KDP vs. Draft2Digital: Which Is Better for Ebook Distribution?

Every indie author publishing ebooks faces the same foundational decision: publish only on Amazon, or distribute your book to multiple retailers simultaneously. KDP vs. Draft2Digital sits at the center of that question. KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon's direct publishing platform — it puts your ebook in the Kindle store and gives you access to Kindle Unlimited. Draft2Digital is an aggregator that distributes your ebook to dozens of retailers and library platforms through a single upload.

These two platforms are not direct competitors in the traditional sense. KDP is a retailer-specific publishing tool; Draft2Digital is a distribution intermediary. Most authors who go wide use both — KDP direct for Amazon, Draft2Digital for everything else. But understanding what each does, how they pay, and what you give up with each choice matters for making that strategy work.

This guide compares distribution reach, royalty structures, KDP Select compatibility, formatting capabilities, and the real-world trade-offs of using one or both platforms.

At a glance: KDP vs. Draft2Digital

Feature	KDP	Draft2Digital
Platform type	Direct publisher (Amazon only)	Aggregator / multi-retailer distributor
Stores reached	Amazon Kindle	Apple Books, B&N, Kobo, OverDrive, Scribd, Tolino, and others
Royalty on Amazon	70% (for $2.99–$9.99 books in eligible territories)	N/A — D2D does not distribute to Amazon
D2D royalty structure	N/A	~10% of list price retained by D2D; ~60% reaches author after retailer cut
KDP Select compatible	Yes — required for enrollment	No — KDP Select excludes D2D distribution of the same title
Formatting/conversion tools	Basic EPUB and MOBI conversion	Basic EPUB conversion, cover-to-ebook tools, auto-generated back matter
Print distribution	KDP Print (Amazon POD)	D2D Print (POD via their network)
Universal book links	No	Yes — Books2Read links
Payment schedule	~60 days after month end	~60 days after month end
Ease of use	Straightforward	Straightforward
Customer support reputation	Limited; community forums	Generally responsive email support

What each platform actually does

KDP is Amazon's direct self-publishing tool. When you upload your ebook to KDP, it appears in the Amazon Kindle store. KDP also offers KDP Print for paperback and hardcover editions, and the KDP Select program which places your ebook in Kindle Unlimited. KDP does not distribute to any non-Amazon retailer — it is exclusively an Amazon publishing tool.

Draft2Digital is an aggregator. You upload your manuscript once to D2D, and they convert and distribute it to a network of retail and library partners. You do not need accounts at each individual retailer. D2D handles the conversion, the delivery, and the royalty collection and reporting across platforms. Their business model is to take a percentage of your earnings rather than charge upfront fees.

Store reach comparison

KDP and Draft2Digital reach almost entirely different stores. This is why many authors use both.

Store	KDP	Draft2Digital
Amazon Kindle	Yes	No
Apple Books	No	Yes
Barnes & Noble (Nook)	No	Yes
Kobo	No	Yes
Scribd	No	Yes
OverDrive (libraries)	No	Yes
Tolino (Germany/Europe)	No	Yes
Bibliotheca (libraries)	No	Yes
Vivlio	No	Yes
Baker & Taylor (Axis360/libraries)	No	Yes

For Amazon — still the largest ebook retailer by volume in most English-speaking markets — KDP direct is your only option. Draft2Digital does not distribute to Amazon, and Amazon does not accept ebook submissions through third-party aggregators. If you want to be on Amazon, you need a KDP account.

For every other major ebook retailer, Draft2Digital gives you a single upload point that reaches the full list. Going direct to Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble individually is possible — all three have their own author portals — but it multiplies the accounts you manage and the reporting you track. Draft2Digital consolidates that overhead at the cost of their distribution fee.

Royalty structure explained

KDP pays 70% on ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99 in eligible territories (the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and others). Books priced outside that range — below $2.99 or above $9.99 — earn 35%. Some international markets are also set to 35% regardless of price. KDP pays this percentage of the list price you set, minus applicable delivery fees (for the 70% tier, Amazon deducts a small per-megabyte file delivery fee).

