Selling Your eBooks on Smashwords

Smashwords remains one of the largest independent ebook storefronts, but the way you get your book there has changed. As of 2026, you no longer publish directly through Smashwords — instead, you publish through Draft2Digital, which now owns and operates Smashwords, and select the Smashwords store as one of your distribution destinations.

What You’ll Need

• Your book in EPUB, or a Word document that Draft2Digital converts for you (their conversion process, inherited from Smashwords’ original “Meatgrinder” system, is stricter than most — see our Smashwords formatting do’s and don’ts guide for the common pitfalls)
• A book cover meeting the minimum size requirements
• Keywords
• A blurb
• A price

Payment

Draft2Digital pays out monthly via PayPal or direct deposit, once your account balance meets their minimum payout threshold — check Draft2Digital’s current terms for the specific figure, since this can change.

Cost

A Draft2Digital account is free, with no upfront publishing fee.

Commission

Draft2Digital takes a percentage of each sale, with the exact rate depending on which retailer the sale comes through — sales made via the Smashwords store itself, versus sales routed to Apple Books, Kobo, or another retailer, carry different net rates once each platform’s own share is factored in. Check Draft2Digital’s current rate breakdown before pricing your book, since retailer-specific commissions do shift over time.