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Is Amazon's KDP your best option for self-publishing? If you've spent more than 5 minutes researching how to publish your book, you've hit this question. And almost everything you read online treats it like a given.
If you self-publish, I'm going to say this plainly, you do want to use KDP, but you don't want to only use KDP. I'll explain why in a few minutes. For now, know this, the secret weapon every author should be using is a printing and distribution company called IngramSpark. The authors who think otherwise are leaving readers and opportunities behind. And this matters more than most authors realize.
Where your book lives determines who can find it. This matters more than most authors realize. It's not just Amazon, bookstores, libraries, and airport retail, and international markets, and the platform decision you make on day one. This is before your book ever goes live. It locks in your distribution footprint for the life of that book. I mean, it can be changed, but it's very difficult. So, most authors make this decision based on a Reddit thread or a YouTube video from 2019.
I'm going to give you what I've seen work and fail from the publisher side of this. So, let's start with KDP. KDP is Amazon's platform, and Amazon is extraordinary at what it does. If you set up your title through KDP, your book is live on the largest book retailer in the world, usually within 24 hours. The royalty structure for ebooks is genuinely good, and it's comparable for print. The print-on-demand quality has improved dramatically. For a lot of authors, it feels like the obvious choice, and it is for Amazon.
Here's what KDP doesn't do. It doesn't get your book into Barnes & Noble. It doesn't get your book into independent bookstores. It doesn't get your book into the library system, or into international retailers that aren't Amazon. I've worked with authors who published KDP only and then wondered why no bookstore would carry them. That's not a personal rejection. That's a distribution infrastructure problem. If you are KDP only, you are by definition an Amazon author, full stop. And there's nothing wrong with that if that's a deliberate choice. But most authors don't know what that's what they're choosing.
Now, let's talk about IngramSpark. IngramSpark is part of Ingram Content Group, the largest book distributor in the world. Bookstores order from Ingram, libraries order from Ingram. If you want your book in physical retail, you need to be in their system. But here's what I watch authors do wrong on this side. They go IngramSpark only because someone told them it's more professional. It is more professional, but then you don't have a great Amazon experience because then you spend 6 months wondering why the Amazon page looks weird and why the book isn't showing as available or why the print quality isn't consistent.
IngramSpark is a distribution channel. It is not optimized for the Amazon buying experience the way KDP is. The two ecosystems work differently, and honestly, Amazon is not motivated to play nice with Ingram beyond the basics. They do for the basics, okay? They do. But when it comes to like choosing keywords and categories and Amazon ads, you just can't do any of that in Amazon. And if something goes wrong, you can't fix it easily. So, trying to serve Amazon well through IngramSpark alone is like trying to drive the Amazon, you know, delivery car from the passenger side. You can technically do it, but it's you're going to be missing a lot and it's going to be really hard.
So, here's what I tell every author I work with. KDP handles your Amazon ecosystem. IngramSpark handles everywhere else. They are competitors. They are competitors, but you will use each of them for their unique strengths. So, for the savvy author, they are two different pieces of the same distribution strategy.
For your ebook and Amazon print book, set up your title through KDP. Their royalty structure, their Kindle ecosystem, their Amazon integration, it's built for that. Just don't choose expanded distribution. That's important. Do not choose expanded distribution. Then for your ebook and print book everywhere else, set up through IngramSpark and set up for expanded distribution. IngramSpark will automatically distribute your book to independent booksellers, libraries, and institutions around the world while leaving Amazon out. This is how you get your book in Barnes & Noble, by the way. So, this gives you Amazon's print-on-demand infrastructure for customers buying directly on Amazon, and it gives you Ingram's network for every other retailer, library, and distributor on the planet. The setup requires a few specific decisions. So, we're going to talk about that. But, the strategic decision is simple. You want to use both.
Okay, so three things you need to get right when you set up both. One, your ISBN. Whether you use Amazon alone or not, don't use Amazon's free ISBN. Get your own ISBNs through Bowker. The free one locks your publisher of record as Amazon. That means you're not your own publisher. Amazon is your publisher. This matters a lot. You'll need to buy 10 ISBNs for $300, okay? It's like $299. So, to avoid this problem, and then you'll have one for the print version and for the ebook, and you can even have one for your hardcover version, too, which is always fun for friends and family. Don't expect your hardcover to sell on Amazon or in Barnes & Noble or whatever. Forget about that. Just use it for friends and family.
