
#KDP HARDCOVER BOOKS PLUS#
Author Copiesīoth platforms allow authors to buy their own books at cost plus shipping. However, since you’ve approved your book to print, if you need to make any changes after seeing a print copy, you have to upload a new file and pay another fee. Then you can order an author copy for review before you approve your book for distribution.

To get a tangible copy, you have to approve your book for printing. They have a two-step approval process, in which you first approve for printing, then approve for distribution. IngramSpark does not give you an option for proof copies. 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. They come with a big “PROOF” label on the cover, so they are not copies you could sell. KDP gives you the option of ordering up to five proof copies. Proof Copiesīefore approving your book for sale, chances are you’ll want to see a physical copy of it. Currently (November 2021), IS can only be contacted by email they have disabled their live chat function and are not taking phone calls. I’ve talked to IS more times than I can count and I’ve been frustrated with them more often than not. I rarely have issues that require me to contact KDP’s customer service. Once you’ve approved your book, if you need to upload new files for any reason, you must pay fees again.

IS charges setup fees of about $25 per file ($49 for both interior and cover). IS’s interface and processes are unintuitive and their instructions are poor. Post-publication, their reporting dashboard is clean and simple. It’s free to upload files, and if you find a mistake later and need to upload fresh files, no problem-just do it. User-Friendlinessīoth 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 offers five trim sizes and casebound only (no dust jackets).įor most details, here’s a meaty 1700-word post on print options. 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. Until 2021 IngramSpark was the only option for POD hardbacks (between these two services) now KDP is offering some limited hardback functionality. 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). They both have multiple standard and nonstandard trim sizes and offer glossy and matte covers. (We’re not going to cover color books or ebooks here.) Print Optionsįor paperback books, KDP and IngramSpark offer similar options. 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. If you have specific questions, let me know and I will do my best to incorporate answers for you.
#KDP HARDCOVER BOOKS UPDATE#
I will update this article with links as they get added.
#KDP HARDCOVER BOOKS SERIES#
I’m also doing an in-depth series that takes each section into greater detail. In this overview article, we’ll look at why you might choose one POD service over the other-and the strategy for using both. 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.

Originally published Februmost recently updated November 22, 2021.
