The Smashwords ebook store (now owned and operated by Draft2Digital) has announced a new royalty rate structure that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. The new payouts will be 75 percent for ebooks priced at $2.99 and higher or 40 percent for ebooks priced below $2.99. This does mean lower earnings at most price points, as shown in the Smashwords-provided chart below.
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.
