by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
There are several reasons why I have my printed books available through print on demand distributor IngramSpark. For one, it’s a cheaper option for international readers than KDP Print (formerly CreateSpace). For another, I like to have a print distributor for bookstores (if a reader requests a book from Barnes & Noble, for instance). I also like a print distributor for libraries (and the option for my books to be in hardcover). Here’s an excellent article from Debbie Young on why authors should use KDP Print and IngramSpark together.
There’s another reason why I like using IngramSpark. They offer the ability for a printed book to be available as a pre-order on Amazon.
KDP Print doesn’t offer a pre-order option, but you can set your release date on IngramSpark and, if the release date is in the future, it will show as a pre-order on Amazon (and the book will be delivered at the release).
I have quite a few readers who still prefer print and I like to be able to offer them the same opportunity to pre-order that my ebook readers enjoy.
There is more of a learning curve with IngramSpark, but I think it’s more intuitive than people say. You will need an ISBN to be on IngramSpark (and you can’t use the free one you received from Amazon). I’ve never had a problem using the same PDFs of the cover and text of the book that I used at Amazon with Ingram, but your mileage may vary. There is also a set-up fee at Ingram, but I don’t believe that I’ve ever paid it because they run promos frequently (be sure to sign up for their newsletters). The current promo (until March 31) is NANO17.
Important things to remember when using both Amazon and IngramSpark (as listed in Debbie Young’s ALLi article linked above):
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Use your own ISBN on both platforms – if you start off by using a free KDP one, you won’t be able to use it on IS, because it belongs to Amazon, not to you. (For more advice about buying and using ISBNs, click here.)
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Use the same ISBN for the same book on both platforms, otherwise it confuses the system and throws up error messages. It doesn’t matter that the platforms are different – what matters is that you are creating the same product. Equally, if you were having a short run printed at a local printers, you’d use the same ISBN there too.
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Choose carefully where to order your author copies, for the sake of time and cost. You can order one or more proof copies from either service before you publish (but only the KDPP proof will be marked clearly as such on the cover so won’t be resaleable). Speed and cost of delivery depends on where you live, as author copies may or may not be printed in your home country.
Are your books in print? Have you branched out from KDP?
Using IngramSpark for Pre-Orders: Share on XPhoto credit: micmol on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA
Who wouldn’t want their book available for pre-orders?
Exactly! Unfortunately, I think there are a good number of writers who don’t realize it’s an option for indie writers.
A lot of authors don’t understand the importance of buying and providing their own ISBN, which is why they go with KDP and “rent” the free one they offer. But in addition to not having the preorder option, it lists KDP as the publisher, not the author.
I’m fortunate that as a publisher with Ingram’s Lightning Source, the setup fee is waived, along with the first revision. That saves us a healthy chunk of change.
I think it’s so important to buy our own ISBNs. It’s a pain and isn’t cheap, but I believe I’m doing the right thing from a business sense.
That’s nice that publishers have that waived! For writers, I’d recommend making sure you’re on Ingram’s email newsletter list (which announces discounts) and that the newsletters don’t go in your spam folder. Or join the ALLi group…members get discounts with Ingram and there are other advantages to being with the group (I’ve been a member for years).
This is really useful, Elizabeth – thanks. I have to admit, I’ve not used Ingram Spark yet, although I’ve often thought about it. It sounds as though I ought to do some investigation…
It really helps build international readership…lots of readers still prefer to read in print and Ingram provides the books and shipping cheaply internationally.
I agree that lots of people still prefer print boos. I’m one of them. Thanks for sharing a good way to offer them.
I still really enjoy reading non-fiction or reference in print and every once in a while, fiction is good for me in print, too.
Thanks for the info! Just starting to look into these things and this is great :)
Hope it helps!
Good info. I’ve dabbled with Ingram Spark. Maybe I need to do more.
It’s a pretty cool company. The hard cover option is nice for the library market. And the pre-orders really help with sales.
Sounds like it’s in the author’s best interest to do both, especially with the pre-order offer.
Yes, that’s definitely what I’d recommend (and what I do). I use Amazon for domestic print orders and the books are available through Ingram everywhere else.
Hi Elizabeth – I prefer print … but this is a great summation for us to refer to. Thanks – you have a wealth of information helpful to so many … cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary! Hope you have a great week!
This post was the exact answer I needed! I’ve been trying to figure out how the preorder button works on Amazon since I’m planning on using Ingramspark for almost an hour! Lol
I’m going to be self-publishing my first novel this summer. There’re so many questions I have and research I need to complete before my dream of publishing my book can become a reality. It’s information like this that’s hopefully going to help me get there! Thanks so much!
Oh good! I’m so glad it helped. I really do like using IngramSpark and the income I make from them each month is higher than any other source aside from Amazon. :) Lots of print readers out there!
Becca and I enrolled The Emotion Thesaurus 2nd edition in IS system (for ED) so we could do the pre-order. This was an experiment, and ultimately a bad decision for us.
The pre-order seemed like a great idea, but 1) Amazon bungled it up (cancelling our preorder and refunding everyone’s orders at Amazon.ca) and then refused to fix the problem because the book was through Ingram. We had to petition Ingram to try and resolve the problem on our behalf (We uploaded everything correctly, and whatever happened definitely was caused by Amazon’s mishandling). The preorder did not return until weeks later, about 4 hours before the book published. Some countries the Amazon preorder never showed up at all. 2) scads of people preordered, but Ingram was unbelievably slow at delivery, meaning that across the board, people who pre-ordered received their books AFTER people who bought the book in the first week through Amazon. 3) it killed our ratings, and made it nearly impossible to hit #1 in our categories (not Ingram’s fault, our own, for doing a long pre-order. Lesson learned).
We have since pulled the book from Ingram.
Before the 2nd edition released, we switched the 1st edition to Ingram for ED for 6 months or so. Better distribution should have meant better sales. This was not the case, and we actually lost money due to discounts to distributors.
I think every book is unique, but for our types of books, IS was a disaster, so I would recommend experimenting with one title before moving them all over. If I did a preorder again, it would be digital only, and for a period of 4 days, no more.
Oh my gosh, what a nightmare! Amazon’s KDP Print (which I’m guessing is the department that would handle print pre-orders, even those originating from Ingram) has been a real mess since the transition from CreateSpace. I’ve had tickets with customer service at Amazon for every book that’s come out, so this isn’t too much of a surprise, but *not* what you want to deal with during the stress of the pre-order time!
I hate to hear that the discounts ate up your sales. Were many of these Canadian sales? The discounts are built in, of course, but I do go on the low end in terms of discounting….35% or 55%, whichever is allowable. And I don’t offer returns, which I’m guessing you didn’t, either.
Good tip to experiment with a single title first!