Problem with Draft2Digital

[pambaddeley]

I wondered if anyone else had experienced problems with Draft2Digital and what their response times are like especially if you don't live in the States? My sample file (not my actual book file) has been corrupted with weird characters replacing quotes, dashes etc and there isn't anything I can do about it as the sample is produced automatically by them. So it has ended up on all the sites I was publishing to via D2D such as Apple with a corrupted sample file. I messaged them via their system as soon as friends with ipads warned me and got no response after a couple of days so sent an email to their support email address. I did get a response to that to say they were looking into it, but nothing since despite a polite follow up a couple of days ago.

The annoying thing is that the file itself was fine when I checked it very carefully - but there is no facility to check the sample file. The option to download one doesn't appear until after you have published it and I wasn't even aware of this until I went to look once I was told there was a problem.

Would I have been better off using Smashwords for distribution? Have rather lost faith and can't see me any chance of sales on these platforms. :-(

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'm having problems with Draft2Digital now. Tax season means I need to renew my W8-Ben to avoid having to pay US taxes as well as UK ones. Using the Amazon tax interview is a breeze and takes only a few clicks to complete.

The Draft2Digital tax interview gets stuck with an error and won't proceed.

I sent a support email on October 12th and got a reply that was basically "no one else seems to be having this problem so it must be you, re-read the instructions".

I figure a lot of people publish as individuals so it's not an issue. However, I publish through a business, but the Draft2Digital form won't accept my company number in lieu of a TIN. That shouldn't happen. It's also clear they've had problems with the form because the first two stages have a checkbox to use to proceed even if the page throws up an error. I remember many years ago I once had a problem with the Scottish prefix for my company number causing a problem elsewhere.

I therefore replied, trying to escalate the matter, but got no reply after two weeks, so raised another support ticket. Nearly a month on from my first response and I still don't have an answer. I get the impression I probably won't get one.

Reading online it appears that Draft2Digital have a terrible reputation for support. It looks as though I should probably not have gone with them. Doesn't bode well for Smashwords users now they've been bought by the same company.

 

[THX1138]

Hay @Bowler1, do you have any insight or advice for Brian?

 

[Bowler1]

None I'm sorry to say. The US tax form is a very simple declaration that we live in the UK and are taxed, or not, accordingly. Easy peasy on Amazon ok, and should be the same elsewhere so poor old Brian will have to keep on trying.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I sell very little through Draft2Digital so it's not going to hurt me much, just annoying that the company is plainly so amateur. I looked up reviews on Draft2Digital and there are a lot of very negative reviews about people losing a lot of money through them. And a lot of positive blogger reviews which look like paid-product placements without declaring it so.

So, overall recommendation - avoid Draft2Digital and Smashwords.

 

[THX1138]

I read the same too.