How to Set Up and Use Draft2Digital
Draft2Digital (D2D) is the aggregator that fills the distribution gaps in a wide author's strategy. Where your direct accounts on Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, and Barnes & Noble handle your four anchor platforms, D2D handles everything else: library lending platforms (OverDrive, Hoopla, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox), European retailers (Tolino, Vivlio), subscription services (Everand/Scribd), Bookshop.org, and the long tail of global storefronts. One D2D account, one upload, and your book reaches this entire network.
D2D is commission-based — it takes 10% of royalties from sales it distributes, with no upfront fees or monthly subscription. You pay only when you earn.
What You Need Before You Start
A finished ebook file — ePub is preferred, but D2D also accepts .docx (Word), which it will convert to ePub for distribution
A cover image: JPEG or PNG, minimum 1,600 × 2,400 px, 6:9 portrait ratio
Your banking information for royalty payments
A list of which retailers you plan to distribute to directly (so you can deselect those in D2D to avoid duplicate listings)
Step 1: Create Your D2D Account
Go to draft2digital.com and click Start Publishing. Create your account with your email address. After verifying your email, you'll land in the D2D dashboard.
Payment Setup
From your Account Settings or Profile, set up your payment method. D2D pays via PayPal, check, or ACH direct deposit depending on your country. Payment threshold is $10 for PayPal and ACH, $25 for checks. D2D pays monthly, approximately 60 days after the end of the earning month.
Tax Information
Complete your tax profile from Account Settings. US authors provide SSN or EIN (W-9 equivalent). Non-US authors provide applicable documentation. D2D withholds taxes without completed documentation. Non-US authors in US tax treaty countries benefit from completing the W-8BEN to reduce or eliminate US withholding on US-sourced royalties.
Author Profile
Set up your author profile with your display name, biography, and optional author photo. D2D uses this information to populate your author page on Books2Read (books2read.com), D2D's universal link and author page service, and may provide it to distribution partners for their author page systems.
Step 2: Add a New Book
From your D2D dashboard, click + Add a New Book. The book setup flows through several screens.
Step 3: Book Details
Book Information
Enter your title, subtitle, series name and number (if applicable), author name, and any additional contributors. Use exactly the same series name as on all other platforms — series naming consistency is critical for recommendation performance across the platforms D2D distributes to.
Description
Your description feeds into D2D's distribution to all its partner platforms. Write it as you would for any retail platform: compelling hook, genre signals, stakes, call to action. This same description will appear on OverDrive, Hoopla, Tolino, Vivlio, Everand, and Bookshop.org — it is your marketing copy across a wide range of different storefronts simultaneously.
BISAC Category
Select your BISAC category. D2D distributes your BISAC selection to its partner platforms, which use it for their own browse and search categorization. Choose the most specific accurate BISAC subcategory — the same category strategy that applies to direct platform publishing applies here.
Language
Select the language your book is written in.
Keywords
Enter keywords that describe your book. D2D distributes these to partners that accept keyword metadata. Use reader search phrases, genre terms, and trope terms as on other platforms.
ISBN
D2D offers free ISBNs (listing D2D as publisher of record) or you can enter your own ISBN. Google Play Books requires an ISBN — if you are distributing to Google Play through D2D, you need an ISBN. For other D2D distribution channels, an ISBN is not strictly required but is good practice.
⚠ D2D's free ISBNs list Draft2Digital LLC as the publisher of record in ISBN databases. This is fine for authors not building an imprint identity. For authors who want their own publishing company listed as publisher of record, purchase your own ISBN from Bowker and enter it here. See the ISBN Guide in this series for the full trade-off discussion.
Step 4: Cover and File Upload
Cover Image
Upload your cover. D2D accepts JPEG and PNG. Minimum recommended: 1,600 × 2,400 px, 6:9 portrait ratio. D2D distributes your cover to all its partner platforms — ensure your cover meets the highest requirement among the platforms you're distributing to. A cover at 2,400 × 3,600 px will exceed all partner minimums.
