Draft2Digital

What Draft2Digital does

Draft2Digital is a privately held Oklahoma-based self-publishing platform founded in 2012 that provides independent authors and small presses with automated manuscript conversion, multi-storefront distribution, print-on-demand publishing, and sales-tracking infrastructure. The platform serves more than 330,000 authors worldwide whose combined catalog exceeds one million titles, distributed through 15+ retail, library, and subscription channels including Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, OverDrive, Hoopla, Everand, and (as of February 2026) Bookshop.org's network of 3,400+ independent bookstores.

The company's product surface comprises the core Draft2Digital publishing platform, the owned Smashwords Store (the world's largest indie bookstore, acquired in March 2022), the Books2Read promotional suite (Universal Book Links, Author Pages, Book Tabs), D2D Print for paperbacks, audiobook distribution through Apple Books Digital Narration and Voices by INaudio (a Spotify division), and the Shared Universe Program for multi-author derivative works. Authors retain 100% of their rights and the platform uses automated epub/print conversion, Epubcheck-validated output, and template-driven layout engines.

Draft2Digital operates a primarily transaction-based revenue model, taking a 15% commission on ebook and audiobook sales outside the Smashwords Store, a tiered 25-60% commission on Smashwords Store sales depending on list price, and a take rate on print-on-demand sales. Additional revenue comes from a one-time $20 account activation fee and a $12 annual maintenance fee waived for accounts earning $100+ in royalties per year. The company is led by CEO Kris Austin, with Keri McKie as CFO and Mark Coker (Smashwords founder) as Chief Strategy Officer. It remains privately held with no disclosed external funding rounds.

Name

Draft2Digital

Legal name

Draft2Digital, LLC

Website

http://www.draft2digital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Draft2Digital is a privately held Oklahoma-based self-publishing platform that provides automated manuscript conversion, multi-storefront ebook and print distribution, and promotional tools to more than 330,000 independent authors and small presses worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Self-publishing platform / Digital publishing services

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Book Publishers (51313), Books Printing (323117)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Self-Publishing Platforms (KDP-style Marketplaces & Portals) (MPAJAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Author Website, Storefront & Direct-to-Reader Commerce (D2C Sales) (MPAJAJAE), Editorial & Production Services (Copyediting, Proofreading, Formatting, Typesetting) (MPAJAJAG), Audiobook Self-Publishing & Production Services (Narration, Studio, ACX-style) (MPAJAJAJ), Author Business Tools & Analytics (Royalty Tracking, Pricing, Keyword/Market Research) (MPAJAJAO), Self-Publishing & Author Platforms (BPAMAJAF)

Keywords

• Self-publishing platform
• Ebook distribution
• Print-on-demand publishing
• Manuscript conversion services
• Digital publishing infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Oklahoma City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commission on ebook and audiobook sales: Draft2Digital deducts a commission from payments received from sales channels for each Work sold, leased, rented or otherwise distributed. For ebooks and audiobooks distributed through channels other than Smashwords.com, the commission is 15%. For the Smashwords Store, commissions vary: 75% of List Price for Work sales of $2.99 or more (meaning 25% commission); 40% of List Price for Work sales under $2.99 (meaning 60% commission). Authors retain all rights to their works.
2. Print-on-Demand commission: For Works distributed through D2D Print, authors receive 45% of the List Price minus the unit cost, with the remainder being Draft2Digital's commission.
3. Account activation fee: One-time activation fee of $20 USD for new accounts, which includes the first year of account maintenance. Existing accounts are not subject to this fee.
4. Annual account maintenance fee: Annual maintenance fee of $12 USD, waived for accounts earning $100 USD or more in royalties over the prior twelve-month period. Accounts earning below this threshold are charged annually.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels13 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Draft2Digital operates a cloud-based self-publishing platform that converts author manuscripts into professionally formatted ebooks and print-on-demand paperbacks and distributes them worldwide to major retailers (Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo), library platforms (OverDrive, BorrowBox, Hoopla, cloudLibrary), and subscription services (Everand, Fable, Kobo Plus). Authors retain 100% of their rights, pay no upfront fees for core access, and receive commission-based royalties after sales. The platform also provides sales tracking, promotional tools (Universal Book Links, Promotions Tab), and human customer support.

