How to self-publish on Amazon KDP · 5 min read
KDP vs IngramSpark — when to use each, and why most authors use both
KDP owns Amazon. IngramSpark owns everything else. The honest comparison and the two-account setup most serious authors actually run.
The short answer: use both. They reach different retailers, take different cuts, and have different file specs. Running the two-account setup adds a couple of hours of work and meaningfully expands your distribution.
What each platform actually reaches
KDP reaches Amazon. That’s it. Amazon US, UK, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL, JP, BR, CA, MX, AU, IN, and a handful of smaller marketplaces. The advantage is that Amazon is also where 65–80% of book buying happens in most categories. The disadvantage is that the other 20–35% lives outside Amazon.
IngramSpark reaches Ingram’s wholesale network: about 38,000 retailers across 40+ countries, including Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, indie bookstores, libraries, schools, and most international bookstore chains. IngramSpark also distributes the ebook to Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble Press, and Google Play if you use their ebook program.
Royalty differences
KDP: 70% on ebook in the $2.99–$9.99 band, 60% on print after print cost. Predictable, transparent.
IngramSpark: ebook royalty 40% of net (lower than KDP) but reaches more retailers. Print royalty: 100% of (list price × your chosen wholesale discount) minus print cost. Typical numbers: at a 55% wholesale discount (the bookstore-friendly setting), per-unit royalty on a $14.99 paperback lands around $2.10. Lower than KDP’s $6.00 on the same book, but for sales you wouldn’t otherwise get.
File specs
KDP wants DOCX or EPUB for ebook, PDF or DOCX for print. Spine width math is in their template generator.
IngramSpark wants EPUB 3.0 for ebook (more demanding than KDP), and a print PDF with bleed and crop marks built to their template. Their spec is stricter; their validator rejects more files. We test-validate every file against both platforms before submission.
The pricing dance
Here’s where serious authors get burned. If your IngramSpark list price is $14.99 with a 55% wholesale discount, Amazon will buy your book from Ingram at $6.75 and resell at the price Amazon decides. They often undercut your KDP listing.
The fix: configure your KDP price slightly below or matching the IngramSpark list-minus-discount math. We set this up on every project. Missing it is the #1 reason author-published books show different prices on the same Amazon page over time.
Returns
IngramSpark gives you a yes/no choice on returns. Returns enabled: bookstores will order your book; they’ll send it back unsold and you bear the cost (typically $1.50–$3.50 per returned copy). Returns disabled: bookstores will not order your book, but you carry no return risk.
The right answer depends on whether bookstore distribution matters to your launch. For most US-only ebook-led launches, returns off. For serious print-led launches with bookstore reach, returns on.
Why most authors use both
Three reasons. KDP is where Amazon sales happen. IngramSpark is where every other retailer lives. The marginal cost of setting up both (a few hours) is small against the incremental reach. The two-account setup is what we configure as default for every full-service client.
When you might use only one
Only KDP: if you are 100% Amazon-focused, ebook-led, in a category where bookstore presence does not matter (most genre fiction, much business non-fiction).
Only IngramSpark: rare. Possibly the right answer if you specifically want to avoid the Amazon-exclusive look in metadata and have a strong indie-bookstore or library focus.