hearing from you. I try to answer all my email, although this can take some time as my inbox gets quite hectic at times.
	WordFood: How We Feed or Starve Our Relationships	by Julia Hubbel June 28, 2011	$9.99	57466 words	Sample 20%
	Author bio: