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This is a disgrace. It will absolutely affect small indies (myself included), not help. Only the big fishes out there will be okay. It has quite an elitist feel to it. Also, I can't prove it, but my gut tells me it's part of the ruling class's worldwide stupidification campaign.
Guys if anyone's self publishing and doesn't want to use Amazon, they can use Draft 2 Digital. I've done some research at it seems good and gives you a higher cut of the profit.
Mastermind Author Partnerships with Matilda Swift and Sam Cummings
Matilda Swift and Sam Cummings of the Pen to Paycheck podcast work together as mastermind partners to achieve the “how to quit my day job” dream. You’ll hear advice including: ● The benefits of partnering with fellow authors. ● What makes a good partnership. ● Steps to take in the journey from part-time to full-time author. Draft2Digital is where you start your Indie Author Career Looking…
Are You Selling Out? When to Pivot as an Author (Or "Choosing a Genre Isn't Like Choosing a Face Tattoo
by Kevin Tumlinson Or “Choosing a genre isn’t like choosing a face tattoo.” Recently, I was a guest on Author Platform Rocket, and the topic became “The Power of Pivot.” I chatted with Jonny Andrews about my own experience in shifting from one genre to another—sci-fi to thrillers—and my hesitation in doing that, since I’d been a sci-fi writer for so long. Turns out, that was a topic people…
Book Marketing and Launch Plans // EP169
by Lexi Greene Stephanie Chandler, CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association, joins us to talk about best practices when it comes to marketing and launching your book. Publishing and distributing your self-published books is the easy part. Reaching readers is still the challenge. Today we speak with Stephanie Chandler, the founder and CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association. Stephanie began…
If, like me, you were a Smashwords author for ages and if, like me, you've been meh about the Draft 2 Digital takeover this whole time and not really paying attention to it because you don't sell much through there anyway...pay attention now.
Because Draft 2 Digital is going to start charging everyone who makes less that US$100 per year US$12 per year. They're going to initiate this fee in May 2026, although my account says it'll be payable in August, not sure why.
So if, like me, you only use your Smashwords links in legacy mode because the whole thing got annoyingly hard so you're not clearing $100 bucks a year, you might want to look into pulling your account, or pushing through some sales, or something.
I honestly preferred Smashwords back in the day when my books were selling more, because the coupon system was good and they paid much better than Amazon, and obviously Amazon is less preferable for many reasons. My books have been on both, and what's left of Gumroad, for more than a decade.
I used to run special, limited-time Smashwords coupons so groups of friends could buy my book, and for many years I did a birthday coupon on my birthday for a huge discount, but ever since becoming this ill and disabled, I haven't been able to promo it enough so sales dried up and I stopped bothering.
Then Draft 2 Digital took over and my spoons were too limited to do anything about it.
But it seems like now I'm probably going to have to delete my account rather than pay them when they have never bothered to pay me one thin dime since the takeover because my small sales weren't over threshold.
So...yeah. If you're on Draft 2 Digital because you were on Smashwords, go pay attention now before you rack up unexpected fees you never agreed to in the first place.
With Draft2Digital's new annual fee of $12usd here's some facts:
1. D2D recenly changed their payout minimum from 10USD to 20USD, which means getting paid half as often if you're not making a lot of money through the platform
1.1. Which means if you earnt the $12usd fee, you wouldn't get access to that money to be able to pay it to D2D because they don't pay out until you hit 20usd!
2. I'd have to sell 34 books a year, through the D2D system to make the minimum threshold to avoid the fee (100USD)
3. Any new fee getting implemented is always a clusterfuck the first few months so I wouldn't be surprised to see that.
4. In the email, they don't give dates that this is going to start from, nor do they tell you what "a year" counts as in their record. Is it a tax year? In which case is it an American one (because that's different to other places)? Is it a calendar year? Is it 12 months from the last time you went over the threshold?
5. Through D2D, I have only ever sold to libraries. If I exit D2D's platform now, would the libraries access cease? I don't want that, but I also don't want to have to pay $12usd a year in fees to let the libraries keep them.
6. I, as a business, recognise that sometimes businesses have to make unpopular choices for financial reasons but from the site that used to advertise itself as "no fees! (Unlike those other stinky platforms)" (Not their exact words) This rankles a lot more than an upload fee would have.
7. They keep encouraging people to go for their 99¢ (is that cents? Idk) smashwords sale (and okay, it doesn't have to be down to 99-whatever, but the point stands more or less). How can you incentivise joining a sale and also punishing people for not earning enough
7.1. I've joined the sale twice, done all the marketing bits required during, and sold a grand total of 0 units both times, so it's not like (anecdotally) they're getting you 4× the sales at a discount price or anything.
I know most of this list is very personal experience, and I know there are authors out there making well over the 100 threshold. I know hosting books and sales sites must be expensive. And I know this probably rankles most for people in the 80-99$us earnings category. But it fucking sucks.
Social Media Influencers
by Matt Aird Special guest post about Influencers and Authors by Matt Aird, CMO at Koru House Media They’re the modern-day celebrities. They’re internet stars who have built loyal followings around every niche imaginable. They’re influencers, and you if you’re an indie author, you need to start working with them. There has been a monumental shift in the media landscape away from the…
