Draft2Digital Review 2026: Fees, Stores, AI Rules

Quick answer

Draft2Digital is still the easiest way to put one ebook in Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, the Smashwords Store, Tolino and four library platforms from one upload. In 2026 it costs a $20 activation fee for new accounts, $12 a year from year two if your royalties stay under $100 a year, and about 10% of the list price per sale. It does not reach Google Play and refuses books written entirely by AI without extensive human editing. Worth it for libraries, smaller stores and modest sales; at higher volume, go direct to the big stores and keep it for the rest.

An author at a kitchen table by a rainy window works through a printed spreadsheet with a calculator, beside a proof copy and an e-reader showing a green novel cover titled The Lantern Keeper's Daughter by Ruth Calloway — Most of the Draft2Digital decision is arithmetic: what the convenience costs on each sale, against what the extra stores bring in.

Checked on 28 October 2026. Every Draft2Digital fact below comes from its own FAQ, royalty table, terms of service, content guidelines, audiobook terms and blog, linked in the Sources list at the end. Direct-store rates match our guide to publishing wide, read the same day. Inkfluence AI is our product: it writes and exports books, and does not distribute or print them, so we have no commercial tie to Draft2Digital or any store here.

The verdict at a glance

Draft2Digital (D2D) has been the default way to sell an ebook beyond Amazon for a decade. Two things changed in 2026: it now charges fixed fees, and its content rules have tightened. The short version:

Question	Answer in October 2026
What does it cost?	$20 once for new accounts (covers year one), then $12 a year only if your royalties are under $100 over 12 months, plus about 10% of the list price per sale.
What do I earn per sale?	60% of list price at Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Tolino; 75% at the Smashwords Store from $2.99; 55% at Vivlio.
Where does it reach?	Apple Books, B&N, Kobo and Kobo Plus, the Smashwords Store, Bookshop.org, Tolino, Everand, Vivlio, Gardners, Fable, and the library platforms OverDrive, Hoopla, BorrowBox and cloudLibrary.
What does it miss?	Google Play Books (not on its store list) and Amazon unless invited.
AI-written books?	AI-assisted is fine. Books generated entirely by AI without extensive human editing are not accepted.
Exclusivity?	None. Every store is opt-in, and you can use the files it makes anywhere.
Best for	Authors testing wide with one or two books, anyone who wants libraries and the long tail of stores, and books under $2.99, where it pays more at Kobo than going direct.
Not ideal for	Authors selling steadily at Apple, Kobo or B&N (10% is real money there), Google Play sellers, and fully AI-generated or low-content books.

What Draft2Digital is in 2026

Draft2Digital is an ebook and print distributor based in Oklahoma. You upload a manuscript once (a Word file or an EPUB); it formats the book, sends it to the stores you tick, collects from each and pays you monthly. That is an aggregator. The alternative is going direct: your own account at each store. Alongside distribution sit:

The Smashwords Store. Draft2Digital bought Smashwords, the older indie ebook distributor, and the deal closed on 1 March 2022. The Smashwords Store kept its own brand as a reader-facing shop, and Draft2Digital authors can list books there with its coupons, presales and site-wide sales.
D2D Print. A print-on-demand paperback service that reaches Amazon and the bookshops Ingram supplies. You can use it with or without D2D for your ebooks.
Books2Read. Its sister site for marketing: Universal Book Links that send each reader to their preferred store, author pages, book pages and new-release alerts. Free for every book you publish through Draft2Digital.

It does not offer cover design, editing or other author services; its FAQ points to endorsed freelancers instead, and warns that third-party "account management" services claiming D2D expertise are often fraudulent.

The 2026 fees, exactly

For most of its history Draft2Digital earned only its commission. On 14 April 2026 chief executive Kris Austin announced its first account fees, citing a surge of "automated and low-quality account creation" from content farms and the cost of maintaining low-earning accounts. The terms of service changed the same day.

Infographic titled Draft2Digital fees in 2026 with three cards: $20 one-time activation fee for new accounts that covers year one; $12 a year from year two only if royalties are under $100 in the last 12 months; and about 10% of the list price on every sale, which is 15% of what the store pays — The three costs of using Draft2Digital, from its FAQ and terms of service.