Okay, number two, your pricing. Bookstores through Ingram Spark require a wholesale discount, typically 40 to 55%. This is for bookstores to actually order your book. This is comparable to what's happening on Amazon, but it just looks different when you get into KDP. So, on Ingram Spark, you know, you want to choose that this wholesale discount, but as far as your pricing goes, don't set it too low or stores won't stock you. And if you but don't set it too high or they're going to be like, "Nobody's going to buy this." Okay? So, you find that middle ground, look at what your comparables are doing, and then you have a real shot at physical retail. You also need to choose returnable or destroy so that bookstores can return or destroy the books that don't sell. Yes, you will have to pay for those, okay? That'll come back against your royalties in your Ingram Spark report report, but that's okay. You want to do that. This is because bookstores aren't going to stock your book at all if you don't choose that option because bookstores are risk-averse. They know that most books don't make it. And so, if they're going to take a chance on your book, they want to make sure that they can return it if it doesn't sell. So, they expect you to bear the risk, just like you expect Walmart to bear the risk of the your toothpaste, you know, if you buy toothpaste from them and you get it home and it was open it didn't have a little seal on it, you're like, "Ew, I'm not using this." You take it back to the store. You expect Walmart to give you a refund, and then Walmart gets to deal with returning it to the company. Okay, all that costs them money. Even if they get to return it to the company of origin, the company of origin then has to eat that. That's how business works. And you're now a business person. So, here you go.
Okay, so number three, your trim size and cover setup. You can choose whatever trim sizes you want. Um the three main ones are 5 by 8, 5 and 1/2 by 8 and 1/2, and 9 by 6, or 6 by 9. Those are your three basics. So, that's true whatever distribution channels you choose. Okay, but setting up your files is is another story. KDP and IngramSpark have slightly different specification requirements, and this is going to matter. So, for your print book, you'll need to have two exterior files, one for KDP, one for IngramSpark. And there'll be slight differences with the bleed on the outside and so forth. Now, for your interior file, you can have both of those be the same for IngramSpark and KDP. They will They will be fine for both. Then you need one ebook file, and it needs to be reflowable. Remember reflowable. So, that's it. Those are the three decisions when made correctly up front, that's the difference between a book that lives everywhere and a book that lives only on Amazon, or lives uncomfortably on Amazon if you choose IngramSpark alone.
I want to talk about one more thing before we wrap up. The reason most authors don't know this, the reason this feels complicated and overwhelming, is that nobody with a financial stake in the outcome has an incentive to explain it clearly. Amazon wants you KDP only. That's more control for them, and honestly, if they could control the entire publishing industry, they would love that because then they can charge 99 cents for every book and have people come on there and buy televisions. Okay? So, basically, in my view, they want authors to be their slave army. And they're not interested in books. They're not interested in filling the world full of great information. They are interested in selling high-ticket items in as many as possible. That's what they're interested in. Whereas IngramSpark, they're interested in books, publishing. This is what they're interested in. Bookstores are interested in books. This is what they do. And so, this is really important, okay? You want, like, honestly, I just encourage authors all the time to support non-Amazon booksellers.
Amazon is a frenemy, okay? Caesar said it, right? Julius Caesar. He said, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." And he was still stabbed in the back by a friend on his way up the Senate steps. So, keep that in mind. Amazon is not your friend, but they are your friend. They're a frenemy. I'm sorry, but traditional publishers, they don't want to explain how the industry works. They're not interested in that. They're protecting the institutions. They're protecting those traditional institutions. And you know, if you're confused about it or if you, you know, think, "Well, I guess I'll just go traditional. Maybe I'll get more distribution." Yeah, whatever. No. Okay? So, everybody's protecting their own interests. My interest is you. So, I'm protecting you. All right.
So, understanding your distribution options is not complicated inherently. It's just been made to feel that way. And that's a pattern we're going to keep coming back to on this channel. Because like I said, I'm here for you. That's why I exist. That's what my publishing company is for. It's for authors. Next week we're going to dive into this even a little bit more deeply. And I'm going to be talking about why I, as a publisher, choose to use all of the self-publishing channels. Why do I do it for myself? For my own books. Because I am also a best-selling author. And I've chosen to do the same thing that I'm telling you to do. And I'm going to tell you deeply, I'm going to get deep into the whys of that. And this is not because traditional publishing is inherently bad, okay? It just doesn't serve me and my desire to make the most out of my book and get it into the most readers' hands possible. All right. So, subscribe if you want that conversation. And remember, we're here one video a week, no gatekeepers, no excuses. See you next week.