A Simple Self-Publishing Platform Strategy That Works

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Because I write about self-publishing platforms regularly, I frequently get questions about them. (BTW I almost always answer questions I receive, often pointing people to articles on my website, so feel free to ping me.) A recent email spurred me to summarize the self-publishing platform strategy I recommend most.

First, it’s important to understand there are two types of distribution platforms:

Retailers are the businesses actually selling your book. They include platforms like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books. Many retail sites offer the ability to upload your book directly to them to make it available for sale, taking a cut of the sales for themselves. (Kindle Direct Publishing, owned by Amazon, is how you go direct to Amazon.)
Aggregators let you upload your book to their site, and then they push it out to numerous retailers. This saves you the hassle of managing multiple platforms, but aggregators take an additional cut of your sales, often in the 10% range. Aggregators include platforms like Draft2Digital and IngramSpark.

You can choose to go direct to retailers, to use an aggregator, or both.

For print and ebook (I’m setting aside audiobooks for this article), my standard strategy is:

For paperback, use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for Amazon and IngramSpark (IS) for non-Amazon channels.
For hardback, use IngramSpark for all sales channels, including Amazon.
For ebook, use KDP for Amazon and Draft2Digital (D2D) for non-Amazon channels.

This strategy balances the benefits and options available while keeping to a manageable number of platforms. Want more of an explanation? Keep reading. (Trust me enough that you don’t need an explanation? The short article after this one shares the basic steps to implement the strategy.)

Rationale for this self-publishing platform strategy

Let’s look at the rationale so you can decide if this is a good strategy for you. If you’re not already familiar with KDP and IngramSpark, here is a comparison of the platforms and a comparison of print options.

It leverages the dominant sales channel…

Amazon dominates the ebook market with about 70% to 80% market share in the US and maybe 60% to 70% globally. While Amazon is less dominant in print books, it still has about 40% to 50% of the market.
Additionally, using KDP is presumed to provide benefits in the Amazon SEO. This is a little speculative because the algorithm is something of a black box, but those who publish regularly and have tried to test the system are pretty convinced.

…while accessing other channels more effectively.

For ebooks, KDP offers access only to the Amazon marketplaces. D2D covers that gap, reaching the bulk of non-Amazon markets. IS could also fill the gap, but the interface is harder to use, the pricing is more opaque (and you appear to make less), and you cannot choose which retailers to use.
For print, KDP offers access to Amazon marketplaces through its regular distribution and to non-Amazon channels through its Expanded Distribution. However, KDP’s Expanded Distribution goes through Ingram, so if you use it, you give up significant revenue and other benefits that you could retain by going direct to IngramSpark.
If your marketing strategy includes brick-and-mortar stores, the Ingram distribution arm is already an established part of bookstore processes and gives you the ability to set discounts and returnability (which bookstores expect); KDP does not.
Conversely, if your print book strategy is focused toward online sales, because IS lets you control the discount, you can lower it so that you make more per book.
If your marketing strategy entails libraries, for print, KDP’s Expanded Distribution can get you partway there, but it does not seem to offer standard terms, so libraries are less likely to purchase from KDP/Amazon. IngramSpark is the better option. For ebooks, KDP does not generally get to libraries; D2D and IS do.

It maintains options and flexibility.

While you get to set your book’s price on all three platforms, as mentioned, for print books, IngramSpark lets you set the discount and returnability, which you may want to adjust throughout a book’s life cycle or as your marketing strategy changes.
For print, using both KDP and IS gives you two places to order author copies, and IS offers rush printing and shipping (at a price). This can be useful if one platform is backed up or if your book ends up in Amazon “jail” for some reason.
For various economic and ethical reasons, some readers do not want to buy from Amazon. Using all three platforms gives your customers the option to buy your book somewhere else.

It helps maximize profit.

First, using all three platforms helps maximize profits by getting your book on numerous retail sites. People can’t buy your book if they can’t find it.
Second, because IS lets you set the discount on print books, if your marketing strategy is focused on online sales, you may make more per book by lowering the discount. (However, note that IS print costs tend to be higher than KDP’s, so it may be a wash; be sure to do the math for your situation.)
On ebooks, going direct to KDP/Amazon generally will maximize profit from those sales, as you aren’t giving up a slice of the pie to an aggregator like D2D or IS. For D2D and IS, it is hard to say which platform pays more, because they calculate the payout differently. Most indie authors seem to think D2D is the better deal, but it might be a matter of only a few cents difference per book.

It minimizes inventory cost.

One other print option for indie authors is to do a large print run and hold inventory—and that was part of the question that sparked this article. An author was being told he needed to order 1000 books through his hybrid publisher, but he wondered if print-on-demand (POD) was a better option. If you don’t already manage a regular outlet for book sales—an existing Amazon shop, product sales on your website, regular speaking gigs where you do back-of-the-room sales—POD is much more convenient.
From an author’s perspective, print-on-demand services like KDP and IS produce books only when customers order them (in reality, they may keep some inventory on hand for books with predictable sales). And both services let you order however many author copies you want or need, from one to 100+.