Fee	Amount	Who pays it	The fine print
Account activation	$20, once	New accounts, before they can publish	Non-refundable. Accounts that existed before 14 April 2026 do not pay it. It covers the first year of account maintenance.
Account maintenance	$12 a year	Accounts with books in distribution that earned under $100 in royalties over the prior 12 months	Started 14 May 2026 and runs from your account anniversary. Taken from royalties owed to you first; any shortfall is charged to your account. A negative balance left for more than 30 days lets D2D suspend distribution.
Commission	About 10% of list price	Every sale, loan or library purchase	Set in the terms as 15% of what the store pays; different at the Smashwords Store and for print (below).
Payment fees	Small	Authors paid by PayPal or check	PayPal 2.5% of the payment, capped at $1.50 in the US and $25 elsewhere; checks $2.50 (US) or $4.00 (outside the US). Direct deposit and Payoneer carry no fee in the FAQ.

Three details matter more than the headline numbers:

The $100 test uses your earnings, not your sales. Draft2Digital's announcement defines it as "your net proceeds after D2D's commission." A book selling $110 of copies a year at Apple earns you about $66 through D2D, which is under the line.
An account with nothing in distribution pays nothing. To stop, D2D suggests its "Mass Remove All Books from All Stores" tool rather than closing the account, so you never pay a second activation fee. To relist later, you pay the maintenance fee first.
You can try everything first. Formatting a book and downloading the files are free; the fee and a tax interview are needed only to publish.

Is $20 a lot? Against running accounts at four or five stores, no. But at $4.99 you need about seven sales through D2D to earn it back, and if you earn under $100 a year there, the $12 fee takes about four sales' royalties a year from year two. The calculator below runs your own numbers.

Write the book first, then pick the route

Draft2Digital is a distributor. Inkfluence AI is where the book itself gets planned, drafted chapter by chapter and edited, then exported as the Word or EPUB file that Draft2Digital and every store accept.

Start your book free

What Draft2Digital keeps from each sale

The FAQ calls the commission "approximately 10% of the retail price of every book sale." The exact rule, in section 12 of the terms, is 15% of whatever the store pays. On a $4.99 ebook at a store paying 70%:

The reader pays $4.99 (before any sales tax or VAT).
The store keeps 30% ($1.50) and pays the remaining $3.49.
Draft2Digital keeps its 15% of that (about $0.52) and pays you the rest.

Its royalty table rounds this to 60% of list price ($2.99), noting the figures are approximations. Either way, D2D costs about ten cents in every dollar of list price.

Infographic titled Where a $4.99 ebook sale goes. Through Draft2Digital the store keeps $1.50, Draft2Digital keeps $0.50 and you receive $2.99. Uploaded direct, the store keeps $1.50 and you receive $3.49 — The same $4.99 sale at a store that pays 70%, through Draft2Digital and direct, using the 60% figure in its royalty table.

There are two exceptions. At the Smashwords Store, which Draft2Digital owns, you receive 75% of the list price on books at $2.99 or more and 40% below that, which is more than any outside store pays. And for D2D Print, you receive 45% of the list price minus the printing cost.

One case runs the other way: books under $2.99. Kobo direct pays 45% below $2.99, while D2D lists Kobo at 60% at every price: about $0.59 against $0.45 on a $0.99 ebook. For short reads and 99-cent series starters, D2D pays more at Kobo than Kobo does. See our guide to pricing ebooks.

Every Draft2Digital store and royalty rate in 2026

From D2D's FAQ store list and royalty page, read 28 October 2026. Every store is opt-in, one checkbox per book, and new stores are never switched on for you.

