KDP vs IngramSpark: Where to Publish Your Paperback

Marcus finished a 280-page local history of his river town. The library wants copies, the bookshop on Main Street says it will stock a few, and his cousin wants to buy one on Amazon. He has read a dozen forum threads on KDP vs IngramSpark and still cannot tell which one should print his paperback.

Quick answer: Use KDP if most of your sales will be on Amazon; it pays the most there and is the simplest to set up. Use IngramSpark if bookshops and libraries matter, because they order through Ingram and expect a trade discount and, often, returns. Many writers use both: KDP for Amazon, IngramSpark for everyone else, with KDP's Expanded Distribution switched off and one ISBN that you own.

Every rule below comes from KDP's and IngramSpark's own help pages, checked in November 2026. Both houses change their terms from time to time, so treat the numbers as a starting point and confirm them on the linked page before you price a book.

KDP vs IngramSpark at a glance

The rest of this guide explains each row.

Costs and royalties

Neither house charges to set up a book. KDP's getting started page says you can publish ebooks, paperbacks and hardcovers for free. IngramSpark's February 2026 changes page says title setup is free and revision fees ended on February 1, 2026, along with new print prices that went up for some books and down for others.

KDP's paperback royalty is a percentage of the list price minus the printing cost. Per KDP's paperback royalty page, the rate on Amazon.com is 60% at a list price of $9.99 or more and 50% at $9.98 or less. KDP's own example: a $15, 333-page black-ink paperback that costs $5.00 to print earns (0.60 × $15) − $5.00 = $4.00 on Amazon.

IngramSpark works the other way round. You set a wholesale discount, and the bookshop's margin comes out of the list price first. Per IngramSpark's pricing article, it then deducts the print cost and a 1.875% distribution fee. It recommends a 55% discount, accepts 40% as a minimum, and warns that US titles under 53% are "short discounted" and many bookshops will not order them. Its example, a $25.99 6 × 9 paperback of 400 pages at 55%, earns $4.52. Payment arrives 90 days after the month the book ships.

So the same book usually earns more per copy on Amazon through KDP. IngramSpark earns less per copy but reaches buyers KDP does not.

Distribution: who can order your book

On KDP, a paperback sells on Amazon. Ticking Expanded Distribution offers it to distributors that serve bookshops, libraries and schools. KDP's Expanded Distribution page says the royalty there is 40% of list minus printing, that enrolment is free but no store is obliged to order, and that it can take up to eight weeks before booksellers can order the book.

Expanded Distribution has limits. Hardcovers are not eligible. Some trims never qualify, including 8.25 × 6, 8.25 × 8.25 and 8.25 × 11, and 8.5 × 8.5 qualifies only in colour. The same page lists genres the distributors will not take, such as journals, colouring books and public domain text.

IngramSpark is a wholesaler first. A book enabled for distribution is listed to a network its changes page puts at "over 45,000" retailers, libraries, universities and educators. A bookshop that orders through Ingram sees your discount and your returns setting, which is why those two choices matter more there than the royalty.

ISBNs on each house

Both houses give a free ISBN, and both tie it to their own service.

• KDP: per KDP's ISBN page, a free KDP ISBN covers paperback and hardcover, can only be used on KDP, and shows the imprint as "Independently published."
• IngramSpark: per its free ISBN page, US self-publishers can take a free ISBN during setup. The book then carries IngramSpark's imprint, Indy Pub, the number stays on IngramSpark, and free ISBNs from KDP cannot be used there.

To sell one edition through both houses under one number, buy your own ISBN from your country's agency (Bowker in the US). Each format needs its own number on both houses. The ISBN guide in this series goes through the choice in detail.

Trims and returns

KDP prints sixteen paperback trims and five hardcover trims, all on one trim and margins page, and takes a custom paperback size from 4 to 8.5 inches wide and 6 to 11.69 tall. IngramSpark's trim and paper page offers a longer list from 4 × 6 up to 8.5 × 11 and 11 × 8.5, plus case laminate and cloth hardcovers, and a custom portrait paperback up to 8.5 × 11 on white paper.

Returns are where the two differ most. KDP's Expanded Distribution page offers no returns choice to set. IngramSpark asks you to pick one of three:

1. No. Shops cannot return unsold copies. Many will not stock the book at all.
2. Yes-Deliver. US only. Returned copies are shipped to you for a fee of $3.00 each to a US address.
3. Yes-Destroy. Returned copies are pulped, and you are charged the current wholesale cost of each one.

Returns come out of your earnings, and IngramSpark bills you if earnings do not cover them. Start with No unless a shop has asked you for returnable stock.

Using both KDP and IngramSpark

IngramSpark's article on using both says you can, on one condition: do not select KDP's Expanded Distribution for that book. An ISBN can only be listed on one distribution account, and KDP's own page says an Expanded Distribution ISBN must not already be in distribution elsewhere.

A plan that works for most writers:

1. Buy your own ISBN for the paperback.
2. Set up the paperback on KDP with that ISBN, and leave Expanded Distribution unticked.
3. Set up the same paperback on IngramSpark with the same ISBN, a trade discount and your returns choice.
4. Keep the files identical, or a reader may see two slightly different books.

If you already ticked Expanded Distribution, IngramSpark describes a title transfer that both sides have to approve.

Pick the house on the WriterDesk

The desk keeps each house's own rules in view while you write. Open Choose the publisher and pick Amazon KDP & Audible or IngramSpark. The trim list then shows only that house's sizes, and the House step shows its margin rule: a gutter that grows with the page count on KDP, half an inch on every side on IngramSpark.

The Check step treats the ISBN differently for each one. On IngramSpark a blank ISBN is marked Needed, so you notice before you submit. If the book is going to both, the Convert to another house tool on the House step lists what has to change between the two. The KDP trim and margin guide has the full KDP size table, and the print walkthrough shows a paperback from House to Check.

What to check before you choose

• Where buyers are. Mostly Amazon points to KDP. Shops, libraries and events point to IngramSpark as well.
• Discount. Under 53% on IngramSpark in the US, many shops will not order.
• Returns. Pick one you can afford if a shop sends back a box.
• ISBN. A free number locks the edition to one house.
• Trim. Make sure both houses print it if you plan to use both.

Start on the WriterDesk

Open the WriterDesk, choose the house your paperback is heading to, and let the House and Check steps show its trims, margins and ISBN rule as you go.

Where are most of your readers likely to buy your paperback: on Amazon, or in a shop or library? Write to us at [email protected].