Going wide: what your book earns beyond Amazon, honestly compared

The baseline: what direct Amazon pays

KDP direct pays 70% of list price for ebooks priced $2.99–$9.99 (minus a small delivery fee), 35% outside that window. Every wide strategy starts from 'keep publishing direct on KDP' — an aggregator forwarding your book to Amazon takes a cut of your best-paying store for no added reach. Wide is about everywhere else.

Draft2Digital: one upload, everyone-but-Amazon

Draft2Digital is an aggregator: upload once and it distributes to Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Tolino, Vivlio, and — the quietly valuable part — library platforms like OverDrive and Hoopla, where borrowing still pays you per checkout or license.

The price of the convenience: D2D keeps roughly 10% of what each retailer pays. Since most major stores pay 60–70% of list on $2.99+ ebooks, your effective royalty lands around 54–63% of list. For most authors that's cheaper than the real cost of maintaining five direct accounts they'd never optimize.

One critical setting: if you publish direct on KDP, uncheck Amazon inside D2D's retailer list. Two listings for the same book conflict, and your direct 70% beats the aggregated rate anyway. D2D also generates a free Books2Read universal link — one URL that routes each reader to their own store — which belongs in your bio the day your book goes live.

Kobo Writing Life: the direct account that earns its keep

Kobo pays 70% direct on ebooks priced $2.99 and up (45% below), and Kobo Writing Life accounts get access to Kobo's promotion tabs — discount campaigns and merchandising slots that aggregated books can't join. Kobo is also the storefront for reader ecosystems across Canada, Japan, and much of Europe.

The pragmatic rule: start with Kobo via D2D. When Kobo becomes a real seller for you — or you want the promo tools — move it to a direct Kobo Writing Life account and keep D2D for the rest. The 7–10 points of margin only matter once there's revenue to take margin on.

Google Play Books: fine to skip early

Google Play pays roughly 52% of list — noticeably below Apple's and Kobo's 70% — and its ebook store sells modestly for most indie fiction. It's a real store with real readers (especially Android-first markets), but as a fourth or fifth account it rarely repays the setup time until your catalog is bigger. Skipping it at launch is a defensible, common choice.

IngramSpark: the print and bookstore play

IngramSpark isn't really an ebook decision — it's how your paperback becomes orderable by 40,000+ bookstores and libraries, because Ingram is the wholesaler those stores already buy from. Setup is free; small per-title revision fees can apply after your launch window, and a distribution fee comes out of sales.

Print math works differently: you earn list price minus printing cost minus the wholesale discount you set. Two settings decide whether physical stores will actually stock you — a trade-standard 53–55% wholesale discount, and returns enabled. Yes, both cut your per-copy profit; they're the price of sitting on a bookstore shelf. You'll also need your own ISBN (Bowker in the US: ~$125 single, $295 for ten) if you want to be the publisher of record.

Most authors run KDP print for Amazon (better per-copy margin there) and IngramSpark for everywhere else — the two coexist fine when your ISBN is your own.

The order that keeps you sane

Wide is a sequence, not a leap. Add a channel when the previous one is running itself:

• 1. KDP direct — the biggest store at the best direct rate. Always first.
• 2. Draft2Digital — everyone-but-Amazon in one upload, libraries included. Uncheck Amazon.
• 3. IngramSpark — when you want paperbacks in real bookstores. Bring your own ISBN.
• 4. Kobo direct — when Kobo sales justify the account and you want its promo tools.
• 5. Google Play — when catalog size makes every extra percent compound.

The one honest caveat: Kindle Unlimited

Enrolling an ebook in KDP Select (which powers Kindle Unlimited page-read income) requires digital exclusivity to Amazon — you legally cannot be wide with that ebook while enrolled. Genres with heavy KU readership (romance, LitRPG, some fantasy) often earn more inside KU than wide; literary fiction, mystery, and nonfiction more often earn better wide. It's a per-book, per-90-days choice, not a permanent identity — many authors launch in KU, then go wide when page reads taper.