The self-published, or “indie,” book market is bigger than ever before. Of course, that also means more competition, so on top of ensuring your book is of high quality, such as through professional copy editing and cover design, which we offer with our end-to-end ghostwriting packages, it’s crucial to plan a careful marketing campaign if you want to succeed. But it’s absolutely possible to thrive as an indie author.
What Are Your Print-on-Demand Options for Self-Published Books?
In recent years, print-on-demand services have been making it easier and easier for self-published authors to stock their books at physical bookstores or sell independent physical copies of their books online. There are two primary options that indie authors have if they want to physically print their books and distribute them to retailers: Amazon KDP Print, which enables distribution to bookstores through their Expanded Distribution program, and IngramSpark.
Online-focused Amazon KDP Print vs. distribution-focused IngramSpark: your two main options.
Should you use Amazon KDP or IngramSpark to print and distribute your book? Amazon KDP, which has traditionally dominated the market, is usually the go-to for authors focusing on the online market, selling mostly eBooks with a print-on-demand option for readers who prefer a physical copy, while IngramSpark is the better option for authors looking to sell their book at brick-and-mortar bookstores. You can also distribute your book through both simultaneously.
So, which option is best for you and your book?
The Advantages of Printing With IngramSpark vs. Amazon
IngramSpark offers several advantages that Amazon KDP doesn’t, which can make it more attractive to authors looking to distribute their books to physical stores. Here’s a quick overview of the main benefits of IngramSpark over Amazon KDP.
You can set your own wholesale discount.
The standard discount, accepted by virtually all retailers, is 55%, but IngramSpark offers authors the opportunity to set their own wholesale discounts—anything between 35% (United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia) or 40% (United States) and 54% (worldwide). Keep in mind that the lower your discount is, the less likely retailers are to stock your book.
You can decide whether to accept returns.
Most book retailers won’t order books that they can’t return in the event of low sales, but nonetheless, if you print your book with IngramSpark, you can choose not to accept returns. If you opt to permit book returns, IngramSpark also allows you to choose between having the returned copies destroyed or having them shipped to you.
You can print hardcover books with dust jackets.
Amazon KDP allows authors to print hardcover books, but they don’t have dust jackets (as of August 6, 2024). IngramSparks offers a hardcover option with dust jackets, as well as a wider variety of book or “trim” sizes to choose from. Note that with either service, if you choose to print hardcover copies of your book, you’ll have to purchase an additional ISBN.
You can list your book for sale long in advance.
IngramSpark includes a pre-order feature that allows authors to list their print books for sale up to one year in advance of the release date. This can be a useful tool in your marketing campaign, allowing you to drum up more attention and visibility for your book pre-release.
You can print without an ISBN.
Books without an ISBN cannot be sold by retailers, but there may be cases where that’s exactly what you want, such as a photo album or private memoir meant for your family or books meant exclusively for your school or organization. IngramSpark allows authors to print such books with a free, non-distributable SKU rather than an ISBN.
IngramSpark is also much more flexible than Amazon KDP when it comes to advance reading copies of your book intended to solicit reviews or endorsements prior to release. With Amazon KDP, you’re limited to five copies per order, and your carefully designed cover is obfuscated with an unattractive banner reading “not for resale” across the cover.
You can sell your book directly to readers.
IngramSpark offers a “Share and Sell” feature that allows authors to bypass intermediaries like Amazon and sell their print book directly to customers on their website or social media accounts. The fee to the author is $3.50 plus the cost to print the book, but the rest of the profits are yours. As of August 6, 2024, this feature is only available to U.S. account holders and only ships to addresses in the 50 U.S. states—no foreign countries and no U.S. territories.
You have more color-paper options.
If you’re printing a book with a lot of images, you may prefer IngramSpark, which offers three color-paper options as opposed to Amazon’s two. These more specialized color options allow authors to print their books with crisper, clearer, more vivid pictures. IngramSpark may also be ideal for text-heavy books because it offers a special black-and-white option that can help save authors money on printing costs.
The Disadvantages of Printing With IngramSpark over Amazon
While IngramSpark offers numerous advantages over Amazon KDP, it also comes with drawbacks, so it may not be the best option for everyone. Here are some factors you should consider before printing your book with IngramSpark.
It’s more expensive.
One disadvantage of IngramSpark is that it’s more expensive than Amazon KDP, with the IngramSpark rates generally working out to cost $1 or $2 more to print each book. Additionally, IngramSpark charges a $1.99 handling fee per order for author copies and tends to have higher shipping costs than Amazon.
It’s less user-friendly.
IngramSpark is much more complex to use than Amazon KDP, which can be frustrating for authors who simply want to put their print book out on the market. IngramSpark offers a lot more options than Amazon KDP, which is partially responsible for the added difficulty, but still, many people struggle with the user interface, and IngramSpark’s customer service isn’t the most reliable.
Delivery times can be delayed.
Books that print with IngramSpark can experience delivery delays, which can frustrate customers. This problem is most notable when selling on Amazon, with IngramSpark-printed books often displaying a notification that it may take a few extra days to process the order.
How Does Print Quality Differ at IngramSpark vs. KDP?
Print-on-demand services are never perfect—minor imperfections can show up in any book. These flaws are generally nothing to worry about. In fact, traditional publishers are also increasingly making use of print-on-demand services for their own books, so in the future, all books may be printed with print-on-demand services. Both IngramSpark and Amazon KDP suffer from certain kinds of consistency issues, but overall, both offer high-quality print services, and neither is superior to the other.
Using IngramSpark and Amazon KDP Together
Since you can sell books printed with IngramSpark on Amazon, you may be wondering why you should bother printing with Amazon KDP, but using both services in conjunction offers advantages. The most obvious advantage is that selling your IngramSpark book on Amazon requires you to deduct IngramSpark’s compulsory trade discount, reducing your royalties.
Another issue with selling IngramSpark books on Amazon is that they’ll often be listed as out of stock and warn the customer that the order may take a few extra days to fulfill. Books printed with Amazon KDP, conversely, are always listed as in stock. Delays—or at least the potential for them—can be a major turnoff for customers, so promising faster delivery times can translate to higher sales.
What to watch out for when printing with both IngramSpark and Amazon KDP
If you choose to print with both IngramSpark and Amazon KDP, you’ll need to purchase your own ISBN. Both IngramSpark and Amazon KDP offer authors a free ISBN, but if you accept it, you must print exclusively with that platform. Additionally, you can’t use Amazon KDP’s Expanded Distribution feature if you want to also print with IngramSpark. If your book is already in the Expanded Distribution program, you’ll have to remove it before submitting your book to IngramSpark. You can contact IngramSpark’s customer service about transferring your title from KDP’s Expanded Distribution program to your IngramSpark account—one signed form and a few weeks later, your title will appear in your IngramSpark account.
The Pre-Publishing Process: Writing Your Book
Before you can print your book to distribute to readers on Amazon or in physical bookstores across the country (or the world), you have to dream it, organize it, write it, edit it, and format it. If you lack the time, desire, or writing experience to compose your manuscript yourself, you can still publish a book—that’s where ghostwriters come in. Ghostwriters are skilled at taking your ideas, helping you flesh them out into a cohesive narrative, and crafting an engaging story that keeps readers glued to the page. You’re the author, since all the ideas are yours—you’re just working with a professional to enhance the writing quality.
MemoirGhostwriting.com offers several bespoke ghostwriting packages to fit the needs of a diverse array of clients. We also help authors polish their manuscripts with professional copy editing and proofreading, as well as cover design, typesetting, print and eBook formatting, and more. If you’re ready to get started with your book, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.