Draft2Digital takes approximately 10% of your list price as their distribution fee. The remaining approximately 90% of your list price then goes through the retailer, who takes their own margin. A typical retailer margin is around 30%, which means the author ultimately receives approximately 60% of the list price on most non-Amazon storefronts after both the retailer and D2D take their shares. The exact amount varies by retailer and territory.

To put it in concrete terms: a $4.99 ebook on Amazon via KDP earns approximately $3.49 per sale (70%). The same $4.99 ebook on Apple Books via D2D earns approximately $2.99 (roughly 60%). The KDP rate is higher per unit on Amazon, which reflects Amazon's direct relationship and Kindle's dominant market position.

KDP Select and Draft2Digital: they are mutually exclusive

This is the most important compatibility issue between the two platforms. KDP Select requires that your ebook be exclusively available through Amazon. Enrolling a title in KDP Select means you cannot simultaneously distribute that same title through Draft2Digital or any other non-Amazon retailer.

If your strategy is to enroll in KDP Select for Kindle Unlimited page reads, you must withdraw that title from Draft2Digital (or never put it there in the first place). If your strategy is to go wide through Draft2Digital, you cannot also enroll that title in KDP Select.

KDP Select enrollment is per-title and per-90-day period — it is not a platform-level commitment. You can have some titles in KDP Select and others distributed wide through D2D simultaneously, as long as no individual title is in both. Authors sometimes experiment with KDP Select for a period, then opt out and go wide when the enrollment lapses. See our guide to going wide vs. KDP Select for a deeper look at that trade-off.

Formatting tools on each platform

Both KDP and Draft2Digital include basic manuscript conversion tools. Neither is a substitute for professional book formatting software.

KDP accepts Word documents and EPUB files and will convert Word documents automatically. The results are workable for simple novels but can produce inconsistent formatting on complex manuscripts, books with special interior elements, or non-fiction with tables and images. KDP also accepts Kindle-format files directly.

Draft2Digital includes a conversion tool that accepts Word documents and produces an EPUB, along with an optional automatic back matter generator (which creates a "also by this author" page and other back-matter elements linked to your D2D catalog). It also offers basic cover-integration tools for creating simple ebook files from manuscripts.

For professional-quality output — consistent typography, proper styling, chapter heading design, and a print-ready PDF alongside your EPUB — you need a dedicated formatting tool. Using a formatter like LiberScript to produce your EPUB before uploading to KDP and D2D separates your formatting quality from whatever defaults these platforms apply. See our guide on EPUB formatting best practices for what a well-formatted ebook file should include.

Draft2Digital's universal book link

One practical feature Draft2Digital provides that KDP does not is the Books2Read universal link — a single URL that routes readers to the store they prefer based on their location and device. When you distribute through D2D, you get a Books2Read page for your book that lists all available retailers. This is useful for social media promotion and for author website "buy" pages where you want to send readers to multiple stores without maintaining a separate list of links.

Print distribution

Both platforms offer print distribution, though through different mechanisms.

KDP Print produces paperback and hardcover editions sold through Amazon and — for KDP Print books without KDP Select enrollment — through Amazon's Expanded Distribution channel to other retailers and libraries. KDP Print is tightly integrated with the Kindle ecosystem and is a natural choice for authors primarily targeting Amazon readers.

Draft2Digital Print distributes POD paperbacks through their own network, with access to non-Amazon retailers. It is less widely known than KDP Print or IngramSpark, and for most authors, IngramSpark remains the preferred choice for wide print distribution. See our comparison of IngramSpark vs. KDP Print for detail on the print-on-demand decision.

Using both platforms together

The most common practical approach for authors going wide is to use KDP direct for Amazon and Draft2Digital for everything else. This is fully permissible as long as you do not enroll in KDP Select.

