Draft2Digital Or KDP: Which Is Better For Self-Publishing In 2024?

If you're debating whether to go with Draft2Digital of Amazon KDP for your self-publishing journey, then this is the video for you!
Ready to get publishing?
-Sign up for Draft2Digital for free here: www.draft2digi...
-Sign up for KDP for free here: kdp.amazon.com...
Want to learn more first?
-My Draft2Digital 18-Months-In Pros & Cons Video: • Pros and Cons of Publi...
-Kindle Select (KU) Rights/Terms: kdp.amazon.com...
-Draft2Digital FAQ: www.draft2digi...
-More self-publishing tools/tips from Katherine D. Graham: • Indie Author Behind-th...
*The sign-up link listed for Draft2Digital is an affiliate link. If you sign up via that link, I may receive financial compensation.*
***Beyond the Draft2Digital Affiliate Link above, this video has NOT been sponsored by nor endorsed by Draft2Digital OR Amazon KDP. This video is solely informational, based on my own personal experience as a writer who has published on both platforms. I do not claim any rights to Draft2Digital or Amazon KDP's names, logos, websites, or content. Nor do I claim to be a representative of them. Any opinions expressed within this video are solely my own.
Writers should ALWAYS do their own research prior to selection a publisher/distributor, and reach out to those entities directly for assistance. I am NOT a legal specialist or accountant. Please consult your own legal advisor or accountant for legal/financial advise regarding rights, royalties, etc.***

[@forestwells5820]

One thing about D2D's print; the books are NOT returnable. At least that's what they told me when I asked. That's a big one, and the main reason I haven't switched over to them. A LOT of bookstores won't do events if the books aren't returnable. Though they do offer audio distribution through Findaway Voices. Unless that changed.

[@KatherineDGrahamAuthor]

This is really good to know! I believe if you go through Ingram Spark directly, you can choose to have your books returnable or not (but I've never looked in D2D's to know one way or the other). I know many Brick & Mortar stores won't purchase physical books from the 'Zon, either, but that sometimes stores are willing to work directly with the authors (the author drops them off). Ingram seems to be the most convenient ways for stores to purchase, all around, here in the US. I'll have to look into D2D's audiobook partnership. I've spent the majority of my time with them thus far just on audiobooks. Of course Findaway Voices has themselves in the center of a rights debate, currently. Will see how the chips fall there.

[@StephanieCorsalini]

Thank you for your videos! Can you recommend a formatter?

[@KatherineDGrahamAuthor]

Thanks for watching! Personally, I use M Davie from Fiverr the most: www.fiverr.com/mdavieformatter , but they are not always available, so I've also gotten formatting from MiblArt: miblart.com/?ref=katherinedgraham

[@David-dchr]

Question: if my focus is to publish and be able to get 100 to 500 printed books (when I keynote to give away or sell at an event), who would you choose? (Online ordering for the publis is not souch my focus, it's more of a marketing too to lend credibility or extras when I speak)

[@KatherineDGrahamAuthor]

This is a great question! I have never personally used D2D's print program. I have used B&N Press (paperback & hardback), KDP's (paperback and hardback), and I've helped people set up IngramSpark (paperback and hardback). If you're looking solely to order author copies of print books, based on my limited personally experience I'd suggest KDP between the three I've tried. Ingram is more expensive for similar quality printing. B&N was very picky and hard to get approved. KDP was the easiest and gives the most royalties, in my experience there. If you're looking to also have books available in brick & mortar bookstores, though, I'd suggest the extra hassle and extra cut on author copies (with the set-up fee they have sometimes in there) and go through Ingram instead. Bookstores/libraries are far more likely to purchase copies of your book from Ingram than they are from KDP. Regardless of the route you choose, though, keep in mind that it can take 3+ months to receive your books once you order, so you may want to build in extra time for them to arrive. Wishing you all the best!

[@David-dchr]

@@KatherineDGrahamAuthor thank you for the speedy, and thoughtful reply!

[@artline7776]

Thank you so much

[@AsitAithal]

Thank you for the video. Reach-wise, don't you think putting the book on KDP will have a much larger audience than using D2D and making it available on all the other platforms? Yes, it may be distributed on multiple platforms. However, if the combined exposure is 10% as opposed to Amazon's 90%, I'd instead go with Amazon.

[@KatherineDGrahamAuthor]

In my limited experience, the answer to this varies widely based on your target audience and genre. Over 65% of my readers purchase outside the US, but I write dark/grimdark epic fantasy for New Adults with little to no steam. For me, going wide has sold way more copies than staying on KU. But I know plenty of writers who have huge reader platforms on Kindle, too, and who do great at KU. My humble suggestion would be to find fellow self-pubbed authors with similar books to yours to see where their success is, because that's likely where your readers will be. I wish I could give you a sure-fire answer, but with every book genre being so different, it's difficult (and there is no catch-all strategy for these decisions).

[@tobiasimolowo9522]

Since you've published on both platforms, do you need to use separate ISBNs for one book?

[@KatherineDGrahamAuthor]

Both platforms can assign you a free ASIN (ISBN equivalent for eBooks on Amazon) or ISBN. Even if you purchase an ISBN of your own, Kindle still assigns/uses their own ASIN, so I have started saving my money and not buying ebook ISBNs if I'm publishing through one of those platforms. I do purchase ISBNs for print books (paperback/hardback), though.

[@tobiasimolowo9522]

​@@KatherineDGrahamAuthorthank you

[@chemjen3612]

So, if I understand correctly, for your ebook, you publish on draft2digital and pick all the distribution sites you want EXCEPT for Amazon; then you separately publish your ebook on kindle?

[@KatherineDGrahamAuthor]

Yes, that's exactly right. The only restriction on KDP for me is because my D2D books are available there are other retailers as well, I can't put it on Kindle Unlimited (Kindle Select). I can have my books listed as a regular KDP ebook, though.