Three is a manageable number of platforms.

Most folks find managing three platforms doable. And the effort of going direct to platforms with a smaller footprint (Kobo, Apple, and so on) is often not worth the payback; it is easier to give up a small slice of profit to let an aggregator like IS or D2D manage them.
If you truly want only one platform to manage, see the discussion below and choose the platform that best meets your goals.
Also note the converse: If you are a full-time “authorpreneur,” you might want to go direct to more than three platforms to maximize profits.

What if I want to use just one self-publishing platform?

Some folks will want to use only one self-publishing platform—whether due to busyness, technology issues, philosophy, not caring about the moneymaking aspect of publishing—all good. Here are the key trade-offs of choosing just one of the three platforms covered in this article.

KDP only

For ebook, you will reach only the Amazon markets, losing access to about a quarter of the ebook market.
For print, by using Expanded Distribution, you can access basically the same non-Amazon channels as you could through IngramSpark—because KDP goes through Ingram. However, you pay a premium to do so, making a royalty of 40% rather than 60% (and print costs come out of that amount). Additionally, KDP Expanded Distribution books are not returnable, so bookstores may be disinclined to carry them in physical inventory.
On the plus side, you hit most of the book market and have what I consider to be the easiest platform interface to work with. Read more about the Amazon ecosystem.

IngramSpark only

For both print and ebook, you reach basically the same sales channels, including Amazon, but you may get dinged in the Amazon algorithm.
Because Amazon has so much of the ebook market, you are giving up revenue on a significant portion of sales by not going direct.
For print, you will likely make a little less per book, but you do have more control of the print discount and returnability, so it is possible to make more.
On the supernegative side, you have just chosen to work on the worst, most user-unfriendly platform interface. This might not be an issue if you are tech savvy (and patient).

Draft2Digital only

For ebooks, you reach the same sales channels, including Amazon. But again, since Amazon has most of the ebook market, you are giving up revenue on a significant portion of sales by not going direct.
For print, you can indeed use D2D, though I don’t usually mention it, because D2D (similar to KDP’s Expanded Distribution) uses Ingram/IngramSpark. It offers a more user-friendly front end but also simplifies the offerings, so you are limited to paperback and fewer trim sizes. You make a royalty of 45% (that is, a 55% discount) minus the print costs, and have no control of the discount or returnability. (Note: I have not ever tried D2D for print.)

Those are the major trade-offs as I see them. Pick your poison.

Does this strategy always work?

The three-pronged self-publishing platform strategy I described works for most Clear Sight clients—authors of nonfiction books who want both print and ebook for business or legacy reasons but who are not full-time authors. If you are in a similar situation, it will likely work for you.

Some variations:

You can always do just paperback or just hardback along with the ebook, and many of our clients do prefer to have only one print version.
For hardback, if you prefer a case-bound book (e.g., for a textbook or children’s book) or if that’s the only option for your trim size, use the same strategy as with a paperback: KDP for Amazon, IS for everything else. (KDP does a nice case-bound hardback.)
If you need something like a spiral-bound book, go to Lulu.

Ultimately, choose a platform strategy that fits your goals for your book and your capacity to manage them.

I hope this article gives you a good starting place to understand some of your options. If you need help sorting out your strategy, feel free to email me (karin@clearsightbooks.com) to ask a question or set up a discovery call.

The simple self-publishing platform strategy in nine easy steps

Here’s the basic process I use to set up the paperback, hardback, and ebook on these three platforms.

Purchase your own ISBNs. You can use the same ISBN across platforms as long as the book is identical—that is, the same trim size, the same cover type, and so on. So if you have hardback, paperback, and ebook, you need three ISBNs. (Be sure to understand how ISBNs work before using this strategy.)
Set up the paperback on KDP. Do NOT enable KDP’s Expanded Distribution. Do NOT press Publish yet.
Order a print proof from KDP to review; make any needed changes and upload the final files to KDP.
Once you have final files, set up the IngramSpark paperback and hardback. You can use the identical interior file for paperback and hardback on KDP and IS as long as they are the same trim size and all the ISBNs are listed on the copyright page.
Once you get IS eproofs that look correct, approve the books for printing from your account only. Do NOT enable distribution yet.
Order IngramSpark proofs for review and adjustment. At this point, you should not have to correct the interior file (you already checked the KDP print proof), but you might find issues on the cover (e.g., color). Make corrections and upload new files if needed.
After all corrections are made to the print files, use the interior file as the starting place for making the EPUB.
Set up the ebook on KDP.
Set up the ebook on Draft2Digital, making sure to uncheck the box for Amazon.

Once everything is set up, I usually press Publish for all versions on the same day. If you want to set up pre-orders, check out this article—and be sure to read each platform’s help file for further instructions.