Exclusive vs. Non-exclusive Status
Exclusive vs. non-exclusive status refers to whether we are the exclusive reseller of your digital titles. For this purpose, "digital" means any title that is sold in a non-analog format. Beyond PDF files, this designation includes, but is not limited to products designed for use on specific e-reader devices, such as MOBI or EPUB files; maps or other assets meant for use on digital VTT platforms; STL or OBJ files meant for 3D printing applications; or any other type of digital file or asset.
- You may be exclusive and still sell digital titles on your own website. We expect fair treatment on pricing across sites: see our Conduct Guidelines for more information.
- You may be exclusive and still sell your printed titles anywhere.
| Exclusive | Non-Exclusive | |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings on digital sales | >70% of customer price you set | >65% of customer price you set |
| Digital sales channels | Roll20 | DriveThru Sites + Publisher’s Own Site | Sold anywhere |
| Earnings on printed sales | >70% of print margin | >65% of print margin |
| Printed sales channels | Sold anywhere | Sold anywhere |
| Enhanced title rotation | Yes | No |
| Bonus on-site promotion / Deal of the Day Priority | Yes | No |
* See this article for more information on earnings on print sales.
Crowfunding
Crowdfunding services like Kickstarter do not conflict with exclusivity on DriveThruRPG if you're fulfilling your projects through our service.
Bundle of Holding
Participating in a Bundle of Holding promotion does not break exclusivity. If you are interested, please reach out to us as it is a great marketing opportunity and we are happy to connect you.
Patreon
You may distribute materials on Patreon and maintain exclusivity if:
- Distributed materials are only a sample of your full products or
- Full products are distributed to Patreons using our Send complimentary copies tool
Checking Status
To check the exclusivity status of your partner account, follow these steps:
- Navigate to your Publisher Tools
- Under Accounting, click Partner account and payment settings
- At the bottom of Payment Settings, you'll see "exclusive" or "nonexclusive" in bold depending on your account's status.
Changing Status
If you have chosen exclusive status with us, you can change over to being a non-exclusive partner. Once you've published your first title with us, we require six months' notice to make the change. Notify us of your wish to change status, we will do so after six calendar months have passed, at which time we will terminate our right to sell the titles you’ve uploaded to us exclusively and adjust your royalty earnings as appropriate.
Status changes are a manual process, so if your account qualifies please contact Partner Relations by submitting a request through our webform.