The ABCs of Self-Publishing Platforms Draft2Digital/Smashwords

Draft2Digital and Smashwords are now one company.

https://www.draft2digital.com

Draft2Digital offers ebooks and paperbacks. They don’t require exclusivity. You have an author page on their site which directs buyers to different stores. They have a zero plagiarism policy and do check lines from your book.

Cost: You can upload your covers and files at no charge. There are no fees for reformatting or updating your book. There are no up-front charges for formatting, conversion, distribution, and sales tracking.

Rights: You retain all rights. Draft2Digital offers free ISBNs numbers when uploading through their site. Their ISBN can only be used for their versions and approved vendors.

Distribution: They offer distribution through Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Press, Kobo, Scribd, Smashwords, Tolino, OverDrive, Bibliotheca, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Hoopla, and Vivlio, BorrowBox, Odilo, Palace Marketplace, and Gardners. You choose the distributors you wish to use.

If you sell a print book with Amazon KDP Print Expanded Distribution or Ingram Spark, they do not recommend you use D2D. If you did not select KDP Expanded Distribution, you can use D2D Print.

You can price your ebook for free to every store except Amazon. Your book will be submitted to Amazon at $0.99 (99-cents USD). Amazon may choose to price-match to bring prices in line with other vendors at their discretion.

Services: They have automated conversion and layout templates. They offer promotional opportunities through Books2Read. You can schedule price promotions and free promotions, except through Amazon which does not allow books to be free.

They offer information on audiobooks, editing, cover design, marketing programs, Author Advocate partners, directory services, and a digital storefront. 

You can download their converted PDF and EPUB files without selling through D2D. They offer customer support if your files don’t turn out right.

You can set up pre-orders for print and ebook as far out as a year in advance of your chosen release date. However, they cannot support ebook pre-orders through Amazon.

Payment: Their fee at most digital stores is approximately 10% of the retail price (technically 15% of the net royalties). They get reports from the distributors and must wait to be paid from each storefront before they pass along the payments to you minus their cut and any expenses the vendors incur for printing, delivery, etc. Most stores pay authors 60-90 days after the sale happens. As soon as Draft2Digital receives payment from their partners,they send payment to you in your next monthly payment on or around the 15th of each month. The minimums for each accepted method are: Paypal ($0 USD minimum), Direct deposit ($0 USD minimum), International Direct Deposit ($10 USD minimum), Payoneer ($20 USD minimum), Check ($100 USD minimum). Draft2Digital delivers payments once a month once the threshold for payment has been met. They report your earnings to the IRS but do not collect taxes.

Next week, we will look at Google Play.

As always, if you find this information helpful, share it, like it. If you want more free information, sign up to follow the blog on blogger or the Story Building Blocks Facebook Page. Free tips and tools are also available on my site https://dianahurwitz.com/.

Book Interior Designers: Hiring A Pro

susankayequinn.com/

The cost depends on the level of expertise and the complexity of the design. Do you want a basic book layout that doesn't look amateurish or do you want flourishes, fancy page numbering, and original chapter headings? Basic design can start at $200.00 and run toward $1500.  If you have a nonfiction project that is heavy in graphics, tables, etc. expect to pay considerably more, up to $3000+.

Interior designers work with your existing manuscript. Do not expect editing or corrections. The text you present is what you will have in the finished product: typos, omissions, and wrong words included. Proofreading and editing are separate jobs requiring additional pay.

Do they have permission to use the fonts? Ask. You don't want to be sued for using a font they provided but don't have the licensing to utilize. Worst case, look up the fonts yourself and see what their licensing permissions are. Many are free for anyone to utilize in any way, but not all.

Hiring a professional can take your interior design to new heights. The example provided is from Susan Kaye Quinn's Daughters of Dharia series which has unique chapter headers and page numbers to reflect the bollypunk theme of the book.

