Over the last year, ebook distributor Draft2Digital has announced a series of new features and programs for indie authors, including:
- A partnership with Findaway Voices to help authors produce audiobooks—as an alternative to ACX. Here’s our piece on it.
- Ebook distribution through OverDrive, the largest provider of ebooks to library systems.
- Access to Kobo Plus, the ebook subscription service from Kobo.
In August, Draft2Digital announced the addition of free, professional-quality ebook and print templates to its ebook conversion tool. Its conversion tool (from Word to EPUB) has always been available to anyone who wished to create an account—with no obligation to use Draft2Digital’s distribution service. Their new templates are also made available to anyone with an account, even if you use other ebook retailers or distributors. The service does require you to upload your manuscript as a Word file and input basic book information. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be taken to a page where you can choose a template, then download the EPUB, MOBI, and PDF files.
Note that this is an entirely automated process, and you won’t be able to tweak the templates in the Draft2Digital admin—although once you download the EPUB or MOBI file, you can use your preferred software to make changes to the book file. As for the PDF files (meant to be used with print-on-demand paperback services such as CreateSpace), Draft2Digital says, “The generated paperback is one-size-fits-all. … If you have more complicated requirements or desire more hands-on control, we’ll still work with you at no charge, but the process will take longer.”
Bottom line: The Draft2Digital press release announcing the templates says they’re meant to challenge Vellum by providing a platform-agnostic solution. (Vellum is currently only available to Mac users.) But it’s probably not fair to compare the two tools. Vellum is interactive, fully featured editing software that allows authors a high degree of customization. So far, Draft2Digital’s templates are not editable and don’t constitute software. But that doesn’t diminish the spirit of what’s being done here: the creation of easy and free tools for authors to quickly produce professional ebooks and paperbacks, without platform lock-in.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