Store or service	Type	You receive through D2D	Can you go direct?
Apple Books	Store, 51 countries and regions	60% at all prices	Yes, 70% at every price. See publishing on Apple Books
Kobo	Store	60% at all prices	Yes, 70% from $2.99, 45% below. See publishing on Kobo
Kobo Plus	Subscription	51% of your share of the subscription pool	Yes, through Kobo Writing Life
Barnes & Noble	Store (bn.com and NOOK)	60% at all prices	Yes, 70% through B&N Press. See our B&N Press guide
Smashwords Store	Store, owned by D2D	75% from $2.99, 40% below	Only through D2D
Tolino	German-speaking retail group	60% at all prices	Through aggregators; direct options not reviewed here
Everand	Subscription (formerly Scribd)	60%, paid when a subscriber reads past 20% of the book	Through aggregators; direct options not reviewed here
Vivlio	French store and, from 2026, libraries	55% at all prices	Through aggregators; direct options not reviewed here
Gardners	UK wholesaler (supplies shops such as Hive)	60% at all prices	Through aggregators; direct options not reviewed here
Fable	Social reading app and store	60% at all prices	D2D says it is the only distributor delivering indie titles there
Bookshop.org	Store supporting independent bookshops	Not listed on the royalty page	Check the rate on your book's pricing page
OverDrive (Libby)	Library platform	46% of the library price per copy bought; 4.6% per checkout	Also through Kobo Writing Life, at 50% per copy
Hoopla	Library platform	3.8% per checkout, on a tiered pricing model	Through aggregators
BorrowBox	Library platform	46% per copy bought	Through aggregators
cloudLibrary	Library platform	46% per copy bought	Through aggregators
Amazon	Store	60% from $2.99 to $9.99, otherwise 30%; invitation only	Yes, KDP. See KDP royalties

A few practical notes from the FAQ:

Timing. Some stores list a new ebook within hours, others take days; libraries take longest, print about two weeks.
Free books are allowed at most stores; where not, D2D submits them at $0.99.
Currencies. D2D converts your US dollar price, or you set each currency under Manage Territorial Prices. Set them yourself: 4.37 euros looks odd beside the 4.99s.
Promotions. The Promotion tab schedules a temporary price at every store and switches it back. Coupons work only at the Smashwords Store.
Erotica is accepted when self-classified, but never sent to Bookshop.org or libraries.
Double listing. Don't list one book at one store both directly and through D2D; it splits your sales ranking.

Google Play and Amazon: the two gaps

Google Play Books is not on Draft2Digital's list. Sources disagree, so we checked the two places that settle it: D2D's FAQ store list and its royalty table. Neither includes Google Play as of 28 October 2026, although some third-party guides this year still list it. Unless you see a Google Play checkbox in your own dashboard, use the Play Books Partner Center (70% of list price in more than 60 countries; see our Google Play Books guide) or PublishDrive.

Amazon is by invitation only. Even if invited, D2D pays 60% only from $2.99 to $9.99 (30% otherwise), while KDP direct pays 70% from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com. Publish there yourself; our KDP publishing guide covers it. And if a store has already blocked your book, D2D will not publish it there for you.

Libraries: where Draft2Digital earns its keep

Libraries are the clearest case for Draft2Digital. Of the main library platforms, an individual author can reach only OverDrive directly, through Kobo Writing Life. D2D offers four: OverDrive, Hoopla, BorrowBox and cloudLibrary, plus Vivlio Libraries from 2026 (French libraries, and Divibib in Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

Libraries pay in two ways. A library can buy a copy to lend, one reader at a time (D2D calls this OCOU, one copy one user), or pay a small fee every time a reader borrows (cost per checkout, or CPC). D2D pays 46% per copy bought at OverDrive, BorrowBox and cloudLibrary, 4.6% per checkout at OverDrive and 3.8% per checkout at Hoopla. You set a separate library price, usually a few dollars above retail, since a library copy can be lent many times.

If OverDrive is your main library target, Kobo Writing Life pays 50% of the library price per copy with no aggregator commission, which beats D2D's 46%. Many wide authors therefore send OverDrive through Kobo and Hoopla, BorrowBox and cloudLibrary through D2D. Our guide to getting your ebook into libraries covers pricing, the platforms and how librarians actually find books.

The free tools: formatting, UBLs and Books2Read

The tools are a real part of the value, and most are free whether or not you publish through D2D.

