Draft2Digital pairs a flat fee with a per-sale commission

The writer's problem

An author weighing an ebook aggregator against publishing directly on each retailer needs to know what the aggregator charges and what rights it asks for in exchange. Draft2Digital's own FAQ page and Terms of Service set out both.

What the documents show

The FAQ states new accounts pay a non-refundable, one-time activation fee of $20 and an annual maintenance fee of $12 for accounts earning under $100 a year in sales; accounts with no titles actively listed are exempt from the maintenance fee. Beyond those fixed charges, the FAQ states the company earns revenue primarily through commission on book sales, which equates to approximately 10 percent of the retail price of every sale, with the exact percentage varying by store and format. The Terms of Service state that the author grants Draft2Digital a nonexclusive, worldwide right and license to distribute the work, and that the company has a right to commissions but no claim to the copyright or ownership of an author's work. Distribution reaches more than a dozen ebook retailers plus library systems, with new retailers added only after the author opts in rather than automatically.

The editorial choice

A flat activation and maintenance fee changes the calculation for an author with a small backlist earning under the $100 threshold, since the $12 annual charge applies regardless of sales; an author or small press deciding whether to keep a low-selling title in distribution has reason to weigh that fixed cost against the roughly 10 percent commission a higher-selling title would pay instead. Because the license granted is nonexclusive, an author can also compare the aggregator's reach against publishing the same title directly on the retailers it already covers, without giving up the option to do both.

What stays with the author

Copyright ownership, the choice of which retailers to opt into, and the decision whether to keep a low-earning title in distribution once the maintenance fee applies remain the author's own. These figures describe the FAQ and Terms of Service as retrieved on 16 September 2026; fee structures on a living account page can change without a dated announcement.

• Would this title's expected annual sales clear the $100 threshold that triggers the maintenance fee.
• Does the nonexclusive license change what else this author can do with the same files.
• Has the commission percentage or fee schedule changed since these pages were retrieved.

An aggregator's pitch is usually about reach, but the arithmetic an author actually needs is the fixed fee plus the commission, set against what direct listing on the same retailers would cost in time instead of money.