In this Issue, we're taking a look back at year one of The Indie Author Advantage.


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The Indie Advantage

Tools & Tips to Maximize Your Publishing Potential
 

IN THIS ISSUE:

The Indie Advantage's First Anniversary: We summarize the main topics covered in our newsletter's first 12 issues with links to each.

Smashwords End of Year Super Sale Coming Soon! Enrollment opens November 20 and the sale runs December 8 through January 1.

What's News: Holiday hours and publishing deadline reminders; Digital Public Library of America stops accepting ebooks from D2D.

Recent SPIs & Upcoming Events: A schedule of dates and events you should know about, including YouTube links to recent Self Publishing Insiders episodes.

Indie Bestseller Lists: October 2025's top 10 lists for Fiction and Nonfiction in ebook and print.

 

Celebrating 1 Year of The Indie Advantage


November 2025 marks the 1-year anniversary of The Indie Advantage newsletter. We sincerely hope the tools and tips we’ve covered this past year have been helpful and that you’re taking advantage of all that D2D has to offer. If you’ve missed an issue, not to worry. Below you’ll find a brief summary of the main topic covered for each issue along with a link where you can read the full article.

Issue #1, November 2024: We launched The Indie Advantage with a 3-part series devoted to D2D Print, our print-on-demand (POD) service. Part 1 focused on the virtues of POD and how it is a game changer for indie authors.

Issue #2, December 2024: In Part 2 of our POD series we cleared up common misunderstandings about publishing POD books. While POD files are technically digital book files, the way POD books are brought to market and sold is different than ebooks.

Issue #3, January 2025: In Part 3 of our POD series, we covered the similarities and differences between ebook and POD marketing, and provided strategies for making your print books stand out in a crowded market.

Issue #4, February 2025: In this issue we taught you how to work with the D2D promotions team. Our promo team works tirelessly to get your books placed in merchandising promotions at our retail and library partners. To have your books considered for these free opportunities, log into your D2D account and fill out the D2D promo form.

Issue #5, March 2025: In this issue we gave a heads-up on the official launch of BookCovers.com and provided strategies on how to choose the best premade cover design for your next book. If you need a new book cover but don’t have a bottomless budget, be sure to check out BookCovers.com.

Issue #6, April 2025: In this issue we discussed how all successful book launches have one thing in common: a plan. To get thinking about what might go into your plan, we provided a pre-launch checklist for things you may want to consider from 12 months out all the way through your launch.

Issue #7, May 2025:  Preorders are one of the most highly effective, yet underutilized tools in the indie author tool chest. In this issue we defined what a preorder is and provided best practices on how to incorporate preorders into your next book launch strategy.

Issue #8, June 2025: This issue served as a primer for how to prepare for Smashwords site wide super sales. Published right before the annual July Summer/Winter sale, the advice seemed to pay off because the 2025 Smashwords Summer/Winter sale finished 35% higher than the 2024 sale and welcomed 60% more first time buyers who spent 3x more than 2024 first time buyers.

Issue #9, July 2025: In this issue we provided tips on how to make the final days of the Smashwords Summer/Winter Super Sale a success. We also covered how to use D2D’s Payment Splitting tool to make book collaborations easy. The blog post for this issue focuses on the D2D Payment Splitting tool.

Issue 10, August 2025: This issue was more of a newsy issue. We explained how to join the Bartz v. Anthropic AI class action lawsuit, which is what the related blog post is about; we shared the record-breaking results of the Smashwords Summer/Winter Super Sale; and we provided a link to a how-to video, “How to Change Your Book Files & Cover” on our YouTube channel.

Issue 11, September 2025: In this issue we shared news about Amazon allowing library distribution for ebooks enrolled in their exclusivity program, KDP Select. For authors who have books in KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited, we explained how D2D can help get those books into libraries.

Issue 12, October 2025: In this issue we introduced you to the new Merge Tools that help you clean up any duplicate information on your accounts when it comes to publishers, contributors, series or books.

Can we make The Indie Advantage more useful to you? We'd love to hear your feedback, comments and suggestions for future topics. Click here to take our 60-second survey.


 

Smashwords End of Year Sale is Coming!


The 9th Annual Smashwords End of Year Super Sale is coming! Enrollment opens November 20 and closes December 4. The sale itself begins December 8 and runs through the end of day, January 1, 2026. We'll send an email reminder when the enrollment period begins and you'll also see a notification on your My Books dashboard when you log into your  D2D account.

The 2025 edition of the Smashwords End of Year Sale is now almost three weeks long. If July's Summer/Winter Sale is an indication, we're in for yet another record-breaking event. In the coming days and weeks, we'll share promotional graphics, tips and strategies to help you get the most out of the sale.

If you still have a Smashwords account with books, but aren't able to enroll in the sale when the enrollment period opens, don't worry. You'll be able to enroll in the sale once your account migrates to D2D. We expect migrations to be completed by end of day December 1. 


