Amazon/KDP and Ingram/Spark are the most common POD providers.

Amazon’s KDP is the most common POD (Print-On-Demand) provider. You can get the books on at no cost, but file preparation is critical and if you are not experienced in doing so it can be very frustrating. Ingram/Spark (I/S) also commonly used and the initial upload of a new book does not cost anything. But revisions to the text and/or cover after 60 days will incur a fee. I/S also has very specific file preparation requirements.

The biggest difference between KDP and I/S is that KDP is pretty much Amazon centric. Although they do have a wholesale outlet (Expanded Distribution) it is rarely, if ever, used by retailers. Going through I/S will get your book onto Amazon, but it will also be readily available for order from pretty much all other on-line and brick-and-mortar outlets. Sometimes it makes sense to have it on both platforms.

Descriptions

Another thing to note is that although your book is on Amazon and/or I/S so are a few billion others. Things that help the customer discover your book are the right BISAC code (a category code you select from a list offered), good keywords, and a good description. The description is often overlooked but is very important. When someone is searching for a certain kind of book the search checks for category and keywords, but also the description gets indexed for certain words or phrases. Subsequently a book search may not grab hold of the category or keywords but instead be found from something specific in the description.

Black print versus Color print

All POD operations like KDP and I/S look at books in two ways: Black or Color. If you want that map on page 28 to be in color then they consider the entire book to be in color. If you have a 6X9 200 page book that is all black Amazon/KDP will make it for $3.40 you’ll be able sell for $15.00 and net $6.80. If any or all of it is in color then the same book printed as such will end up costing $6.10 to make and if sold for $15.00 you would net $2.90. So still doable, but to get your royalty up to $5.90 your selling price would need to be closer to $20.00. If you have to have that one thing in color, you may as well introduce more color to the interior elsewhere.

For more information or to inquire about your book project with Bravo Book Design use our Contact Form, or email us at BravoBookDesign@gmail.com or call 509-953-8680 9am to 4pm Pacific.