Formatting and conversion

Upload a Word file (or RTF, ODT, TXT) and D2D builds a formatted EPUB and a print PDF from genre templates. Upload only the story (it adds the title and copyright pages) and style every chapter heading the same way. You can download both files free and use them anywhere, even on stores you upload to directly.

An EPUB you supply is distributed unchanged, but not used for print. Ebooks must be under 100 MB; covers about 1600 x 2400 pixels, with the title and author name on them. More in our ebook formats guide.

Automated end matter

D2D maintains your "Also by" list, author bio, newsletter sign-up and teasers across every book, so a new release updates the whole backlist without re-uploading.

Universal Book Links and Books2Read

Every D2D book gets a free Books2Read Universal Book Link (UBL): one address that sends each reader to their preferred store. It never expires, and you can add listings D2D doesn't deliver, such as your KDP page. Books2Read adds author pages, ad-free Book Tabs and new-release alerts. For selling on several stores, a UBL in your newsletter and bios is the most useful thing D2D gives you; our ebook marketing guide shows where it fits.

Pre-orders, payment splitting and the rest

Pre-orders up to a year ahead; final ebook files at least ten days before release. None on Amazon.
Payment splitting for co-authors and box sets; each collaborator needs a D2D account.
A free ISBN for every book, usable only through Draft2Digital, never for the same edition on KDP or elsewhere (the ISBN agency's rule). Want one number everywhere? Buy your own; see do you need an ISBN? Canadian authors can get their own free from ISBN Canada, which now asks for a human-author declaration (ISBN Canada's AI rule).
No rights grab: no copyright claim, no exclusivity, unpublish any time.

Getting paid

D2D pays monthly, around the 15th, after the store has paid it: usually 30 to 60 days after the month of the sale (print up to 90). Its example: a 1 January sale is paid to you on 15 March.

Payment method	Minimum before D2D pays	Fee
Direct deposit (US)	$10	None listed
International direct deposit	$20	None listed
Payoneer	$20	None listed by D2D
PayPal	$10	2.5%, capped at $1.50 (US) or $25 (outside the US)
Check	$100	$2.50 (US address) or $4.00 (outside the US)

Low minimums help small sellers: Kobo direct pays only from CAD $50, while through D2D a few sales at five stores add up to one payment.

Tax. The tax interview is required before you publish, even a free book. Authors outside the US have 30% withheld by default unless they submit a W-8BEN (or W-8BEN-E) claiming their country's treaty rate. Do it before your first sale.

The AI rules

Draft2Digital is one of the stricter distributors on AI. Its content guidelines (updated 27 October 2025) and FAQ say:

"While we support AI-assisted content we do not accept content that has been generated entirely by AI/LLMs that has not gone through extensive editing from a human."

D2D calls itself "not a destination for mass production book farms." Other rules that bear on AI-assisted books:

Noncredentialled nonfiction. D2D may ask for documentation of subject expertise for nonfiction, and accounts publishing nonfiction across many unrelated topics "will need to show proof of subject matter expertise around each topic." The FAQ ties this directly to AI: it "does not accept noncredentialled nonfiction content produced by AI."
Mass-produced, low-quality or freely available content, including anything "generated solely by machine or other automated processes."
Low-content books such as journals and planners.
Oversaturated subjects. A list of topics D2D's partners say are flooded, which it does not accept. It includes affirmations, manifestation, mindfulness, meditation, narcissism and dark psychology; activity, coloring, puzzle, word-search, joke and trivia books; cookbooks, meal prep, keto, air fryer, intermittent fasting and fitness and dieting; travel guides and generic how-to books; and Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, Python, options trading and books about chatGPT.

A printed manuscript page heavily marked up in red ink, with a yellow sticky note reading Pass 2: my voice, my examples, and a hand holding a red pen mid-edit — What "extensive editing from a human" looks like in practice: your rewrites, your examples, your judgement on every page.

We found no separate AI disclosure field; setup asks you to self-certify audience and categories. So the test is the book itself. Stores add their own rules too: Kobo lists "wholly or partially AI generated" among its rejection reasons, so a book D2D accepts can still be refused by a store.