Manuscript Upload
Click to upload your manuscript. D2D accepts ePub, Word (.docx), RTF, and other formats. ePub produces the best results — D2D passes your ePub through to platforms that can accept it, and uses it as the source for its own conversion to other formats. If you upload a Word document, D2D's formatter will generate an ePub from it.
After upload, D2D shows a preview of how your book will appear using its formatter. Review the preview — check that chapter breaks are correct, the table of contents is complete, and the formatting looks clean. If you uploaded an ePub directly, D2D typically passes it through with minimal modification.
Step 5: Configure Distribution Channels
This is the most important step in the D2D workflow — and where most distribution mistakes happen. D2D distributes to a large network of retailers, libraries, and subscription services. You must deselect any platform where you already have a direct account to avoid creating duplicate listings.
The Deselection Rule
If you have a direct publishing account on a platform, disable D2D's distribution to that platform. Publishing to Kobo through both your Kobo Writing Life account and D2D simultaneously creates two separate product listings for the same book — pricing conflicts, two competing product pages, and potential policy violations.
⚠ Duplicate distribution is one of the most consequential mistakes wide authors make when setting up D2D. Review your entire channel list carefully — not just the obvious platforms. A book simultaneously live through your direct Kobo account and through D2D's Kobo channel will have two product listings on Kobo with potentially different prices, different metadata, and competing product pages. Contact the affected platform to have the duplicate removed.
Library Distribution Channels
Library distribution is one of D2D's most important and most underutilized features. It is the primary reason many wide authors use D2D at all — library platforms like OverDrive and Hoopla are not accessible through direct author publishing accounts. Ensure these are enabled:
OverDrive — dominant US library ebook lending platform; powers Libby
Hoopla — no-waitlist library audio and ebook lending
Bibliotheca (cloudLibrary) — US, UK, and Australian library lending
BorrowBox (Bolinda) — Australian, New Zealand, and Irish library lending
Palace Marketplace — additional US library channel
Subscription Services
Everand (formerly Scribd) — global ebook and audio subscription
International and Specialty Retailers
Tolino — German-speaking market (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Vivlio — French-language markets (France, Belgium)
Bookshop.org — indie bookstore ecosystem platform
Gardners — UK wholesale library and retail distribution
Step 6: Pricing
Set your retail price. D2D's default is to set your USD price and let partner platforms convert to local currencies. You can set prices in other currencies where D2D's interface allows it.
D2D distributes your pricing to each partner platform. The royalty you receive depends on the partner platform's royalty rate and D2D's 10% commission on the royalty received. For a $4.99 ebook on OverDrive where the library licensing rate generates a certain amount, D2D takes 10% of that amount and passes 90% to you.
Free / Permafree Setting
D2D supports setting a book to free ($0.00). For permafree series starters being distributed through D2D to library and subscription channels, this setting makes the book available as a free title through those channels — separate from your retail pricing on direct platforms where you may charge retail price.
Step 7: Back Matter Templates
One of D2D's most useful features is its automated back matter system. D2D can automatically insert standardized back matter into every book it distributes — saving you from manually updating each ebook file when your catalog grows.
What D2D Back Matter Can Include
Also by this author — automatic list of your other D2D-distributed titles with Books2Read universal links
Newsletter sign-up link — link to your reader magnet or newsletter landing page
Author biography
Custom text — any additional back matter content you want appended
Setting Up Back Matter
From your D2D Account Settings or during book setup, configure your back matter template. When enabled, D2D appends this content to every ebook it distributes on your behalf. This is particularly useful because D2D's back matter automatically uses Books2Read universal links for your other titles — so a reader who finishes book one on any platform sees a link to book two that routes to their preferred store.
Step 8: Books2Read Universal Links
D2D operates Books2Read (books2read.com), a free universal link service available to all authors. After your book is distributed through D2D, Books2Read generates a single URL that routes each reader to their preferred retailer based on their device and location preferences.
