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.