Originally published February 18, 2019; most recently updated June 11, 2024.

To keep things simple for first-time authors, I often suggest they stick with Amazon’s ecosystem, using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for both ebooks and print books. However, there is another major player in the print-on-demand (POD) space: IngramSpark (IS), which is the POD service from Ingram, a major book distributor.

In this overview article, we’ll look at why you might choose one POD service over the other—and the strategy for using both. I’m also doing an in-depth series that takes each section into greater detail. I will update this article with links as they get added. If you have specific questions, let me know and I will do my best to incorporate answers for you.

Since I work primarily with nonfiction books, in this article I’ll use the example of a standard 6×9, 150-page, black-and-white book. (We’re not going to cover color books or ebooks here.)

Print Options

For paperback books, KDP and IngramSpark offer similar options. They both have multiple standard and nonstandard trim sizes and offer glossy and matte covers. I find the difference in paperback quality between KDP and IS to be negligible (YMMV), though I have a slight preference for KDP due to their thicker paper (55# vs 50# on IS).

Until 2021 IngramSpark was the only option (between these two services) for POD hardbacks; now KDP is offering some limited hardback functionality. IS offers many trim sizes and clothbound with a dustcover or casebound (where the cover image is printed on the hard cover) and some variations. KDP offers five trim sizes and casebound only (no dust jackets).

For most details, here’s a meaty 1700-word post on print options.

User-Friendliness

Both platforms require basically the same elements to set up a book (interior file, cover file, metadata); however, KDP makes the process far, far easier.

KDP’s interface is straightforward. It’s free to upload files, and if you find a mistake later and need to upload fresh files, no problem—just do it. Post-publication, their reporting dashboard is clean and simple. I also find KDP’s Help information to be pretty helpful and specific about what to do to set up a book. There is also a community forum, but I rarely use it.

IS’s interface and processes are unintuitive and their instructions are poor. I recently realized that part of the problem is that they have a blog on the main website (the search function is horrible) and an entirely separate website for help, which is not linked to the Help menu on the main site! (Serious design flaw.)

The IS reporting dashboard is better than it used to be, but even with the redesign that happened within the past couple of years, it does not provide users easy access to the most important information. The reports home page is cluttered with things like “sales by region” (only useful if you have a true global presence), “percent of sales by subject” (I suspect you’d need a lot of books for this report to be useful), and “bestsellers” (again only useful if you have published a lot of books). For individual authors with a few books, there are entirely too many clicks to get to the useful information.

On the plus side, in 2023 IS eliminated setup fees; now you pay fees for changes only after 60 days from publication.

I rarely have issues that require me to contact KDP’s customer service. I’ve communicated with IS more times than I can count and I’ve been frustrated with them more often than not. After having relatively good customer support when I began using IS, for several years their support has been horrendous: they disabled their live chat function, did not take phone calls, and could be contacted only via email. Chat now seems to be sometimes available; I’ve not had any luck with phone calls.

Proof Copies

Before approving your book for sale, chances are you’ll want to see a physical copy of it.

KDP gives you the option of ordering up to five proof copies. They come with a big “PROOF” label on the cover, so they are not copies you could sell. But what you want before approving your book for sale is a chance to see if there are any mistakes, so to me that is not an issue.

IngramSpark does not give you an option for proof copies in the same way KDP does. Instead, they have a two-step approval process, in which you first approve your book for printing, then approve for distribution. To get a tangible copy for proofreading purposes, you have to approve your book for printing. Then you can order an author copy for review. Once you make any needed changes, you approve your book for distribution. 

In my experience, KDP proof copies arrive much faster than IS copies do. Because of that, I almost always set up KDP first, get proofs, then set up IS.

Author Copies

Both platforms allow authors to buy their own books at cost plus shipping. Printing costs are in a similar range, but KDP is consistently less expensive than IngramSpark.

For example, a single 6×9, 150-page book is $2.80 to print on KDP and $3.38 on IS. And don’t forget  there will be shipping on top of that; in my experience, IS shipping is more expensive than KDP, but I couldn’t get firm numbers for this (due to the way the KDP system works).

Hardback is more expensive than paperback by about 2.5x. The same book that was $2.80 on KDP in paperback is $7.45 in hardback. On IS, the $3.38 paperback becomes $9.47 as a hardback.

Distribution

People tend to blur the different parties involved in self-publishing. Think about them like this:

  • You, the author, are both the author and the publisher.
  • The POD service you choose (KDP or IS) is the printer and, essentially, a wholesaler.
  • The bookstore or website that actually sells your book is the retailer.

When you publish on KDP, KDP automatically feeds the Amazon retail marketplaces. Using KDP for print-on-demand appears to give you an edge in the Amazon search engine algorithm over books published elsewhere (like on IngramSpark). All other things being equal, greater visibility leads to greater sales. 

