Self-Publishing with Ingram Spark

Last year, I published my first book through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. This year, I also published the book through another platform called Ingram Spark. Amazon sells direct to readers online while Ingram Spark has a huge distribution network to bookstores and libraries. It makes sense to publish through both.

When my network found out about the book, I started fielding a lot of questions about self-publishing. So many people have something important to say to the world and want to get their book out there. I’m guessing that includes you. You should publish your book!! Writing mine was one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve worked on so far. So, to better answer everyone’s questions, I ended up writing a series of articles about self-publishing. If you’re interested, I might recommend reading this article in which I talk about the overall timeline and everything that went into publishing my book.

What’s not included in my self-publishing series yet is detailed information about how to publish on Ingram Spark. That’s what we’re going to focus on today.

Why Publish with Ingram Spark?

The main reason to publish with Ingram Spark is its vast distribution network to bookstores and libraries. Most bookstores purchase books at a 40–55% discount and will not purchase from Amazon because Amazon is a competitor. If you think your readers may want to pick-up your book at a bookstore or find it at the library, you will want to diversify your book distribution. If you’re still not sure where to publish, check out my article on deciding where to publish.

Ingram Spark’s Publishing Process

Let’s get you started. First, create an account for Ingram Spark and log-in. In the past, Ingram Spark charged authors around $50 to set-up a title, but they’ve recently removed those fees, as long as you start and finish the book set-up process in 30 days. To begin that process, pick the best option for you:

I decided to only publish a print book through Ingram Spark. The vast majority of people reading e-books are using Amazon’s Kindle platform and I already had an e-book there. Choosing to only publish your e-book through Amazon also allows you to take advantage of their KDP Select program, which has some advantages that you should research and consider.

Interior & Cover Book Files

If you’ve already published elsewhere, then you can likely use the same, exact book interior file to publish on Ingram Spark. You will, however, need to create a new cover file to their specs. Go through the process to create your book up to the point where you need to have a cover file, then create a cover creation template. Send this to your cover/jacket designer and have them produce a cover to spec. If you haven’t created a cover yet, check-out this article on creating a beautiful book cover!

If you don’t have book files already, use their book-building tool. I did not take this route and there seem to be some downsides (i.e. you can’t build a PDF of your book later, so you may end up burning an ISBN). Do your research and choose the right path for you. I had a lot of luck creating my files outside of Ingram Spark and buying my own ISBN (International Standard Book Number) straight from Bowker. This allowed me to publish my books on multiple platforms, but keep the ISBN data the same.

Setting Up Your Book — Basic Info

You’ll be filling in the following information as you go through the book set-up process. Note that Ingram Spark will send you a detailed PDF of how to fill in all of the below information. It’s really important that you read that PDF and follow along. If you screw something up, Ingram Spark’s support resources are TERRIBLE (which I elaborate on below).

• Title
• ISBN
• Language
• Subtitle
• Series Name, Series Number, Edition Name, Edition Number
• Author(s) & their locations
• Author’s Biography, Prior Work, and Affiliations
• Imprint Name
• Subject Categories — you get to choose three, just like on Amazon
• Audience (Adult, Kids, etc)
• Regional Subject
• Thema Subject
• Keywords
• Full sales description
• Short description
• Review quotes
• Table of Contents

Setting Up Your Book — Print Info

Now it’s time to choose your print info. Here’s where you’ll select Trim Size, Binding, Page Count, Interior Color & Paper, Cover Finish, and Pricing Details. Again, these are the choices you need to make before finishing your cover file. Once you know what your choices will be, generate a template here to send to your cover creator.

Pricing & Returns

Pricing for bookstores is very different from pricing for the internet. Bookstores and libraries expect a 40–55% discount, which will definitely eat into your final profits. You also need to designate whether you will accept returns or not. A fellow author who wrote a book about movie-making has contacted many bookstores asking them to carry her books is finding that most bookstores will not even consider carrying her book unless you choose the 55% discount and enable the returns option in Ingram Spark. Those options greatly reduce the bookstore’s risk of carrying your book, but also greatly increase your risk of needing to financially cover the cost of any returns. Consider your goals and options carefully, then choose the best options for you.

Reviewing Your Book

When you are done providing all information and have uploaded your book interior and cover files, you can submit your book! A reviewer at Ingram Spark will review the book. This may take a few days.

Once the reviewer has approved your book, you will get an EPROOF, which is a PDF copy of your entire book showing what it will look like from cover to cover. At this point you can approve your book or reject the EPROOF and go back to the drawing board.

When you approve your book you can approve it for sales only to you, or for distribution everywhere. I recommend first approving your book only for you. Then, you can order an author copy to review before opening your book up for sales everywhere. It’s very easy to approve your book for sales everywhere once you’re happy with it and to change any of the information associated with the book. Note that changes may take a few days. One thing about Ingram Spark that I will say is they can be very, very slow. And that brings me to a few grievances I have with the platform.

Issues I Had with Ingram Spark

Ingram Spark is not at all a user-friendly platform. If you publish on Amazon first, like I did, prepare to be really frustrated with Ingram Spark’s lack of features and the length of time it takes to move through the process.

I did not follow the book creation instructions they sent originally. I was used to Amazon’s straightforward, fully digital process and so I thought Ingram Spark’s interface would guide me through everything. Boy, was I wrong! The first book I produced was my hardcover, but the platform never gave me an option to upload my book cover file! I submitted the book anyway, thinking that part would come later in the process. It doesn’t, I had picked the wrong hardcover option. You can print a book through Ingram Spark with just a plain, cloth cover. But, who wants to do that?

So, I reached out to Ingram Spark’s support team. Each and every time you need to ask their support team a question it will take a minimum of two business days to get an answer, sometimes much longer. My book got stuck in the review stage and no one could seem to get it approved or sent back to me. I went back to count how many support email threads I had to deal with to get my hardcover sent back to me, changed to the right format, and then finally published. It was no less than 15! It took a total of 2.5 months and I’m still waiting for the physical hardcover proof to show up. I also had to be referred to a support person’s manager at least three times during this process because my case was so “difficult”. Their support people seem to have very little knowledge and control.

All that is to say that I believe if you follow that book creation instructions exactly, you can probably avoid dealing with support. I wholeheartedly hope that you do.

Conclusion

It’s still worth it to publish through Ingram Spark. I’m about to start reaching out to bookstores and libraries to see if they’ll carry my book. I’d love to see it show up in libraries all over the place, accessible to anyone who wants to read it. If you have any questions about publishing on Ingram Spark, please shoot me an email or comment below. Good luck and please consider following my blog to continue hearing how things are going with the book post-publishing!

This post first appeared on amberrfield.com. If you’re interested in similar updates you can follow me here or there!