Book Quality: KDP versus IngramSpark.

Join us for a chat on the differences between self-publishing platforms KDP and IngramSpark.

Hey, welcome to Tell Tell Tuesday. I wanted to talk today about two different books that we printed using two different print on demand companies. One of them was printed through IngramSpark, so it’s actually a distribution company and one of them was printed through KDP. And I want to just look at the differences in case you were wondering and trying to decide between these two platforms.

And if I asked you which one was printed by IngramSpark, which one was printed by KDP, you’d probably have no idea. Both of them are quality print books, right? So there are no errors. There are no issues. Both of them look beautiful. But the difference is this one was published by IngramSpark (We Share the Same Darkness by William F. M. Currie). This one was published by KDP (The Lady of the Roses by Sarah Flame).

So let’s look at the IngramSpark book. This is a collection by William F.M. Currie. It’s called We Share the Same Darkness and it’s a brilliant collection. The author chose to have these beautiful illustrations done. As you can see, this book is also smaller, right? So this is a 5″x7″.

This is a 6″x9″ (KDP version – The Lady of the Roses).

Originally with William, we were looking at a 6″x9″ with KDP and we printed it. But when he got the copy, it wasn’t the quality he was expecting. And that’s because of the paper weight. The other reason we chose IngramSpark is that he really wanted to get into bookstores, he wanted to be distributed all over the world. IngramSpark has a heavy distribution reach, so it’s massive. I think they have thousands of places where your book can be available. And if you search for this book, you’ll find it online.

Similarly, Sarah Flame’s The Lady of the Roses, can be found online as well. This one (We Share the Same Darkness) has a matte cover. I wish you could feel it. It’s so beautiful. This one of course has a glossy cover. So it really depends. Both companies offer the same options. So you could have chosen a matte cover for this book or a glossy cover for this book. It just depends on the content and what the author wants.

As you can see, both of these are great options. The 5″x7″ was also widely available for distribution using Ingramspark. 5″x7″ was not widely distributable for KDP. What that means is we had to go with IngramSpark because they offered better distribution options for this size. This author really wanted this small kind of pocket book size you could fit anywhere. And this author wanted a more traditional poetry book size, 6″x9″.

So if you have questions about KDP versus Ingram, let me know. Both of them are great companies. We haven’t had any issues with either of them. It just depends on what you want, what you’re looking for. And again, I would say when you’re thinking of self-publishing, you want to think first, okay, what book size do you want? Then you want to check the platform, do they offer that book size? Do they offer that book size and the cover type that you want? Do they offer the book size, the cover type and the distribution that you want? And then you have to ask, do they offer the book size, the cover type, the distribution option, and the royalty payout that you expect?

So look at those when you’re deciding and let me know if you have questions. Both are great options. If you haven’t checked these books out, check them out. They’re brilliant, amazing collections. I love the way this one (We Share the Same Darkness) feels. It’s smaller. They’re so beautiful together. They look nice on the shelf. In any case, I’m here to help if you have any questions. Thanks so much.

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