Smashwords, the popular self-publishing site, announced over the weekend that they now have 40,000 books in their online catalog.

To put this in perspective, we published 140 titles in all of 2008. In 2009, our catalog grew to 6,000, and at the end of 2010 (only three months ago), our title count stood at 28,500. We’re on track to meet or beat my goal of 75,000 titles by the end of 2011.

1.7 billion words are now published at Smashwords.

These are all works by authors publishing themselves, without benefit of traditional publishing houses. Reader choices and social media will determine which stories find an audience and which fade away. But these new opportunities for writers continue to grow.

And speaking of Smashwords, read this interview where Joe Konrath talks to Mark Coker, the entrepreneur who created Smashwords. It is well worth your time.