Annotating Draft2Digital’s “Important Updates to Your Draft2Digital Account”

Are you solving the problem you intend to solve?

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April 14th, Draft2Digital sent out an email to those who use their services when publishing books. I first learned of them in 2024 when I was asked to make an account by Lintusen Press when they published my story “The Hunger of Ghosts” in their anthology Ghostly.

I was impressed. Draft2Digital made it easy for a small press to split revenue with its authors. This is why, in 2025, when it came time to see what happens if Irreantum packages a special bonus issue more like a book than a magazine, I decided to use Draft2Digital’s services. The result was Eternities of Cats which, I’m happy to hint, is receiving awards consideration (details to follow as they become public).

Later in 2025, I decided to print use Draft2Digital to make my silly little art project Thubrina.

(FYI, Substack decided some months ago to take away the ability to adjust how large images appear in a post. THAT is the explanation here.)

Anyway, a week ago, as mentioned above, Draft2Digital sent an email out to its users. My comments italicized within brackets.

Dear Eric W,

For the first time in our history, we’re introducing account activation and maintenance fees. For many existing Draft2Digital authors, especially those with regularly selling books, these fees do not affect you.

Here’s how they’ll work...

Activation Fee for New Accounts

If you already have a D2D account (if you’re reading this, you probably do), the activation fee doesn’t apply to you. New accounts will include a one-time fee of $20 (USD). This activation fee, combined with our verification tools and human reviewers, will help us maintain a secure, high-integrity publishing environment.

Like many platforms, we’ve seen a significant increase in automated and low-quality account creation in recent years. This onslaught from automated content farms threatens reader trust in indie titles and risks indies being associated with low-quality “slop.” A modest activation fee can make a real difference and allow our team to stay focused on supporting genuine authors like you.

[This ties in nicely with something I was reading in The Atlantic yesterday (guest link will expire in one week); a slight barrier to entry (eg, having to apply for a card to use a public restroom) can keep out nearly all bad actors. And, as you know if you’ve spent much time looking for things on Amazon lately, is a real problem in the media landscape. Most of what AI has managed to offer us so more is crap—but in volume! This is absolutely a problem Direct2Digital should be focusing on. I think I feel that a $20 entrance fee is reasonable. I hope they’ve done research on what is large enough to keep out sloppers but low enough to keep their goal of democratizing publication feasible. But, as we’ll see more clearly below, I have questions.]

Annual Maintenance Fee

An annual maintenance fee of $12 (USD) will apply to accounts whose earnings from book sales, meaning your net proceeds after D2D’s commission, total less than $100 over the preceding 12-month period. If you earn $100 or more from your book sales over 12 months, you will not be charged this fee.

[I have three books (as far as I know) that have passed through Draft2Digital on their way to market. One is from a small, indie Canadian publisher; one is from a 26yrold literary journal serving a niche audience; one is a weird little ziney thing that would not exist otherwise. All three were human-centered project. And I don’t think it will shock anyone to learn that in the approximately nineteen months that I’ve been connected with Draft2Digital, I have not made $100.

[Now, Draft2Digital is not a charity. And perhaps it’s fair to call me a “hobbyist.” But what I most certainly am not is peddling AI slop. All three projects have been deeply human and, imo, have done intesting work that deserves space in the marketplace of (human) ideas. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the email.]

Draft2Digital is primarily supported by earning commissions on book sales. For accounts that earn less revenue, a small annual fee helps offset a portion of the steadily rising costs we pay to maintain those accounts, including compliance, security, and infrastructure upkeep.

[The reason I expressed minor skepticism about the the $20 is the reason I’m deeply skeptical of the $12. But I appreciate Draft2Digital giving us their second reason.

[Reason one: Keep out slop.

[Reason two: Make the little guy pay for his lack of hustle.

[In short, I think their research (which I do assume existed) that landed on $12 had nothing to do with keeping slop out. The $12 is chosen to be as minimal as possible in order to keep those who don’t make $100/annum into subscribers. Because that’s what Draft2Digital is about to become: a subscription service. If you want to believe in yourself as a “writer,” pay for the privelege.

[I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Draft2Digital is turning into a traditional pay-to-play vanity press. They’re no longer a disrupter; they’re a vanity press. They’ve found a new way to do this but it’s the same old scam.

[On the other hand, having a bunch of people putting up unedited rough drafts because it makes them feel writerly is not something they should have to subsidize.]

Maintenance fees will start going into effect in 30 days, on May 14, 2026, and will be based on your account anniversary date. We’ll always notify you in advance.

[Which I think means I have to move Eternities of Cats and Thubrina off their services. Which is a shame. I like knowing you can get the books from your library, for instance. For all its imperfections, Draft2Digital really is (was) the best way for the little guy to publish small-audience work that I knew.]

The Bottom Line

Our goal is to keep D2D a place where authors can publish with confidence. [This is a good goal. But it’s also a tad disengenuous. Because the nature (and especially the details) of their solution says either that ain’t true or “authors” is a category that only includes people who sell $100 per year. Which, I grant you, is not a huge number. But in this world it excludes everyone who isn’t bigtime hustling. Make it your job or go away, is the message they’re sending—loud and clear.] That means continuing to invest in our tools, maintaining strong relationships with retailers, and protecting the legitimacy of indie authors and the trust that readers place in indie books. [Again: true. Especially with retailers, keeping slop out will be a success or failure tied to the Draft2Digital name. And rejecting people who sell in small numbers won’t hurt them with retailers either. But relationships with authors? That’ll take a real hit. It’ll make more people give up before they get to that $100/ann threshhold; it’ll keep more niche writers away from their more niche readers. A book written by one and sold to three lesbian Pakistani autistic Airbnb landlords might be doing as good as it can. That had worth.

[I understood Draft2Digital’s raison d’être to be this sort of big-tent, people-matter, democracy-actually-means-δῆμος desire. And maybe they’re losing money like crazy and charging the writers is their only way to survive. Or maybe they’ve moved on to thinking more about quarterly reports than those they serve.

[Maybe the ethics of publishing are changing.

[I suppose corporations can levy regressive taxes all they want. Because, in the end, this is a business, not a democracy. Regardless of good intentions, if we don’t make them money, screw us. That’s capitalism, baby.]

If you have questions, additional details can be found on your Account Status page, or you can read our updated terms of service. You can also reach out to our support team via our contact us form at any time.

[If you’re wondering, no, I haven’t done this. I’m undecided if I should. I’m not mad, as they say, just disappointed.

[Draft2Digital acquired their main competitor in this space, Smashwords, in 2022. I suppose this is what happens when consolidation happens in a space. The people get squeezed.

[Who among us can be surprised that the good guys are compromising their morals in order to make more money? Because there are other ways to solve these problems besides charging your customers.

[Even a really well written and reasonable email does not change that fact.]

We appreciate your trust in D2D [Mm.], and we remain committed to developing and protecting opportunities for indies to reach readers. [I grade you 10% on developing and 70% on protecting. But remember: I allow rewrites.]

Sincerely,

Kris Austin

CEO of Draft2Digital