If you draft with AI: work from your own outline and knowledge, rewrite in your voice, add your own examples, check every fact, and keep nonfiction to subjects you can show expertise in. Our store-by-store guide to AI-written books compares every store's rule, can you sell AI-generated books? covers the wider picture, and the KDP AI disclosure guide covers Amazon's separate disclosure rule.

A book in a listed subject is not unsellable: the stores have their own rules, and selling direct often suits coloring books and planners better. See how to sell coloring books, selling ebooks on Gumroad and selling ebooks on Etsy.

Draft fast, then make it yours

Inkfluence AI drafts from your outline chapter by chapter, then gives you an editor and an AI assistant to rewrite, review and fact-check every chapter before you export. That second pass is exactly what distributors like Draft2Digital ask for.

Start drafting free

Print and audio

D2D Print

D2D Print is print-on-demand, reaching Amazon and the channels Ingram supplies, including Barnes & Noble and most US independent bookshops. You receive 45% of list price minus the printing cost.

Formats: perfect-bound paperback only, black and white interiors only. No hardcovers and no colour, so picture books and illustrated books need another printer.
Trim sizes: 5 x 8, 5.25 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7.5 x 9.25 and 8.5 x 11 inches.
Page count: 32 to 1,050 pages.
Author copies at cost, shipped to the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and all 27 EU countries.
Overlap: D2D advises against D2D Print if your paperback already uses KDP Expanded Distribution or IngramSpark.

If you want colour, hardcover or more control, compare IngramSpark and KDP. Whatever printer you use, you upload a print-ready interior PDF and cover; our guide to making a print-ready PDF and the paperback template cover the specs.

Audiobooks

D2D's own audio route is narrow. Under its audiobook terms, Apple Books makes a text-to-speech audiobook of a book D2D distributes; Apple sells it exclusively apart from library channels, and you cannot withdraw it for six months after release. For other audiobooks, D2D's partners page points to Voices by INaudio; we found no D2D route for uploading your own finished audio. If you are weighing AI narration, check each store's rule first: our guide to where to sell an AI audiobook covers them, and the audiobook length calculator estimates running time.

Calculator: is Draft2Digital worth it for you?

Enter your price and expected monthly sales per store. The calculator compares three routes, fees included: everything through D2D, direct to Apple, Kobo and B&N only, and the common mix (direct to those three, D2D for the rest), with the sales needed to cover the fees.

Ebook list price (USD, before tax) Your Draft2Digital account Compare over

Copies you expect to sell a month

Apple Books Kobo Barnes & Noble Smashwords Store Other D2D stores (Tolino, Everand, Gardners, Fable) Library copies bought (OverDrive) Library price (USD)

All through Draft2Digital

Direct to Apple, Kobo, B&N only

No fees; smaller stores not reached

Direct to big three, D2D for the rest

Verdict for your numbers

Constants, read 28 Oct 2026. Draft2Digital royalty table: Apple, Kobo, B&N, Tolino, Gardners, Fable and Everand 60% (Everand once a reader passes 20%); Smashwords Store 75% from $2.99, 40% below; OverDrive 46% of the library price per copy. Fees (FAQ and terms of service): $20 one-time activation for new accounts, covering year one; $12 a year after that when royalties through D2D are under $100 over the prior 12 months (existing accounts: every year under $100). Direct: Apple 70% at every price; Kobo 70% from $2.99, 45% below; B&N Press 70%; OverDrive through Kobo Writing Life 50% of the library price. The "direct" and "mixed" routes send OverDrive through Kobo. Before sales tax or VAT; ignores currency conversion, payment-method fees and Kobo Plus. An illustration of per-sale arithmetic, not a sales forecast.

Write the book these numbers are for

Patterns hold. With a handful of sales, the 10% hardly matters next to the time saved, and D2D for everything is reasonable. At around ten or more copies a month at a big store, going direct there pays. The smaller stores and libraries are almost always worth adding through D2D, because little else reaches them.

Flowchart titled Direct, Draft2Digital, or both? If the ebook is in KDP Select, stay Amazon-only for that term. If not, and you will sell 10 or more copies a month at Apple, Kobo or B&N, go direct to those stores and add Draft2Digital for libraries and smaller stores; otherwise use Draft2Digital for them — Our rule of thumb. At $4.99, ten sales a month through Draft2Digital cost you about $60 a year in commission compared with going direct.

