Draft2Digital: The Aggregator That Powers Wide Publishing

When authors decide to go wide, one of the first practical questions they face is logistics: how do you publish to ten, twenty, or thirty retailers without spending your entire week managing uploads, price changes, and metadata updates across a dozen different dashboards? The answer, for most wide authors, is an aggregator—and Draft2Digital is the aggregator that the indie author community has largely settled on as the standard.



Draft2Digital is not a retailer. It does not sell your books directly to readers. It is the infrastructure layer between you and the retailers who do—a single platform where you upload your book once and D2D handles distribution to an extensive network of stores, library platforms, and subscription services. For any wide author building a professional distribution operation, understanding how D2D works and how to use it effectively is essential knowledge.

What Draft2Digital Is and How It Works

Draft2Digital was founded in 2012 with a straightforward premise: make it easy for indie authors to publish everywhere without technical complexity or per-upload fees. The platform has grown significantly since then and absorbed Smashwords in 2022, bringing two of the indie publishing world's most prominent wide distribution services under one roof.

D2D's business model is simple. There are no setup fees, no subscription costs, and no fees to upload. D2D takes a 10% commission on all sales made through its distribution network. That means if your book sells for $4.99 on a retailer D2D serves and that retailer pays a 70% royalty, D2D passes through 90% of the royalty received after taking its 10% share. You pay nothing unless you earn something, which aligns D2D's incentives with yours.

Where Draft2Digital Distributes

D2D's distribution network is one of the most comprehensive in indie publishing. The full list evolves as partnerships are added, but the major categories are worth understanding.

Retail Partners

D2D distributes to the major wide retailers—Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and others. It is worth noting that for your anchor platforms (Kobo, Apple, Google Play, and B&N), most experienced wide authors recommend publishing directly rather than through D2D. Direct publishing on anchor platforms unlocks promotional programs, faster price updates, and merchandising opportunities that D2D's channel does not fully replicate. Use D2D for the long tail of retailers where direct publishing is impractical or unavailable.

Library Platforms

D2D distributes to major library platforms including OverDrive and Bibliotheca (CloudLibrary). OverDrive is the dominant library ebook lending platform in the United States, powering digital lending at thousands of public libraries. Bibliotheca serves libraries in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Getting your books into these library systems through D2D means library patrons who borrow your book are real readers discovering your catalog—and library borrows build author visibility even when individual royalties per borrow are modest.

This library distribution is one of D2D's most distinctive and underappreciated features. Amazon's KDP does not distribute to public libraries. KDP Select exclusivity explicitly prevents it. Wide authors through D2D can reach a library audience that is entirely invisible to Amazon-exclusive publishing.

Subscription Services

D2D also distributes to subscription reading platforms including Scribd (now rebranded as Everand) and others. These services pay per-read royalties similar in structure to Kindle Unlimited, but without the exclusivity requirement. Enrollment in subscription platforms through D2D is optional on a title-by-title basis.

Global Retail Partners

Beyond major English-language retailers, D2D distributes to international and specialty partners including Tolino (Germany's leading ebook platform, serving the German-speaking market), Vivlio (European markets), Palace Marketplace, and others. These global partners give wide authors reach into markets where establishing individual accounts is impractical.

D2D's Formatting Tools

One of D2D's most genuinely useful features for authors who do not already use a dedicated ebook formatting tool is its automatic ePub generation. You can upload a Word document or properly formatted manuscript to D2D and the platform will generate a clean, publish-ready ePub file at no charge. D2D's formatter handles chapter breaks, table of contents generation, front and back matter, and basic styling.

D2D also provides pre-designed back matter templates that automatically insert universal book links—links that route a reader to the appropriate retailer based on their location—into your back matter. This is particularly useful for wide authors who want readers to be able to find their other books regardless of which store they are shopping on.

ISBNs and Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital offers free ISBNs to authors who publish through the platform. D2D's free ISBNs list the publisher as Draft2Digital LLC, which is a trade-off some authors are comfortable with and others prefer to avoid. Authors who want their own publishing company name on the ISBN—a preference that makes sense for authors building a recognizable imprint—should purchase their own ISBNs through Bowker in the US or the appropriate national agency in other countries and use those when uploading to D2D.

