KDP vs Draft2Digital: Amazon-Only or Publishing Wide?

TL;DR

Use both. KDP for Amazon (which you must do directly — D2D cannot distribute to Amazon). Draft2Digital for everywhere else — Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Everand, and 30+ more retailers, with one upload. KDP Select's exclusivity requirement is the only reason not to use D2D alongside KDP.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Amazon KDP	Draft2Digital
Reaches Amazon	Yes — exclusive	No (D2D cannot distribute to Amazon)
Reaches Apple Books	No (direct Apple requires Mac + iTunes)	Yes
Reaches Kobo	No	Yes
Reaches Barnes & Noble	No	Yes
Royalty rate	70% ($2.99–$9.99) or 35%	60% of retail (varies by retailer)
KDP Select exclusivity	Optional 90-day exclusivity for KU access	Cannot use if enrolled in KDP Select
Universal Book Links	No	Yes — one link for all retailers
Best for	Amazon sales (direct, required)	Wide distribution (all non-Amazon)

The most common strategic mistake in indie publishing: treating KDP and Draft2Digital as an either/or choice.

They’re not. They’re complementary tools that reach different parts of the market.

The Market Reality

Amazon: ~65–70% of English-language ebook sales. You must be on KDP to sell on Amazon. D2D cannot get you there.

Everyone else: Apple Books is the #2 ebook retailer globally. Kobo dominates Canada and several European markets. Barnes & Noble has a loyal US readership. Everand (formerly Scribd) has a growing subscription reader base. Draft2Digital reaches all of these — and 30+ more — with a single upload.

An author not on non-Amazon platforms is leaving 30–35% of their potential market untouched.

The KDP Select Trap

KDP Select’s pitch: enroll your ebook for 90 days, get Kindle Unlimited access (paid per page read) and promotional tools.

The cost: exclusivity. You cannot sell the enrolled ebook anywhere besides Amazon during the enrollment period.

For some authors — particularly romance and genre fiction with large KU readership — KDP Select income justifies exclusivity. For others, it doesn’t. The calculation depends on:

Your genre (KU readership varies dramatically by genre)
Your existing readership outside Amazon
Whether you’re building a wide platform long-term

If you’re just starting out and don’t have data: publish wide first, test the market, then evaluate KU enrollment based on actual numbers.

How Draft2Digital Works in Practice

Upload your formatted ePub and cover once to Draft2Digital
Set your price
Select which retailers to distribute to (or select all)
D2D handles the submission to each retailer individually
D2D aggregates your royalty reports across all retailers in one dashboard
D2D pays you quarterly for all retailers combined

One upload, 30+ retailers, one payment. The 15% D2D fee is reasonable compensation for the operational simplification.

The Wide Publishing Setup

Managing wide publishing correctly involves:

KDP account setup (direct)
Draft2Digital account setup
W-8BEN filed with both (critical for non-US authors — see W-8BEN guide)
Price parity maintained across all retailers (Amazon monitors this)
Metadata consistent across all listings

MekarPad’s Global Launch Setup handles this entire process — KDP + D2D setup in your accounts, W-8BEN filing, metadata optimization, and publishing until Live on all platforms.

Third Option

Skip the software entirely.

If you're publishing 1–3 books, buying Amazon KDP just to format them doesn't make economic sense. MekarPad gives you professional Vellum output starting at $75 — no software, no learning curve, no Mac required.

Order Formatting →

Common Questions

Can I use KDP and Draft2Digital at the same time?

Yes — as long as you're not enrolled in KDP Select. KDP Select requires 90-day exclusivity to Amazon for the enrolled title. If you're not in KDP Select, you can publish directly to KDP (for Amazon) and use Draft2Digital to distribute to Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere else simultaneously.

Does Draft2Digital distribute to Amazon?

No. Draft2Digital explicitly does not distribute to Amazon — you must manage your Amazon sales directly through KDP. This is not a limitation so much as a feature: it keeps your Amazon royalty rate at the full KDP rate rather than running through a middleman.

What percentage does Draft2Digital take?

Draft2Digital keeps 15% of the author's share of retail price. So on a $4.99 book, if Apple Books pays 70% ($3.49), Draft2Digital keeps $0.52 and you receive $2.97. This is higher than going direct to Apple Books, but Draft2Digital saves the overhead of managing 10+ retailer accounts individually.

Is it worth going direct to Apple Books instead of using D2D?

Going direct to Apple Books requires a Mac and an iTunes Connect account. The royalty rate is higher (70% directly vs D2D's cut), but the overhead is meaningful if you have more than 5–10 titles to manage. Most indie authors start with D2D for simplicity, then go direct to Apple once their catalog justifies the overhead.

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