Draft2Digital vs going direct vs PublishDrive

The three routes for stores beyond Amazon, from each company's pages as summarised in our publishing wide guide:

	Draft2Digital	Going direct	PublishDrive
How it charges	About 10% of list price per sale; $20 activation; $12 a year if under $100	Nothing; each store takes its own share	Monthly plan, no commission (Starter $16.99 a month for 3 books, or $13.99 billed yearly); one ebook free to Apple, B&N and Kobo
You earn at Apple, Kobo, B&N	About 60% of list	70% (Kobo 45% below $2.99)	The store's full share
Google Play	Not on its store list	Yes, Partner Center	Yes, through your own Google Play account
Libraries	OverDrive, Hoopla, BorrowBox, cloudLibrary, Vivlio	OverDrive only, through Kobo	Part of its "over 50 retailers and 240K libraries"
Formatting tools	Free Word-to-EPUB and print PDF, usable anywhere	Bring your own files	Bring your own EPUB
AI rule	AI-assisted yes; entirely AI without extensive human editing no	Per store (Apple label, B&N question, Kobo strict)	Mandatory AI declaration; its table limits some stores
Best when	Sales are modest, or you want the long tail and libraries in one place	A store sells steadily for you	Sales are high enough that a flat fee beats 10%, or Google Play matters

The rough crossover with PublishDrive: its Starter plan costs about $204 a year at the monthly rate, for up to three books, so it beats D2D's 10% only once your list-price sales across the stores it handles pass about $2,000 a year (10% of $2,040 is $204). Below that, D2D is cheaper. We work through the details, store lists and AI tables in Draft2Digital vs PublishDrive, and our list of where to sell ebooks in 2026 covers routes beyond the big stores, including selling direct to readers.

KDP Select rules out all three: Select ebooks (in Kindle+, formerly Kindle Unlimited) must be Amazon-exclusive for each 90-day term. Our KDP Select vs wide comparison and Kindle+ for authors help you make that call first.

Pros and cons

What Draft2Digital does well

One upload reaches about a dozen stores and four library platforms, with one monthly payment.
Free, good formatting tools whose EPUB and print PDF you can use anywhere.
Universal Book Links and automated end matter save series authors hours.
Pays more than Kobo direct below $2.99, and 75% at its own Smashwords Store.
Low payment minimums ($10 by US direct deposit or PayPal).
No exclusivity, no rights claimed, every store opt-in.
Human support; its FAQ is unusually clear about fees and rules.

Where it falls short

About 10% of every sale at stores you could reach directly for free.
New $20 activation fee, and $12 a year for accounts earning under $100.
No Google Play, and Amazon only by invitation.
Free ISBN is locked to D2D.
Strict content rules: no fully AI-generated books, no low-content books, and a long list of refused subjects.
Print is black-and-white paperback only.
Own audio route limited to Apple's text-to-speech narration.

Choose it if you are testing wide with your first books, building a series backlist, want libraries beyond OverDrive, or price under $2.99. Look elsewhere if one big store sells steadily for you (go direct there), you need Google Play, or you publish low-content or puzzle books. And if your books are AI output with light edits, the fix is the editing, not a different distributor.

How to set up Draft2Digital well

Decide the route per store: which you upload to directly (KDP almost always) and which you leave to D2D.
Sign up and try the layouts free.
Pay the $20 and complete the tax interview, with your treaty claim if you are outside the US. Pick direct deposit for the lowest minimum.
Upload a clean file: Word with the story only, or a validated EPUB, and a cover with title and author name.
Fill in the metadata exactly as on your direct listings; our wide guide has a checklist.
Pick the ISBN: D2D's free one only if this edition never goes direct anywhere.
Tick only stores you don't reach directly, set prices per currency and a library price above retail.
Publish and share your UBL. Our ebook launch checklist covers release week.

Get a finished, edited book ready for upload

Plan your chapters, draft them, rewrite in your voice and export DOCX, EPUB and print PDFs from one Inkfluence project. Then upload to Draft2Digital, KDP or any store you choose.