IngramSpark is the equivalent of KDP, but IngramSpark does not have an owned sales platform equivalent to Amazon. What IngramSpark does have is Ingram, its sibling-company book distributor. When you use IngramSpark, your book is available through Ingram to online stores (including Amazon) and brick-and-mortar stores.

One of the big benefits of using IngramSpark is that bookstores and other brick-and-mortar retailers are already used to buying books from Ingram (the distribution channel) as a part of their regular purchasing process.

Additionally, to get into bookstores, your book almost always needs to be returnable. When bookstores have books that don’t sell, they send them back to the publisher for a refund. IngramSpark makes books returnable; KDP does not. (Note: You the publisher bear the expense of returns. If bookstores aren’t your focus, you can make your books not returnable.)

KDP’s Expanded Distribution

A twist: When you publish on KDP, you can choose to sell your book through KDP’s “expanded distribution” to reach non-Amazon channels. However, KDP’s expanded distribution actually goes through Ingram. The discount goes up significantly (i.e., your profit goes down), so this is not usually the best option. Instead, the strategy described below for using both platforms is usually more advantageous.

IngramSpark’s “Sell My Book” Option

Another twist: IngramSpark has a new “sell my book” option that lets authors sell direct and potentially earn more than they would via retail distribution. You can create links to your book for which you can set custom prices and other parameters (like a limited time). These links can be used in email or on social media, but it does not appear you get to control the branding or get access to customer data. For that, you might check out Lulu.

Royalties

When you sell a book, three components determine how much money you make:

  • the price,
  • the cut the sales channel (wholesaler and retailer) takes,
  • and the printing cost.

Let’s consider our 150-page b/w book again, priced at $10.

When you publish on KDP and sell through Amazon, Amazon gets 40% of the price (you’ll see this referred to as the “discount”), so the calculation is:

  • List price = $10
  • minus Sales channel (40%) = $4
  • minus Printing cost = $2.80
  • equals your revenue = $3.20

If you go through KDP’s expanded distribution, the sales channel gets 60%, so your revenue is $1.20.

When your book is sold through IngramSpark’s distribution, the calculation is the same as that for KDP, but on IS you have a choice of what discount to give the distribution channel.

The minimum discount you can offer ranges from 30% to 40%, depending on location (country); the maximum is 55%. To effectively sell to bookstores, you need to offer a 50–55% discount; if you plan to sell primarily online and to use your book for marketing, you can set the discount to the minimum so you retain as much profit as possible. (As of August 2023, the minimum discount in the US increased from 30% to 40%.) Additionally, IngramSpark has a 1% “market access fee.” _eyeroll_ (For easy calculations, just add it to the sales channel discount.)

In our example, setting a 40% discount for the sales channel on IS gives you $2.52 in revenue. (Remember, the printing cost for our 6×9 book with IS is $3.38, vs. $2.80 with KDP.) Setting a 55% discount for the sales channel gives you $1.02 in revenue.

Prior to IS’s increase in the minimum discount in the US, it was possible to make more money on IS than on KDP because despite the higher print costs, the discount could be low enough to still generate more money overall. Now it appears you will almost always make more on KDP sales than on IS sales. But you can see the importance of understanding all the elements of pricing so that you know whether you will actually make money on your book!

The Strategy for Using KDP and IngramSpark

Based on your needs, there can be good reasons to stick with one platform or the other. KDP is easy, flexible, and has lower-cost author copies. IngramSpark is not user-friendly and does more nickel-and-diming on fees and shipping, but it offers more hardback options and better distribution into non-Amazon retailers.

Many indie authors, however, use both POD platforms. The strategy:

  • 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. (Be sure to understand how ISBNs work before using this strategy.)
  • Use KDP for Amazon sales only. Set your book up on KDP first, and do NOT enable KDP’s “expanded distribution.” (If you set up IS first, the IS data feed will go to Amazon, which is what you don’t want.) Rationale: Using KDP gets your book some benefit in the Amazon search engine. 
  • Use IngramSpark for all other sales channels. Set your book up on IS second. Rationale: If you sell primarily online, having your book on IS lets you set a lower discount than Amazon takes for expanded distribution. If your strategy entails bookstores, your book also can be more appealing due to returnability and retailers’ existing familiarity with Ingram’s distribution processes.

Overall, the dual-platform strategy can be a strong approach to maximize sales and profit.

Resources

Still have questions? Please read the comments. Then if that doesn’t do it, email me at karin@clearsightbooks.com and if it’s something new, I’ll try to answer your question and add our exchange to the comments. (Comments are closed because I got tired of the spam!)