For print books distributed through D2D's print service (which D2D added post-Smashwords merger), ISBNs are required, and the same consideration applies—D2D's free ISBNs are functional but list D2D as the publisher of record. Authors with their own ISBNs can use those instead.

D2D Print Distribution

Following its merger with Smashwords, D2D expanded into print-on-demand distribution. D2D's print service distributes paperbacks through IngramSpark's print network, giving authors access to Ingram's global print fulfillment infrastructure without requiring a separate IngramSpark account. For authors who want print-wide distribution without the complexity of managing multiple print platforms, D2D print is a useful option.

However, authors who are serious about print distribution and want access to the full Ingram catalog for library and bookstore ordering—and who want direct control over print pricing, expanded distribution settings, and direct IngramSpark promotional opportunities—should consider maintaining a direct IngramSpark account alongside D2D for print.

The Right Way to Use D2D in a Wide Strategy

The most effective wide strategy is not to use D2D for everything or to avoid D2D entirely—it is to use D2D for exactly what it does better than direct publishing, and to use direct publishing for everything that benefits from a direct relationship.

Use D2D For

• Library distribution—OverDrive and Bibliotheca are not accessible through direct self-publishing portals

• International retail partners like Tolino and Vivlio where direct accounts are impractical

• Subscription services like Scribd/Everand where you want optional enrollment without exclusivity

• Any retailer outside your top four or five anchors where direct account management would be burdensome

• Free ISBNs if imprint identity is not a priority for the title in question

• Automatic ePub generation if you are not using Vellum, Atticus, or another dedicated formatting tool

Go Direct Instead of D2D For

• Kobo Writing Life—direct access to Kobo's promotional programs and free-pricing control

• Apple Books for Authors—direct access to Apple's editorial programs and full promotional portal

• Google Play Books Partner Center—direct access to country-level pricing and promotional tools

• Barnes and Noble Press—direct access to Nook promotions and print-to-retail distribution

• Amazon KDP—D2D does not distribute to Amazon; KDP is always direct

Monitoring D2D Performance

D2D provides a royalties dashboard showing earnings by retailer and title. However, the reporting can be delayed—some retailers report to D2D on a 60-day lag—and navigating earnings across many D2D-distributed partners requires careful attention to the timeline.

This is another reason ScribeCount is particularly valuable for D2D users. When D2D royalties sync into ScribeCount alongside your direct platform earnings, you can see your full wide business in one view without manually cross-referencing D2D's dashboard against Kobo's, Apple's, and Google's separate reporting systems.

The D2D-Smashwords Merger: What Changed

Draft2Digital acquired Smashwords in 2022, combining two of indie publishing's most established wide distribution services. For existing Smashwords authors, the merger consolidated accounts and migrated books into D2D's system. Smashwords' distribution network—including retailers that Smashwords had served for years—was integrated into D2D's broader network.

The primary practical change for most authors is that Smashwords as a standalone publishing destination no longer functions as it once did. Authors who were on Smashwords and not yet on D2D should understand that D2D is now the platform to use, and any remaining Smashwords-specific functionality is being progressively migrated or deprecated. There is a dedicated article in this series covering the Smashwords story in detail for authors who want to understand the history and the current state of that transition.

Common D2D Mistakes

• Using D2D to distribute to anchor platforms like Kobo and Apple and missing direct promotional opportunities

• Not enrolling in library distribution and leaving an entire reader audience unreached

• Using D2D's free ISBNs without understanding they list D2D as publisher of record

• Not connecting D2D to ScribeCount and losing visibility into the long tail of retailer earnings

• Treating D2D as set-and-forget after initial upload—metadata, pricing, and subscription enrollment choices need periodic review

Conclusion

Draft2Digital is not glamorous. It is infrastructure, and infrastructure is not supposed to be glamorous. But the best wide author businesses are built on solid infrastructure, and D2D is the most complete, most author-friendly aggregator the indie publishing community has. Used correctly—direct for anchors, D2D for the long tail and libraries—it is the operational backbone that makes publishing wide at professional scale genuinely manageable. 

- Randall