It’s been 4.5 years (4.5 years!?) since Draft2Digital acquired Smashwords. At the time, Draft2Digital and Smashwords were two of the largest self-publishing platforms, ultimately joining forces to become the global indie community’s self-publishing juggernaut.
While we communicated to the industry and existing account holders how the merging of our two companies would impact authors and readers, there’s still a fair amount of confusion out there. Why? Well, it turns out the internet is a pretty big place and there’s still a lot of residual—and significantly outdated—information in the wild that’s prolonging this confusion.
This post aims to clear the air once and for all, especially for authors who are researching how to self-publish.
Here’s the TL;DR
Draft2Digital is the destination for authors and independent publishers who need an easy-to-use digital publishing and distribution platform. Smashwords is the destination for readers who are looking to browse and purchase ebooks.
A little history and why the online confusion persists
For 10 years, D2D and Smashwords had a lot in common. Both companies shared a mission to help indie authors become more successful. To achieve that mission, both offered very similar, yet competing publishing and distribution services. The companies also shared the same commission-based business model. One key difference between the two companies was that Smashwords operated an online bookstore while D2D did not.
The decision to merge, announced via press release in February 2022, made it clear that the two companies understood they could accomplish much more for the indie author community by working together rather than staying competitors. The press release also mentioned various tools authors from both platforms would gain from the other company. It was not explicitly stated, however, that Draft2Digital would eventually manage all publishing and distribution while Smashwords would step back from publishing and distribution to focus on bookselling.
In the months and years that followed, the merged company diligently communicated to existing D2D and Smashwords account holders about how the integration process would work and how it was progressing. The company did not, however, maintain a consistent communications stream with external audiences, which did little to quell the online confusion.
Let’s set the record straight.
What does Draft2Digital do?
Draft2Digital is where to go if you’re a self-publishing author who wants to create, publish and distribute an ebook and/or print-on-demand book. D2D can also help you distribute audiobooks through its partnership with INaudio and Apple Books. D2D has built a stellar reputation in the indie author community for its innovative tools, ease-of-use, wide retail and library reach, and industry-leading customer support.
What does Smashwords do?
Smashwords is an online bookstore for indie ebooks. To get your books into the Smashwords store, you’ll need to distribute via D2D. Smashwords boasts over 1 million titles, including books written by some of today’s hottest, bestselling indie authors. The store has become the destination for bookish influencers and tastemakers who seek the next big author. In fact, some of the biggest author names in publishing and film today got their start at Smashwords. Smashwords is also renowned for its annual sitewide super sales that offer wide selection and deep discounts.
Why the Draft2Digital + Smashwords Merger Matters
Rather than remaining separate companies and developing duplicative technologies, the companies united to build innovative tools for the indie community faster. Now that all of the 150,000+ publishing accounts from Smashwords have completed their migration to Draft2Digital, our engineers can turn their focus away from merger integration and toward innovation.
While we’re always on the lookout for ways to get your books in front of more readers, such as when we announced our partnership with Bookshop.org in February 2026, there’s more on the horizon.
In the not-too-distant-future, be on the lookout for new and updated service offerings from D2D and from the Smashwords store.
Still have questions about D2D and Smashwords? Check out the FAQ below and if that doesn’t do it for you, contact us at https://draft2digital.com/contact/.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Draft2Digital? Draft2Digital (aka D2D) is a digital publishing and distribution platform for self-published authors and small publishers. D2D offers wide distribution to a global network of retail, library and subscription services.
- What is Smashwords? Smashwords is an online bookstore catering especially to self-published authors. Smashwords is owned and operated by Draft2Digital, who completed its acquisition of the company in March 2022.
- What happened to my account now that Smashwords merged with Draft2Digital? If you had an author or publisher account at Smashwords prior to the D2D acquisition, your account has been migrated to D2D. If you’re having trouble accessing your account at D2D, please use draft2digital.com/contact/ for support. If you are a Smashwords reader looking for your next great read, you can keep using Smashwords.com just as you always have. Your reader experience has not changed.
- Is Smashwords still in business? Yes, Smashwords is alive and well as an online bookstore that’s owned and operated by Draft2Digital.
- Can I publish directly to Smashwords? No, Smashwords does not offer direct publishing into the store. To get your ebooks listed at Smashwords, you must distribute through D2D.
- What does Draft2Digital cost? For new account holders, there’s a one-time activation fee of $20 (USD). There’s also a $12 annual maintenance fee for accounts earning less than $100 (net proceeds after D2D’s commission) in the preceding 12 months. D2D primarily earns revenue through commission (approximately 10% of the retail price) on book sales. The maintenance fee is waived for accounts earning more than $100 annually because the commission from those accounts contributes to site maintenance (i.e. security, compliance, and infrastructure costs). Please visit our blog post from April 2026 to learn more about D2D’s activation and maintenance fees.