A Case for D2D

OK I know the Challenge asked about KDP but I’m going to pitch these guys AND KDP and list reasons: https://www.draft2digital.com/

I learned about these guys from this lovely author’s YouTube which I will credit/link here for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz1YC6_EAC8

So why I liked D2D is because they simplify the whole process and they also kinda “stick it to the man” (the “man” being Amazon - let’s face it, bookworms, they shut down our sanctuaries! these people are evil!) / you can use them to publish both on Amazon as well as a bunch of other ebook platforms including Barnes & Noble (I didn’t realize they still lived), Apple, Kobo/Rakuten Kobo, and Tolino. They even distribute to LIBRARIES!!! WOOOHOOO!! And if anyone is a Hoopla/digital library fan (as I’ve had to be during this pandemic) you can boldly support your librarians here too!

**The BIG caveat you gotta remember here though is if you DO select this platform to publish you CANNOT sign up for Kindle Unlimited. The point of Kindle Unlimited is Amazon wants to lock authors in to accepting exclusivity with them as the only publisher - they’re essentially paying you pennies to keep their monopoly. Now, I understand for some folks this pays more and you need that revenue so if you do go for it, don’t let anybody judge -- it’s still the biggest book marketplace out there -- but if you ever feel little guilt twinges maybe try D2D instead, or put a few titles on D2D and see how it goes.

The other reasons I like D2D is they truly love little self publishers - they send out emails with actually insightful, helpful tips for getting started as a new author. They’re really focused on helping people succeed, and that’s something you don’t get with the Amazon folk who treat you like another cog in their writer machine.

As the YouTube I listed above also notes? It is WAAAAAY easier to format your ebook with D2D. First of all you DON’T have to upload an epub file -- you can just straight up use your Word or Google doc file and THEN this beautiful platform will format it FOR you! They even have really cute little style options you can use to make your book “pop” a bit more, and when I tried it the interface felt much more intuitive than Amazon’s ekindle previewer. Once you format your book there you can also download - for free - an epub or emobi file to distribute to ARC readers or - if you wanna fight the evil Amazon separately - directly to KDP publishing too. The YouTube link above talks about why you might want to manage your Amazon separately, since it does have different promotion tools and it’s a big marketplace -- just remember if you do this DON’T SIGN UP FOR KINDLE UNLIMITED.

Last but not least what the D2D guys give you are 1) a free ISBN number which you can then plug into Amazon 2) a Universal Book Link that you can easily copy/paste that will allow you a one-stop shop to plug your book. No more giant Amazon links or “here’s all the places you can get your book” links - just one simple router. It’s beautiful.

[Note: If you do publish on KDP separately then you’ll have to use two - the evil and the non evil links, mwahahaha]

I can’t plug these guys enough, honestly, I think they’ve really captured the pain of self publishing along with the desire to wiggle out from under the big publishers’ grip.

If anyone else has tried them out post a comment!