The workflow looks like this: format your manuscript professionally, upload your EPUB to KDP and set your price and metadata, then upload the same EPUB to Draft2Digital and select all the retailers you want to distribute to. Draft2Digital will exclude Amazon from its distribution automatically (it does not distribute to Amazon regardless). You manage two accounts and two sets of sales reports, but you reach the full market.

Direct distribution vs. using D2D as aggregator

Some authors choose to go direct to Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble instead of using Draft2Digital. Going direct to each retailer means you keep the full retailer-side royalty — approximately 70% on Apple Books and Kobo, for example — instead of the approximately 60% you net through D2D after their fee.

The trade-off is account management. Each direct retailer requires its own account, its own uploads, its own metadata management, and its own reporting to monitor. For authors with a large catalog or limited time to manage publishing logistics, Draft2Digital's consolidated approach is worth the fee. For authors with a small catalog and a preference for maximizing royalties on each platform, going direct to the major retailers while using D2D for smaller platforms is a viable middle path.

When to use KDP only

KDP-only makes sense when you are enrolling in KDP Select, when you are publishing your first book and want to start with the simplest possible setup, or when your readership is concentrated on Amazon and you are not yet ready to manage wide distribution. There is nothing wrong with starting KDP-only and expanding later — KDP Select enrollment is optional and per-title, and going wide is always possible when you are ready.

When to add Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital becomes valuable when you are opting out of KDP Select, when you want to reach library readers through OverDrive and Bibliotheca, when your genre or audience has strong representation on Apple Books or Kobo, or when you want to reach international markets where Amazon is less dominant — particularly Germany via Tolino. See our guide on how to publish on Draft2Digital for a step-by-step walkthrough of the platform.

Frequently asked questions

Can I publish on KDP and Draft2Digital at the same time? Yes, as long as you are not enrolled in KDP Select. KDP Select requires exclusivity to Amazon, which means you cannot use D2D for that title during the enrollment period. Without KDP Select, using both platforms simultaneously is the standard wide-distribution approach.

Does Draft2Digital distribute to Amazon? No. D2D does not distribute to Amazon, and Amazon does not accept submissions through aggregators. If you want your ebook on Amazon, you need a KDP account.

Is Draft2Digital free to use? There are no upfront fees to use D2D. They take approximately 10% of your list price as their distribution fee. You only pay when you earn revenue.

What is better for library distribution? Draft2Digital is significantly stronger for library distribution. D2D distributes to OverDrive, Bibliotheca, and Baker & Taylor — major library platforms. KDP does not have strong library distribution for ebooks. If reaching library readers matters for your strategy, D2D is the path.

Can I move a title from KDP Select to wide distribution later? Yes. KDP Select enrollment is for 90-day periods. Once your current enrollment period ends and you opt out of auto-renewal, your title exits KDP Select and you are free to distribute it through D2D and other platforms. There is no permanent lock-in.

Does D2D pay the same royalty across all stores? The royalty you receive through D2D varies by retailer because each retailer takes a different margin. D2D takes approximately 10% of list price, and then the retailer takes their margin from the remainder. The exact royalty per sale differs by store.

The bottom line

KDP and Draft2Digital are designed for different parts of the same distribution strategy. KDP is your direct line to Amazon — the largest ebook market — and the only path to Kindle Unlimited. Draft2Digital is your most efficient route to the rest of the ebook ecosystem, from Apple Books and Kobo to library platforms that KDP simply does not reach.

For most authors going wide, the answer is not one or the other — it is both. Use KDP for Amazon and KDP Print for paperbacks, then use Draft2Digital to distribute your ebook to every other retailer and library platform simultaneously. The overhead of maintaining two accounts is modest, and the expanded reach is real.

Before you upload to either platform, your manuscript should be formatted well. A clean EPUB with proper styling uploads reliably to both KDP and Draft2Digital and displays consistently across devices. Get started with LiberScript to format your book, then export your EPUB and upload it wherever your readers are — or see pricing to find the plan that fits your publishing timeline.