PublishDrive

Publishing terms

Formats

EPUB (ebook), Print (print-on-demand), Audiobook

Distribution

Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Libraries (240,000+ via partners), 50+ retail and library stores worldwide, including POD partners in China and India

Territories

Worldwide (the author can limit the territory)

Exclusivity

Not requiredNon-exclusive and worldwide; the author can limit the territory at registration and can withdraw a work at any time for any reason (removal from stores takes roughly 4–6 weeks). The licence is not perpetual — it lasts only as long as needed to provide the service, fulfil orders placed during the term and comply with law; stores may keep archival copies so earlier purchasers retain access.

ISBN

Free ISBN supplied: NoAccepts your own ISBN: YesPublishDrive does not assign an official ISBN. You can use your own ISBN, or take a free PublishDrive Unique Identifier (PUI), which most retailers accept in place of one.

Royalties

• 100%Author share (subscription plans)On a paid subscription plan PublishDrive takes 0% commission: the author earns the full store royalty rate for each channel — the same rate as publishing directly with that store — and keeps 100% of it, across ebook, print and audio. The author sets the price (agency model, within each store's limits). PublishDrive does not guarantee any specific rate; the store's own cut still applies before its payout.

Fees

• Subscription (paid plans) — $13.99 per monthPublishDrive's model is a monthly or annual subscription instead of a per-sale commission. Paid plans run from about $13.99/month up to about $83.99/month for larger catalogs (up to roughly 48 titles), with custom plans above that; the tier scales by number of titles. A free plan distributes one ebook to a limited set of stores (Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Kobo for new accounts as of 24 February 2026). AI Publishing Assistant credits and Abacus royalty management are separate add-ons. Check the pricing page for current tiers.
• Per-sale commission — not chargedPublishDrive takes 0% of sales on paid subscription plans — the author keeps the full store royalty. Its revenue is the subscription instead.

Payment schedule

A single consolidated monthly payout, paid about one month after the official earnings report for a period, so payment lags each store's own reporting. The minimum payout threshold is currently $5. Methods vary by country — Wise or local bank transfer, cheque, PayPal, Payoneer or Intercash; PayPal and cheque pay in USD.

Rights & privacy

Manuscript upload

Required

Cloud storage

Yes

Account required

Yes

AI features

Optional

AI training on your work

Explicitly excluded by the termsUnusually explicit. The Digital Distribution Agreement states: "We do not use your content for AI training purposes... Your content is never shared with third parties for the purpose of training their AI models," and its research-and-development permission is expressly carved to exclude "AI training on your content." PublishDrive's optional Publishing Assistant uses third-party AI (OpenAI, Anthropic) for metadata and cover help; data sent to those APIs is not used to train their models by default.

Content licence

The author keeps all copyright and intellectual-property rights. The licence granted is a non-exclusive, worldwide right to publish, distribute, market, print and sell the work and to license stores to do so — scoped in time to "so long as necessary" to run the service, fulfil orders and comply with law, rather than being perpetual. Withdrawal is available at any time, after which the licence ends once the title has been pulled (stores may keep archival copies for prior buyers).

Deletion

A work can be withdrawn at any time for any reason; removal from retailers takes about 4–6 weeks, and the licence continues only until the title is pulled. Stores may retain archival copies so people who already bought it keep access.

Export

Non-exclusive with author-set pricing and at-will withdrawal, and the author keeps copyright — so the same book can be sold anywhere else at the same time and moved away entirely. The main friction is commercial: distribution depends on an active subscription.

Policy reviewed 25 September 2026