If your ebook is not in KDP Select, you can now take pre-orders at the Smashwords store, and Draft2Digital sends pre-orders to Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Kobo too. The date that matters most is not release day. It is the day your finished files are due.

This week, pick one release date and write the file deadline, 10 business days earlier, right next to it.

What Draft2Digital and Smashwords say

Draft2Digital, which owns Smashwords, put out a press release on 29 September 2026 (checked 23 October 2026). It says:

  • The Smashwords store “now accepts customer preorders for the first time.”
  • You can list a pre-order there up to 12 months before release.
  • Readers’ cards are not charged until the book is released.
  • Draft2Digital also sends ebook pre-orders to Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. All of them let you list without the final manuscript or cover, “as long as those assets are uploaded at least 10 business days before the book’s release date.”

Smashwords founder Mark Coker added a site update on 5 October 2026 (checked 23 October 2026). There is a new Coming Soon shelf on the Smashwords home page, and at midnight on release day the reader’s card is charged and the book appears in their Smashwords Library.

A pre-order and a presale are two different promises

  • A pre-order is a reservation. The reader orders now, then pays and reads on release day.
  • A presale is early reading. With Smashwords Presales, readers buy and read the book before release. Presales happen only at the Smashwords store, and can be public or private. The press release says listing the book as a pre-order is a required step first, and the final manuscript and cover are required, because readers get the book straight away.

None of this reaches Amazon. Kindle pre-orders have their own rules, covered in our 2 October post on KDP pre-orders.

Six steps for this week

  1. Check KDP Select first. KDP’s page How to enroll in KDP Select (checked 23 October 2026) says an enrolled ebook “must also be exclusive to the Kindle Store” for the 90-day period, and enrollment renews automatically unless you turn that off. If your ebook is enrolled, wait until the period ends.
  2. Pick a release date you can keep. Twelve months is the limit, not a target. A nearer date you can meet is better than a far one you might miss.
  3. Write the file deadline next to it. Count back 10 business days, which is two calendar weeks when there are no holidays.
  4. Add your own reminder a week earlier. That gives you room if a cover or a final read takes longer than planned.
  5. Run a presale only once the book is finished. List the pre-order first, and wait until the final manuscript and cover exist.
  6. Line up your other formats. If there is an audiobook, our 16 October post on ACX audiobook pre-orders covers that side.

A small example

This one is made up. Dorothy writes cozy mysteries, and her third ebook is not in KDP Select. She picks Friday 5 March 2027 as release day and counts back 10 business days to Friday 19 February. She writes both dates on her wall calendar, with a reminder on 12 February. She lists the pre-order through Draft2Digital this month, before her cover is done. Her files are uploaded on 10 February. The next week she runs a private Smashwords presale for her newsletter readers.

A pre-order is a promise with a date on it, so put the file deadline on the calendar before you list.