Keep 100% on your direct sales.
Use D2D for wide distribution. Use Books.by for your personal traffic. $99/yr, 100-day money-back guarantee.
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Draft2Digital is a wide ebook distributor. Books.by is your own bookstore. They solve different problems — and many smart authors use both. Here's how they compare.
| Feature | Books.by | Draft2Digital |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Type | Direct-to-reader storefront + POD | Ebook & print distributor |
| Cost | $99/yr flat | Free (10% commission on sales) |
| Ebook Distribution | ✗ Direct sales only | ✓ Amazon, Apple, Kobo, B&N, Google, libraries |
| Print-on-Demand | ✓ Built in, global fulfilment | ✓ D2D Print (distribution to retailers) |
| Direct Sales | ✓ Your own branded bookstore | ✗ Distribution to retailers only |
| Royalties | 100% on direct sales | 90% of net (after retailer cut) |
| Payout Speed | Daily | Monthly (60-day delay) |
| Customer Data | ✓ Full name, email, address | ✗ Retailers keep customer data |
| Free ISBNs | ✓ Unlimited, you as publisher | ✓ Free (D2D as publisher of record) |
| Formatting Tools | Accepts standard files (DOCX, PDF) | ✓ Free ebook formatter + templates |
| Universal Book Links | ✗ | ✓ Books2Read universal links |
| Author Page | ✓ Full branded storefront | ✓ Books2Read author page |
| Real-Time Sales Alerts | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hardcover Printing | 🔜 coming in 2026 | ✗ (paperback only via D2D Print) |
D2D has earned its reputation as the go-to wide distribution platform for indie authors. Here's why:
D2D distributes to Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Scribd, OverDrive (libraries), Hoopla, and dozens more. One upload, everywhere.
Their universal book link tool detects where a reader is located and routes them to the appropriate retailer. Genuinely useful for marketing across platforms.
D2D offers a solid free ebook formatter that converts your Word doc into clean EPUB files. They also provide chapter heading templates and a basic layout tool.
D2D charges nothing upfront. Their 10% commission only applies when you make sales. Zero risk to try — you only pay when books sell.
For ebook-focused authors going wide (distributing to multiple retailers beyond Amazon), D2D is excellent. The convenience of one dashboard managing all your ebook retailers is hard to beat. Draft2Digital is a solid platform. But solid isn't enough when you're giving up customer data on every sale. More than 70% of Books.by authors also sell on Amazon or through distributors like D2D — the difference is they keep their direct-sales traffic for themselves.
From our team: "We recommend D2D to our own authors for wide ebook distribution. They do it well and they're good people. But we built Books.by because distribution alone isn't enough — authors need to own their customer relationships." — Books.by Publishing Team
Here's what you'd earn on a $4.99 ebook sold through each platform (Books.by eBook sales coming in 2026):
On 500 ebook sales, that's $2,495 on Books.by vs $1,745 on KDP vs $1,570 via D2D→Amazon. And unlike KDP, Books.by has no pricing restrictions — price your ebook at $0.99 or $19.99 and keep 100% either way. On KDP, anything outside $2.99–$9.99 earns just 35% royalty (65% commission).
The honest caveat: D2D's distribution puts your ebook in front of millions of readers on Amazon, Apple, Kobo, and more. Books.by requires you to bring your own traffic. If you have zero audience, D2D's retailer reach is valuable. But for traffic you generate yourself — email, social, website — sending it through D2D means giving up 30–40% unnecessarily. eBook publishing on Books.by is coming in 2026 — authors will be able to upload a dedicated ePub file or make their existing print PDF available for purchase, with separate pricing or as a free bonus with print purchases.
Both platforms offer print-on-demand, but they work very differently:
D2D Print distributes your print book to retailers — primarily through Ingram's network. Your paperback appears on Amazon, Barnes & Noble's website, and is available for bookstore ordering. But you don't sell directly. The retailer takes their cut, D2D takes their commission, and you receive what's left. D2D Print currently offers paperbacks only — no hardcovers.
Books.by is a direct-to-reader print store. When someone buys from your Books.by storefront, we print and ship the book directly to them. You keep 100% above fulfilment costs. Global printing facilities in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia. Books.by currently offers paperback printing, with hardcover coming in 2026.
The key difference: with D2D Print, you're distributing through intermediaries. With Books.by, you're selling to the end reader. That means higher margins but requires your own traffic.
D2D's 10% commission seems modest until you realize it stacks on top of the retailer's cut. Here's how the math actually works on a $4.99 ebook:
Note: Books.by is $99/yr flat — no per-sale commissions. For print books, printing + shipping costs are deducted.
This doesn't mean D2D is bad — 10% for automated wide distribution is reasonable. But for sales where you're doing the marketing work (your email list, social media, podcast mentions), you shouldn't be paying both a retailer and a distributor. That traffic should go to your Books.by store.
Books.by and Draft2Digital aren't competitors — they're complementary tools in a smart author's toolkit. Here's the playbook:
Draft2Digital → for wide ebook distribution. Let D2D push your ebook to Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Scribd, OverDrive, and library systems. This is traffic and discovery you can't easily replicate on your own. D2D's 10% commission is the cost of automated access to dozens of retail channels.
Books.by → for all your personal traffic. Every sale that comes from your email list, Instagram bio, TikTok link, website, podcast, business card, or book signing should go to your Books.by store. You generated that traffic — you should keep 100% of the revenue and own the customer relationship.
Amazon KDP → publish directly on KDP for the 70% royalty rate (instead of going through D2D to Amazon, which costs you an extra 10%). Many "wide" authors exclude Amazon from D2D and go direct.
🎯 The Traffic Rule
Traffic you create (email, social, website) → Books.by (100% royalties).
Traffic from retailers (Amazon search, Apple discovery) → D2D/KDP (let them have their cut).
"But D2D is free — why pay $99 for Books.by?" Because D2D funds itself with a 10% commission on every sale, stacked on top of the retailer's 30%. On a $4.99 ebook, that's $1.85 gone before you see a dollar. Books.by charges a flat $99/yr and takes zero commission — you keep the full retail price on direct sales. For print books, the math is even more dramatic: $9.60 per book on Books.by vs $2.80 on Lulu's marketplace or $4.75 through IngramSpark distribution. Flat-fee platforms beat commission-based "free" platforms as soon as you're selling regularly.
The smartest approach? Use both. D2D for wide ebook distribution to retailers. Books.by for direct print sales now and direct ebook sales from 2026 — where you keep 100% of RRP at any price point, with no KDP-style pricing restrictions. Together, you maximize both reach and revenue.
100% royalties · Free ISBNs · Daily payouts · 100-day money-back guarantee
Use D2D for wide distribution. Use Books.by for your personal traffic. $99/yr, 100-day money-back guarantee.
Start Your Bookstore →