Mark Coker
![Word Slingers: The Story of Self-Publishing is a feature documentary about the rise of independent authors and the democratization and evolution of the contemporary publishing industry. The goal is to inspire would-be authors to become entrepreneurs and publish their own work while educating them on how to sustain that career. We aim to show you the day-to-day grind of building a successful publishing business from start to finish, and in doing so, will reveal some of the best kept secrets in the publishing industry.](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI5MDkwMTU1MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjQ0Nzk5MDI@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Mark Coker is a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur based in Los Gatos, California. In 2008 he founded Smashwords, the world's leading ebook publishing platform for indie authors. Prior to Smashwords, he was founder and president of BestCalls.com (1998-2003), a publisher of earnings conference call schedules for individual investors which was acquired in 2003 by Shareholder(later acquired and operated by the Nasdaq Stock Exchange). He's also the former founder and president of Dovetail Public Relations, an award-winning strategic communications consultancy that operated between the years of 1993 and 2008. Mark earned his B.S. degree in marketing from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley class in 1988.