 

What's News


More library distribution changes: Late last month we learned that the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), a US-based digital marketplace for libraries and the operator of Palace Marketplace, would no longer accept ebooks from D2D. Strangely, this news falls on the heels of Baker & Taylor announcing they would be ceasing operations. Are these changes a cause for concern? No. The partnerships combined were not significant revenue generators for D2D authors and we do not anticipate these changes to be noticed by most authors. D2D still maintains a robust list of library channel partners. And as a reminder, if you have ebooks enrolled in Amazon's KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited) program and want to distribute them to libraries now that Amazon allows library distribution, this short video shows you exactly how to do it.

Holiday Hours and Publishing Reminders: In observance of the  Thanksgiving holiday in the US on Thursday, November 27, our offices will close at 5 p.m. CST Wednesday, November 26 and reopen Monday, December 1 at 8 a.m. CST. To celebrate Christmas, our offices will be closed on both Wednesday, December 24 and Thursday, December 25. Normal hours will resume on Friday, December 26. Our offices will also be closed on Thursday, January 1 in observance of the New Year. 

Please keep the holidays and office closures in mind as you plan your year-end publishing. There is typically a rush of holiday releases, and with special holiday hours at most of our retail partners, publishing delays can occur. If you're planning to order author copies of your paperbacks, we encourage you to order early to ensure your books reach readers in time. Our print distribution partner recommends ordering paperbacks by December 6 at the latest. If you're publishing new books or making changes, we encourage you to submit your requests no later than December 8 to ensure they are live by Christmas.

 

Recent SPIs & Upcoming Events


Join us live online every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Central for our Self Publishing Insiders (SPI) show and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Topics range from craft, to marketing & promotion, to layout & design, to business strategy, avoiding burnout, and more. D2D team members will be right there with you in the comments, live, ready to answer just about anything.

If you can’t make that time and date, don’t worry! Every live event is recorded and published on YouTube as soon as it finishes airing. We also release the audio as the Self Publishing Insider's Podcast available on most podcast streaming services

Self Publishing Insiders:
Other Dates to Know:

Nov. 20: Enrollment opens for 2025 Smashwords End of Year Super Sale. Keep an eye on your inbox and dashboard for additional information.

Nov. 27-Dec. 1: D2D offices closed in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday in US.

Dec. 4: Enrollment period ends for submitting titles to the Smashwords End of Year Sale.

Dec. 8 - Jan. 1: Smashwords End of Year Sale is on!

Dec. 25-26: D2D offices closed for Christmas.

Jan. 1 2026: D2D offices closed for New Year's Day.

D2D Live countdown page

Self Publishing Insiders D2D Live Events

Be sure to bookmark our countdown timer to see upcoming topics and guests for future live events.

Go to the Live Countdown Page
 

Bestselling Indie Ebooks

October 2025


January 2025 Top 10 Fiction Book Covers

TOP 10 FICTION

  1. Paragon by Sybil Bartel
  2. Sawyer by Samantha Skye
  3. Beauty & Chaos: Enemies to Lovers Billionaire Romance by Juliette N Banks
  4. The Offer (Books 1-3) by Lily Zante
  5. Ghost by Samantha Wilde
  6. The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil
  7. Zeke by Mina Carter
  8. The Edge of Darkness Trilogy by Leigh Rivers
  9. Cleaning Spells Before Courtship by Sarah Wallace and S.O. Callahan
  10. The Werewolf Who Gave A Shift: Magic and Mayhem Universe by Teresa Gabelman

January 2025 Top 10 Nonfiction Book Covers

TOP 10 NONFICTION

  1. The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White
  2. DOLORES: My Journey Home--PART ONE by Catherine Paiz and Riley J. Ford
  3. Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell
  4. Destination CISSP by Rob Witcher et al.
  5. 2 No Grid Survival Projects Bible by Dale Mann
  6. Agentic Artificial Intelligence by Pascal Bornet
  7. The Complete Chakra & Energy Healing Library by KG Stiles
  8. Disrupting Divorce by New Rock Press LLC
  9. Models: Attract Women Through Honesty by Mark Manson
  10. Your Baby’s Bottle-feeding Aversion, Reasons and Solutions by Rowena Bennett

Bestselling Indie Print Books

October 2025


January 2025 Top 10 Fiction Print Book Covers

TOP 10 PRINT FICTION

  1. Error in Diagnosis by Gary Birken
  2. Painted Scars by Neva Altaj
  3. Get In My Swamp: An Ogre Love Story by G.M. Fairy
  4. Win in the End by Martin L. Shoemaker et al.
  5. World War 3.1 by John Birmingham
  6. Whispers of the Black Death: Folktales from the Times of Pestilence by Edwin Corvinstone
  7. The Death of A Showgirl by Alison T. Woodvale
  8. The Sunrise Cove Inn by Katie Winters
  9. Walk on Grey Ruins by Emmalia Harrington
  10. Just Ice- Volume One by Tariq A. Muhammed

January 2025 Top 10 NonFiction Print Book Covers

TOP 10 PRINT NONFICTION

The monthly indie bestseller lists are a compilation of the top-selling indie fiction and nonfiction titles, by revenue, for the most recently completed month. Sales data is compiled from across our entire global retail and library partner network. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title from that author will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. 


We hope you enjoyed this issue of The Indie Advantage. 

See you next month!

The Draft2Digital Team

 
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