Make sure you know what you are paying for. Are revisions and changes extra? Most will not work up an entire project without pay. They may send you samples for approval. While you have the right to a design you like, don't ask for the impossible or impractical. The more elaborate your design, the more it will cost. Have an idea of what you want. Changing your mind twenty times will run up the bill considerably. It helps to do a little reconnaissance and find designs that appeal to you beforehand.

Do your research. Look at their body of work. Do you like their style? Ask for references with contact information.

Get the details in writing before you pay. Verbal agreements can sometimes be held up in court if you have emails, texts, etc. However, protecting yourself with a written contract is always best. If they have you agree to terms of service, make sure you read them before accepting ... yes the fine print!

As with cover designers, interior designers are not your employee. You don't get to make unreasonable requests or endless tweaks. They are professionals. Treat them with respect.

1. 99 Designs provides handpicked interior book designers. Give them the details of your project and you will get a list of candidates. Then you send them a request to work on your project. 

2. SelfPub.net offers their expertise to create a well-designed layout for your book that you can be proud of. They design books in a wide range of genres, including novels, nonfiction, poetry, illustrated children’s books, and cookbooks. Contact them for a quote. Basic layouts start at $149 (add eBook for $50). Custom layouts start at $375 (add eBook for $100).

3. Book Designers pricing runs $750 to $5500. Contact them for details of their options.

4. David Moratto breaks the pricing down based on the aspects of the design, which is good for comparisons. Custom designs start at $400 and typesetting/composition start at $3.75 per page.

5. Reedsy  is a collective from the European Union that provides quotes for specific projects.  They also offer an interior building tool.

6. Ampersand offers a questionnaire for you to fill out. They will ask followup questions if needed then provide you with a solid estimate. Prices start at $75.00 for a basic fiction interior and run up to $1000 for nonfiction.

7. Upwork matches you with the appropriate professionals based on the details of your project. You view proposals and choose who you want to work with.

8. Illumination Graphics  offers examples of their work for you to view. Visit their site for sample pages of books in your genre. Also good for researching ideas. Email them for rates. They can also create charts, graphs and sidebars for your nonfiction.

9. BookBaby is located in New Jersey and offers custom design professionals. They send you proofs to review and approve. They send you proofs of your designs to review and approve and advertise a 100% quality guarantee.

10. Book Cover Designer interiors are provided by designer Kerri Ross. Pricing for fiction begins at $4.50 per page, for nonfiction $6.50 per page, with additional charges for artwork, tables, graphs, etc.

11. Baker & Taylor offers standard and custom interior designs, typesetting, and art creation. Contact them to request a quote.

12. Columbus Publishing  quotes on a case-by-case basis. Most books cost $400 to $600 for a complete interior design, including export for both a printer and e-books.

13. Fiverr is an online marketplace for many computer related tasks from basic to expert, users vary in expertise. You describe the scope of and budget for your project and users bid for the job.

14. TLC Book Design provides custom interior designs. Email them to set up a free phone consultation to discuss your plans or fill out their survey to get the conversation started. They use your cover to create a unique look for continuity. Upon your approval of the initial page designs, they lay out the entire book, eventually saving to a PDF file that’s ready for proofreading.

15. Mill City Press  has a team of designers who offer their expert opinion on what options are best for your book. Contact for pricing.

16. The Write Place offers a questionnaire for you to fill out for a no obligation quote.

17. Design by Indigo offers custom designs based on the genre. Prices begin at five cents per page.

18. Book Interior Design offers custom interior designs. Contact them for a quote.

19. Jaad Book Design offers custom designs, no template. You work directly with the designer who will create a chapter sample that compliments and builds off the cover design of your book. The sample chapter establishes the fonts, line spacing, headers, chapter pages, as well as (for more complex layouts) the look of bulleted paragraphs, tables, and call outs. Upon your approval the design sample will form the skeletal framework for the rest of your book. Basic fiction starts at $400. Complex fiction $600. Complex books with images $800-1000.

20. Six Penny Graphics offers interior design as well as cover design. Contact them for a quote.  

Next week, we examine Audio Books.