Draft2Digitalvs
Lulu
Lulu: If you want print manufacturing and a direct storefront alongside distribution rather than a percentage-based ebook aggregator
Draft2Digital
Ebook and print distribution aggregator that takes a percentage instead of a fee
As of 31 August 2026, Draft2Digital is free to use. A free-to-use aggregator that pushes one uploaded file to Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, library systems and dozens of smaller stores. Softwr lists it under Publishing. Draft2Digital is available on Web.
Overview
What Draft2Digital does
Draft2Digital, founded in Oklahoma City in 2012, converts a manuscript into ebook and print files and distributes them to retailers and library suppliers that an independent author would otherwise have to approach one at a time. The list includes Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Tolino, Everand, OverDrive, Bibliotheca, Vivlio and print-on-demand distribution, with Amazon available as an option that most authors decline in favour of going direct. It acquired Smashwords in 2022, which consolidated the two largest independent aggregators into one company. The money question is the one that decides it. There is no setup fee, no subscription and no charge for conversion or for the universal book links. Draft2Digital keeps 10% of the retail list price of each sale, which works out at roughly 15% of what the retailer actually pays out. That is a permanent tax on every copy sold through the channel, not a one-off cost, and over a backlist that sells steadily for a decade it dwarfs what a flat-fee service would have charged. Set against that, going direct to eight retailers means eight accounts, eight payment thresholds, eight tax forms and eight upload processes every time you fix a typo. ISBNs are the other decision point. Draft2Digital will assign a free ISBN, but that ISBN records Draft2Digital as the publisher of record, which some library suppliers, print channels and bookshops read as not genuinely independent. Buying your own ISBN keeps the imprint yours. The service suits authors with several titles who value one dashboard over maximum margin, and suits poorly anyone whose sales are concentrated in one or two stores, where going direct is straightforwardly cheaper.
What people use it for
- An author with a growing backlist who does not want to maintain accounts at eight separate retailers and reupload corrected files to each one
- A writer who wants library distribution through OverDrive and Bibliotheca without meeting the requirements those platforms set for direct suppliers
- Anyone publishing outside the United States who wants Tolino and other regional European stores reached without local accounts
- A publisher of series fiction that benefits from automated end-matter linking across every store edition
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Draft2Digital.
- The 10% cut is taken from the list price of every copy for as long as the title stays in the channel, so on a backlist that sells for years it costs far more than a one-off formatting or distribution fee would have.
- Moving a title to direct distribution later means unpublishing and republishing at each store, which usually resets reviews, rankings and pre-order history at that retailer.
- The free ISBN names Draft2Digital as publisher of record, which weakens the case that the book is independently published when dealing with libraries, bookshops or awards that check the imprint.
- You lose the merchandising and promotional tools retailers give direct suppliers, including Kobo price promotion tools and Apple promotional scheduling, which are among the few levers indie authors actually have.
- Payments wait on retailer reporting, so revenue arrives later than a direct account would pay it, and reconciling a discrepancy means the aggregator has to raise it with the store on your behalf.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Draft2Digital
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- Draft2DigitalvsBlurb
Blurb: For illustrated and photographic books where print quality and colour reproduction matter more than ebook reach
Pricing
What Draft2Digital costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Draft2Digital
On request
- No setup, subscription or conversion fees
- Draft2Digital retains 10% of the retail list price of each sale
- Free ISBN available, or supply your own
- Payments made monthly once retailers have reported and paid
Capabilities
Features
One-upload distribution
A single manuscript file distributed to Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Tolino, library suppliers and smaller stores
Free conversion
Automatic EPUB generation from a Word document with a choice of interior templates
Books2Read universal links
One link that resolves to whichever store a reader prefers, with affiliate tracking
Print distribution
Print-on-demand paperback distribution alongside the ebook channel
Free ISBN option
An ISBN assigned at no cost, with Draft2Digital named as publisher of record
Series and back-matter automation
Automatic end-matter linking to other titles in a series across every distributed edition
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Should I distribute to Amazon through Draft2Digital?
Usually not. Amazon accounts are free and paying an aggregator a percentage on your largest sales channel is difficult to justify unless you have a specific reason to avoid a direct account.
Can I use my own ISBN?
Yes, and you should if you want the imprint on record to be yours. The free ISBN is convenient but lists Draft2Digital as publisher.
What happened to Smashwords?
Draft2Digital acquired it in 2022. The Smashwords store continues, and the two distribution operations were brought under one company, which reduced the number of independent aggregators to choose between.
Keep looking
Where to go from Draft2Digital
- Draft2Digital alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Draft2Digital pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Draft2Digital badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Publishing softwareThe full category
- Best Publishing softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Publishing software for
Compare Draft2Digital with
- BookBaby
- PublishDrive
- Kindle Direct Publishing
- Kobo Writing Life
- Blurb
- Scrivener
- Lulu
- IngramSpark
- Reedsy
- Atticus
- Moon Reader
- Calibre
- Libro.fm
- Affinity Publisher
- PublishDrive
- Kobo Writing Life
- Atticus
- Kobo
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Free plan11 researched notesVisual storytelling through print-on-demand books and wall art
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Free plan10 researched notesOne-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
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Free, then $4.99/one-time10 researched notesAudiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
From $14.99/mo11 researched notesDesktop page layout application, free since the Affinity range was relaunched by Canva
Free plan11 researched notesEbook distribution aggregator that moved from a royalty-share model to flat-fee subscription pricing, so authors now keep 100% of the store royalty rather than splitting it with the platform
Free plan11 researched notesRakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free plan11 researched notesOne-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
From $147/one-time11 researched notesRakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free plan11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Draft2Digital, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Draft2Digital
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Draft2Digital pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Draft2Digital
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Draft2Digital badge
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Best Publishing software alternatives
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Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a feeRakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscriptionAudiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
Per credit per month, credits never expire
Unlimited ebook, audiobook, magazine and sheet music subscription, the consumer reading service formerly called Scribd
Per user per month, unlimited
Amazon-owned book cataloguing, review and recommendation app
Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feederPay-per-book self-publishing service for ebook conversion, print on demand and distribution
One-time purchase per project
Amazon's consumer e-book reading app, distinct from Kindle Direct Publishing, the author-facing service
Free app, revenue from book purchases and optional subscriptionRakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee