What are the main self-publishing platforms?
Most authors give the platform choice less thought than it deserves. Pick the wrong platform, or skip the right combination, and you’ll never even see the sales you missed.
I’ve published 113+ books across multiple platforms and formats. This is what each major platform gives you and when to use it. For more, see publishing types and self-Publishing from someone who has done it 113 times.
My loyalty to any of these companies goes exactly as far as how they treat authors. A platform that puts books in front of readers and pays on time earns my business. One that locks authors into exclusivity and hides the cost in fine print is a cheat, because the author usually doesn’t feel the loss until years later.
Which Ebook Platforms Should You Publish On?
Start with Amazon KDP, then reach the other stores through an aggregator like Draft2Digital. The exception is KDP Select. It pays you in perks for locking your ebook to Amazon, and you give up every other store to get them.
If you switch from wide to KDP Select, plan for the delay. An author in a big indie group announced she was pulling her ebooks from Draft2Digital and enrolling in Kindle Unlimited the next day. Comment after comment told her to wait. Removing a book from every store an aggregator reaches takes weeks, sometimes two or three months, and Amazon checks. One commenter knew an author who got in trouble with KU because their books took longer to come down than expected.
Their advice was consistent: unpublish from the aggregator, wait, and don’t trust the dashboard alone. Search for the book yourself on every store it reached, because some retailers keep listings up after the aggregator reports them removed.
One author emailed the aggregator for written confirmation that everything was down, so she had a record if Amazon ever asked. Several authors said library platforms are now the exception, because Amazon allows ebooks to stay in libraries while they’re enrolled in KU. Check KDP’s current terms before you rely on that. Accept a few weeks with the ebook unavailable in KU. It’s a lot cheaper than losing your account.
From Author Talks
Deece Casillas is a touring stand-up comedian who self-published around 2010 and released his first special on a name-your-price basis. He talked about controlling distribution on Author Talks.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is the dominant ebook platform. Most self-published authors start here because Amazon controls the largest share of the ebook market. KDP offers up to 70% royalties (on books priced $2.99-$9.99), a simple interface for managing book details and sales data, and access to Kindle Unlimited if you enroll in KDP Select (which requires exclusivity). The KDP Select trade is reach for exclusivity: Kindle Unlimited readers in exchange for every other retailer. Whether that’s worth it depends on where your readers already are, and most authors guess when they should check.
I don’t like how Amazon sells that trade to new authors.
It’s framed as a bonus program, and the fine print is the author giving up Apple, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble all at once. Amazon now lets KU ebooks stay in library systems, and every other retailer still goes. Some genres come out ahead. A lot of authors enroll because a forum told them to, and they’re the ones who pay for it.
Draft2Digital (D2D) is the primary aggregator for distributing ebooks to non-Amazon retailers. D2D distributes to Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Scribd, libraries, and dozens of other outlets. Their interface converts Word documents into properly formatted ebooks. That saves time. D2D absorbed Smashwords in 2023, so if you see older references to Smashwords as a separate platform, that’s outdated. D2D is now the single platform covering that distribution network.
Back in 2024, when I was publishing through Draft2Digital, I used to point out that these services call themselves platforms, and the word matters. On a self-publishing platform you’re the publisher of record, and the responsibility for what’s in the book sits with you. Facebook gets treated the same way: it isn’t considered the publisher of what people post there. I publish through IngramSpark now.
Apple Books can be reached directly, without D2D, through Apple Books for Authors. Publishing direct with Apple pays slightly higher royalties than going through an aggregator, but it’s one more platform to manage. Do it if a real share of your audience reads on Apple devices.
Kobo Writing Life lets you publish directly to Kobo’s global network in 190 countries. Kobo has a strong international presence, especially in Canada, and their promotional tools for authors are competitive. Like Apple, you can publish to Kobo directly or through D2D.
Barnes and Noble Press lets you publish ebooks and print books for free with access to the largest physical bookstore chain in the United States. The ebook side is smaller than Amazon but reaches a dedicated reader base.
Which print-on-demand platforms should self-published authors use?
Amazon KDP Print (integrated into KDP) handles print-on-demand paperbacks and hardcovers distributed through Amazon. No upfront costs. You upload your formatted interior and cover, and Amazon prints copies as they sell. The quality is acceptable for most books, and the distribution is Amazon-only unless you also use other print platforms.
I format as I go, and everything uses Word styles, so a change is easy to make. As of 2024, Kindle’s reflowable ebooks supported only a limited subset of HTML and CSS, and they have to display on everything from phones to large tablets. Simple formatting works best, and complex tables are best avoided. The paperback comes after the ebook and gets split off into its own version. Finish all your editing before you start it, or every change has to be made twice.
If the author wants the book on a bookstore shelf or in a library catalog, KDP Print alone won’t get it there. Finding that out after launch is a miserable way to learn it, and it’s the author’s reach that suffers while Amazon loses nothing.
IngramSpark is the professional-grade option for print distribution. IngramSpark gives you access to Ingram’s global distribution network, which reaches bookstores, libraries, and online retailers worldwide. They offer a wider range of trim sizes, paper types, and binding options than KDP Print. IngramSpark is how you get your book into physical bookstores and library catalogs. There are setup fees per title, but the distribution reach justifies the cost for authors who want broad availability.
Lulu offers print-on-demand for paperbacks, hardcovers, photo books, and specialty formats. Lulu distributes to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers. It’s a good option for specialized formats (workbooks, photo books, large-format publications) that don’t fit standard KDP Print templates.
Blurb specializes in photo books, magazines, and visually intensive publications. Their BookWright software gives you full design control over layout. Blurb is the right choice for image-heavy projects instead of standard text-based books.
Where can self-published authors publish audiobooks?
ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) is Amazon’s audiobook production and distribution platform. ACX distributes to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. You can narrate the book yourself or hire a narrator through the platform. ACX offers two payment models: pay the narrator upfront (you keep higher royalties) or share royalties with the narrator (no upfront cost but lower per-sale earnings). ACX has exclusivity requirements for their royalty-share model.
Read the ACX royalty-share terms twice before signing. The exclusivity ties the audiobook to Amazon’s ecosystem, and an author who later wants library and wider retail distribution can find themselves stuck. I understand why writers take that deal when the upfront cost scares them, but it’s a decision that’s hard to undo.
Audiobook authors learned that the hard way in October 2020. A reporting glitch showed that Audible had been letting listeners return audiobooks up to 365 days after purchase and deducting those returns from authors’ ACX royalties, however much of the book the listener had heard, according to the Authors Guild. Publishing Perspectives reported that some authors documented between 15 and 50 percent of their expected ACX income disappearing through returns.
After pressure from the Authors Guild, the UK’s Society of Authors and other writers’ groups, Audible agreed to stop charging authors for returns made more than seven days after purchase, starting January 1, 2021.
Later changes let authors end distribution of a title after 90 days. I think that’s an ugly lesson. Those authors signed a contract in good faith, and the cost of Audible’s exchange policy came out of their royalties until a glitch let them see it.
Findaway Voices distributes audiobooks to a wide network of retailers and libraries beyond the Amazon/Audible ecosystem. If you want your audiobook available on platforms like Scribd, Kobo, Google Play, and library systems, Findaway provides that reach. They also offer narrator matching services.
The book on this: Publish Your Book is 198 pages on every major publishing path, how the platforms really differ, and how to pick the one that fits the goal you have for the book.
Draft2Digital expanded into audiobook distribution through its partnership with Findaway Voices, so you can manage ebook and audiobook distribution from a single dashboard. I talked about books as a networking asset on Networking Unleashed.
How Do You Choose a Self-Publishing Platform Strategy?
Most authors do better spreading across platforms than going exclusive to any one of them. A common strategy:
Ebook: KDP for Amazon, D2D for everywhere else. Or KDP Select for Kindle Unlimited access if your genre benefits from it (romance, science fiction, and fantasy readers use KU heavily).
Print: KDP Print for Amazon distribution, IngramSpark for bookstores, libraries, and global retail. Running both gives you the widest print reach. Audiobook: ACX for Audible/Amazon/Apple, Findaway for broader distribution. The decision depends on your genre, your audience’s buying habits, and how much time you want to spend managing multiple platforms. The AI-Enhanced Book Promotion Handbook covers platform strategy as part of the complete promotion process.
I’d rather see an author spread across several platforms and put up with the extra dashboard work than bet the whole book on one company’s goodwill. Platforms rewrite their terms whenever it suits them, and an author who depends on a single one has nowhere to go when that day comes. That kind of dependence is exactly what the biggest players are counting on.
If you’re working with me on a ghostwriting project and want guidance on which platforms to use, that’s part of the conversation. Schedule a consultation to discuss your project.