Product overview

Draft2Digital is a unified self-publishing platform that combines ebook formatting, print-on-demand publishing, and global distribution through a network of over 15 retail, library, and subscription partners. The platform consists of the Draft2Digital Core Platform (free ebook publishing with 15% commission; print-on-demand with 45% author royalty), the owned Smashwords Store (up to 80% royalties), and the Books2Read promotional toolkit (Universal Book Links, Author Pages, Book Tabs). Additional modules include Apple Books Digital Narration (AI text-to-speech audiobooks), Voices by INaudio audiobook distribution, the Shared Universe Program for multi-author collaborations, and the Refer a Friend Affiliate Program. Authors retain 100% of their rights across all services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Books2Read: Author promotions powerhouse platform featuring Universal Book Links (UBLs), B2R Author Pages, B2R Book Tabs, and New Release Notifications for author marketing and book promotion.
• Smashwords Store

Products and services

• Draft2Digital Core Platform Self-publishing platform providing automated manuscript conversion, ebook and print-on-demand distribution, sales tracking, and royalty management for independent authors. Authors retain 100% of rights and pay no upfront fees for core use.
• Smashwords Store World's largest bookstore dedicated to indie authors and publishers, offering authors royalty rates of up to 80% of list price with self-serve merchandising tools including coupons, presales, and storewide sales events.
• Books2Read Author promotion and discoverability platform providing Universal Book Links (UBLs), B2R Author Pages, B2R Book Tabs, New Release Notifications, and Reading Lists to help authors promote their books and increase reader reach.
• D2D Print (Print-on-Demand) Print-on-demand paperback publishing service that prints and ships books only when ordered, with authors earning approximately 45% of list price minus printing costs.
• Apple Books Digital Narration AI-powered text-to-speech audiobook creation service through Apple Books, allowing eligible authors to have their ebooks automatically converted to audiobooks using synthetic voice technology.
• Shared Universe Program Program allowing Original Universe Licensors to register shared universes and license other Draft2Digital authors to publish derivative works, with royalties split per licensor terms.

Quantifiable outcome

• Authors can distribute to all major retailers plus hundreds of storefronts worldwide with a single opt-in checkbox
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration17 records

AI capability2 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bookshop.orgcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 4 February 2026Bookshop.org partnered with Draft2Digital to sell self-published ebooks through independent bookstores in the US and UK. The partnership allows bookstores to earn 100% of ebook profits from Draft2Digital-distributed titles. The deal has potential to add 1.2 million e-book titles from approximately 330,000 authors, with an estimated 300,000 e-books potentially available on day one of launch. Bookshop.org's ebook platform launched in the US in January 2025 and UK in October 2025.
• SmashwordscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 February 2022Draft2Digital acquired Smashwords in a strategic merger in the digital publishing sector. The acquisition created a unified platform distributing over 800,000 titles. The deal was expected to close by March 1, 2022. The combined company expanded distribution, marketing tools, and publishing resources for authors across both platforms. The Smashwords Store, the world's largest bookstore dedicated to indie authors, continues as part of the combined entity with royalty rates up to 80%.
• Voices by INaudio (Spotify)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorD2D partners with Voices by INaudio, a division of Spotify, for audiobook distribution. Authors with complete and edited audiobooks can sign up through Draft2Digital to transfer metadata and access the world's largest audiobook distribution network.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lulu: Self-publishing platform offering print-on-demand, ebook distribution, and author services. Targets the same independent author segment as Draft2Digital with similar conversion, formatting, and global retail distribution value proposition.
• BookBaby: Self-publishing services company offering formatting, design, ebook conversion, and distribution to retailers. Closely comparable service mix to Draft2Digital, focused on the same indie author customer segment.
• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP): Amazon's direct-to-author self-publishing platform, the largest in the category. Directly competes with Draft2Digital on ebook and POD distribution, offering 70% royalty direct to Amazon without an aggregator intermediary.
• IngramSpark: Ingram Content Group's self-publishing platform offering print-on-demand and ebook distribution to a global retailer network. Directly comparable distribution model and indie author target customer to Draft2Digital.
• Kobo Writing Life: Rakuten Kobo's direct self-publishing platform allowing authors to publish directly to Kobo's global storefront and Kobo Plus subscription service. Competes head-to-head with Draft2Digital for Kobo-bound distribution, though without Draft2Digital's multi-retailer aggregation.
• Barnes & Noble Press: Barnes & Noble's direct self-publishing platform offering POD and ebook distribution to the B&N retail ecosystem. Functions as both a Draft2Digital distribution partner and a direct competitor for indie authors.
• PublishDrive: Indie author ebook distribution and marketing platform aggregating titles to global retailers and subscription services. Closely comparable aggregation model to Draft2Digital with overlapping retailer integrations.
• StreetLib: European-headquartered self-publishing and ebook distribution platform serving authors across international markets. Comparable aggregation business model with stronger European retailer penetration than Draft2Digital.

Broad incumbents

• Ingram Content Group: Largest book wholesaler and distributor globally, parent of IngramSpark. Operates across the entire publishing supply chain — wholesale, print, digital distribution, and library services — providing Draft2Digital indirect competitive pressure at the distribution layer.
• Apple Books for Authors: Apple's direct-to-author publishing portal for the Apple Books ecosystem, including the AI-powered Digital Narration program. Functions both as a Draft2Digital distribution partner and a direct competitor for Apple-direct indie publishing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/draft2digital
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Draft2Digital
• Facebookfacebook.com/draft2digital
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/draft2digital
• Instagraminstagram.com/draft2digital
• TikToktiktok.com/@draft2digital

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Draft2Digital