[Maria Romana]

I have a feeling that Smashwords and others may not like the idea that ebooks are free on their sites but that the cards are sold...especially since the authors may make more using this system than with their royalty systems.

Wondering about this, too. Yes, it brings new customers to Smashwords who might buy something, but what if not enough people do? Even now, without the gift card idea, Smashwords is spending a fortune offering the free downloads. They may only cost pennies a piece (in hardware, software, customer service time, etc.), but when you have hundreds of thousands of downloads, those pennies add up. Smashwords probably should get a cut, or at least charge authors/publishers a nominal fee per download. In that case, and if Smashwords could make gift codes that are one-time-use, the gift card idea would still likely be profitable for all.

--Maria