Start writing free

Where Inkfluence AI fits

Inkfluence AI is a book writer, not a distributor: it does not upload to Draft2Digital or any store, and does not print or ship books. It gets your book ready for them:

Write or import. Draft chapter by chapter from your own outline with the AI book writer, or import a Word, EPUB, PDF, text or Markdown file you already have. Length is set by how many chapters you plan, at roughly 1,000 to 1,500 words a chapter.
Edit it properly in the editor, with the AI assistant reviewing chapters: the human editing D2D requires.
Export the files D2D takes: DOCX for its formatter or an EPUB as is, plus KDP print files for Amazon. DOCX, EPUB and KDP export come with any paid plan or credit pack; the free plan exports PDF. See the exporting help and the book formatter.
Make the cover with the cover generator, with your title and author name on it as D2D requires.
Sell direct as well. Publish the ebook straight to your own Gumroad or Etsy shop from the Publish menu, a route with none of D2D's subject restrictions; see the selling help.

Plans: Creator is $9.99 a month or $89 a year and Premium $19.99 a month or $179 a year, and paid plans can switch Inkfluence branding off in exports. See pricing, and the self-publishing guide for the whole path from idea to listing. To budget the rest of the process, see how much it costs to publish a book.

Draft2Digital review: FAQ

How much does Draft2Digital cost in 2026?

New accounts pay a one-time $20 activation fee, which covers the first year. After that, $12 a year applies only if your royalties were under $100 over the previous 12 months. Draft2Digital also keeps about 10% of the list price on each sale. Formatting your book is free.

Does the $12 Draft2Digital maintenance fee apply to me?

Only if you have books in distribution and earned under $100 in royalties over the prior 12 months. Accounts with nothing in distribution pay nothing, and a new account's first year is covered by the activation fee. The fee is taken from your royalties first.

How much of each sale does Draft2Digital keep?

Its terms set the commission at 15% of what the store pays, about 10% of list price at a store paying 70%. You receive 60% of list price at Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Tolino, 75% at the Smashwords Store from $2.99, and 55% at Vivlio.

Does Draft2Digital distribute to Google Play Books?

Not according to its own pages: Google Play is missing from its FAQ store list and its royalty table as of 28 October 2026, though some third-party guides still list it. Publish to Google Play directly through the Partner Center, or through PublishDrive.

Can Draft2Digital publish my ebook on Amazon?

Only by invitation, and then at 60% from $2.99 to $9.99 and 30% outside that range. KDP direct pays 70% from $2.99 to $12.99, so most authors publish to Amazon themselves and switch Amazon off in Draft2Digital.

Does Draft2Digital accept AI-written books?

It accepts AI-assisted books, but not content "generated entirely by AI/LLMs that has not gone through extensive editing from a human." It may ask for proof of expertise for nonfiction and refuses some saturated subjects, such as cookbooks, coloring books and generic how-to.

Can I use the free Draft2Digital ISBN elsewhere?

No. The free ISBN can only be used through Draft2Digital, so not to publish the same edition on KDP or any other platform. You can quote it on a Goodreads listing. Buy your own ISBN if you want one number everywhere.

When and how does Draft2Digital pay authors?

Monthly, on or around the 15th, once the store has paid Draft2Digital, usually 30 to 60 days after the month of the sale. Minimums are $10 for US direct deposit and PayPal, $20 for international direct deposit and Payoneer, and $100 for a check.

Can Draft2Digital turn my book into an audiobook?

Through Apple Books digital narration only: Apple makes a text-to-speech audiobook that it sells exclusively, apart from library channels, and you cannot withdraw it for six months. For other audiobooks, its partners page points to Voices by INaudio.

Is Draft2Digital better than PublishDrive?

For modest sales, usually yes: a 10% commission costs less than a monthly plan. PublishDrive charges a flat fee with no commission and reaches Google Play, so it wins at higher sales or when Google Play matters.

One manuscript, every shelf

Write and edit your book in Inkfluence AI, export it once, and send the same files to Draft2Digital, KDP and the stores you go direct to.