To set up your Books2Read universal link: go to books2read.com, add your book, and enter the retail links for each platform where your book is available (including your direct-platform links, not just D2D-distributed ones). Books2Read generates a single URL you can use in your back matter, email list, social media, and anywhere else you promote your book.
Universal links are essential for wide authors. Using a single Books2Read link in your back matter and marketing means Kobo readers go to Kobo, Apple readers go to Apple Books, and Amazon readers go to Amazon — all from the same URL. Without universal links, readers land wherever you sent them, which may not be the store they use.
Step 9: Review and Publish
After completing your book details, uploading your files, configuring distribution channels, and setting pricing, review the summary and click Publish. D2D submits your book to its distribution network. Individual partners have their own timelines for listing new titles — most go live within a few days, library platforms can take longer.
From your D2D dashboard, you can track the status of your book on each distribution channel. Status indicators show whether your book is submitted, live, or has any issues on each partner platform.
Step 10: Managing Your D2D Catalog
Updating Metadata
From your D2D bookshelf, click Edit on any title to update metadata. Changes are distributed to D2D's partner platforms. Propagation timelines vary by partner — most updates reach retail partners within a few days; library platform updates can take longer.
Updating Files
Upload a new ePub or manuscript file from your title's Content section. D2D processes the new file and distributes the updated version to all partner platforms.
Adjusting Distribution Channels
You can enable or disable individual distribution channels for any title at any time from the Distribution section of your title settings. This is useful when you set up a new direct account on a platform that was previously handled by D2D — disable D2D's distribution to that platform and set up your direct account to take over.
D2D's Royalty Reporting
D2D's royalty dashboard shows your earnings by partner platform and by title. Partner platforms report on different schedules — some report monthly, others on a 60-day lag. Library platform royalties in particular can take longer to appear in your D2D dashboard.
D2D royalties sync into ScribeCount once your D2D account is connected. This is particularly valuable because D2D aggregates income from dozens of partner platforms — library channels, subscription services, international retailers — each reporting on different timelines. ScribeCount normalizes all of this into a unified view alongside your direct platform income from Kobo, Apple, Amazon, and others. For wide authors using D2D as their library and long-tail distribution backbone, ScribeCount is the only practical way to see total income without spending hours in D2D's dashboard cross-referencing partner reports.
D2D TOS Highlights Authors Should Know
D2D's free ISBNs list D2D as publisher of record — understand this before using them
D2D takes 10% of the royalty received from each partner — not 10% of the retail price
Books distributed through D2D must comply with each partner platform's content guidelines in addition to D2D's own guidelines
D2D's account maintenance fee policy (introduced in 2026): accounts that earn less than $100 annually may be charged a $12/year maintenance fee — active publishing accounts with meaningful distribution typically exceed this threshold
You can withdraw titles from D2D distribution at any time — there is no minimum enrollment period as with KDP Select
Common D2D Mistakes
Failing to deselect platforms where you have direct accounts — creating duplicate listings
Not enabling library distribution channels (OverDrive, Hoopla, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox) — leaving the primary D2D advantage unused
Not setting up the back matter template — missing D2D's automatic series cross-promotion
Not creating Books2Read universal links for your books — using platform-specific links in marketing
Not connecting D2D to ScribeCount — making it impossible to see library and long-tail royalties alongside your direct platform income
Using D2D to distribute to anchor platforms (Kobo, Apple, Google Play, B&N) instead of using direct accounts there — losing access to each platform's promotional tools
- Draft2Digital handles the distribution that your direct accounts cannot — library lending platforms, European retailers, subscription services, and specialty channels that don't have open author portals. Set up your channel configuration carefully (deselect every platform where you have a direct account), enable library distribution fully, use the back matter template, and connect it to ScribeCount so you can see the full picture of what D2D is doing for your wide publishing business.
-Randall Wood