The self-publishing platform updates its royalty payout structure to simplify processing and reduce fees for indie authors and small presses.
Founded in March of 2012 with the goal of making it easier for authors to send their books to retailers, Draft2Digital (“D2D”) has become one of the top websites for publishing and distribution among indie authors and small publishers. Their services include formatting both print and e-books and distribution deals with sixteen different retailers, including Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. They also distribute to some library services like Hoopla. Recently, they have changed up their payment structure to include more minimum payment thresholds, when previously, this only applied to certain payment methods.
Payment Threshold Changes
First, D2D does not charge to list or distribute books through their platform, and this practice will continue. They do take 10% of any royalties earned from books sold. Authors and publishers can earn around 60% of any e-book sales and 45% of any print book sale, calculated as 10% for D2D and a varying amount based on each store’s rate. Along with these deductions, some payment methods also charge service fees. For example, Paypal collects 2.5% (maximum $25) of royalties, and checks have a flat rate of $4.00 for processing. The change D2D is making is about when they will be paying out the royalties to authors and publishers.
D2D currently operates without a payment threshold for some of its payment methods. For example, Paypal has no minimum payment threshold at the moment; however, checks have a $100.00 USD minimum payment threshold, and International Direct Deposit has a minimum amount of $10.00 USD. Being able to set a payment threshold means that authors/publishers can set the minimum payout amount as low as they want. This is a benefit to self-published authors and small presses because sometimes sales can be few and far between, which can cause long waits for payments on some platforms. As well, royalties are paid out by D2D monthly, around the 15th of each month, but some stores can take up to 30-60 days after the end of each month to report their sales for e-books and audiobooks, while print books can take up to 90 days to report their sales.
As of November 1, 2025, D2D will be implementing minimum payment thresholds for all payment methods. This is being implemented to help D2D reduce their administrative costs, minimize the transaction fees charged by the payment platforms, and streamline D2D’s processing. The new payment thresholds are as follows:
- Direct Deposit (US): $10
- Direct Deposit (International): $20
- Payoneer: $20
- PayPal (US): $10
- PayPal (International): $10
- Check (US): $100
- Check (International): $100
This means that authors and publishers will not receive payment until these thresholds have been met. If an account has a balance lower than the threshold at the monthly payment time, it will rollover to the next month, and so on, until the minimum amount is met. This, fortunately, means that no royalties will be lost, only possibly delayed until the next month if the sales are too low in that time period.
More about Draft2Digital’s Services
D2D offers more than just publishing and distribution services. They also host a regular blog on their website with tips and tricks for authors and have a podcast that, as of writing this, has produced 243 episodes. Recent episodes of the podcast covered topics such as writing with dictation, public relations for indie authors, and how to discover your author mindset.
In 2022, D2D acquired Smashwords, another popular platform among writers. Smashwords was launched by Mark Coker back in 2008, and when the acquisition happened, he joined the senior management of D2D as Chief Strategy Officer. Smashwords was originally an e-book publishing platform and store. Eventually, they began distributing books to major retailers, and was the first distribute to open Barnes & Noble up to self-published e-books. D2D was their competitor, but instead, has become their partner. Smashwords’ distribution and publishing options have been transitioning over to D2D, and Smashwords will continue on as a store only.
Along with Smashwords and their retail distribution partners, D2D has many other partners that they work with, such as:
- Voices by INaudio:
- A platform devoted to helping authors and publishers distribute their audiobooks to as many retailers as possible. They are partnered with Spotify, but authors who work with them are not exclusive to Spotify for their audiobooks. They are for authors who already have audiobooks made, as they do not offer services to create them.
- Books2Read:
- A site that lets authors set up a universal book link. These are particularly useful for indie authors. Often, indie authors and small publishers will have their books on multiple sites and a universal book link is an easy way for readers to buy the book from their preferred distributor instead of having to hunt for it.
- Written Word Media
- Written Word Media is a marketing platform that lets authors and publishers send their books to targeted lists of tens of thousands of readers through email promos. They have several different categories of email lists for romance books, new books, bargain books, and free promotional offers.
- Alliance of Independent Authors
- Using the shortform, ALLi, they are a global, non-profit association for self-published authors and trusted author services, such as Draft2Digital and Books2Read. They provide self-published authors with guidance and advice on a variety of topics.
- Reedsy
- Reedsy is described on the D2D page as a directory service for authors. They serve to connect authors and publishers with editors, graphic designers, and public relations talent. They also offer their own self-publishing software which lets authors format and develop e-books and print books for free.
In the over thirteen years that Draft2Digital has been around, it has grown in numerous ways, such acquiring new partners, joining with Smashwords, expanding to offer publication services. These new payment threshold minimums are being implemented to help them continue to operate.
Sources and Links:
Draft2Digital FAQ – https://draft2digital.com/faq/
Draft2Digital Blog – https://www.draft2digital.com/blog/
Draft2Digital Podcast – https://www.draft2digital.com/blog/category/self-publishing-insiders-podcast/
Smashwords About – https://www.smashwords.com/about
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Melody lives in Ontario, Canada and writes short, dark fiction. She has been published in several anthologies and online publications. In university, she studied Ancient Greek and Roman Studies and often infuses her work with elements of Greek mythology. She also loves reading, embroidery, and martial arts. You can follow her homepage at: https://www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/
Homepage: https://www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/MelodyEMcintyre.com
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