IngramSpark

[BobbyBrandt]

Has anyone, either for self-publishing or through a hybrid publisher, used IngramSpark or similar distributor, and if so, what was the experience like?

I know someone considering them for e-commerce fulfillment of orders from the author's own website. The ability to publish and sell more erotic content (print and e-book) than Amazon and other sites will allow is the impetus for their consideration. (The stated restriction on the type of books that IngramSpark distributes list only those that have perforated pages.)

It looks like the fact that they don't sell books directly to consumers allows for greater acceptance of the material distributed by them.

 

[lovecraft68]

I heard them mentioned once and in the context that they take a big chunk, true or not, I can't say because I have no first hand experience with them. I have my horror paperbacks handled by createspace which of course is now amazon.

To your last point Amazon is in one of their not caring about anything phases and I know authors not only publishing mommy books on there but turning them into paperbacks. How long this lasts before they play the "How did this get here" game again, no one knows, but right now the door seems wide open.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I heard them mentioned once and in the context that they take a big chunk, true or not, I can't say because I have no first hand experience with them. I have my horror paperbacks handled by createspace which of course is now amazon.

To your last point Amazon is in one of their not caring about anything phases and I know authors not only publishing mommy books on there but turning them into paperbacks. How long this lasts before they play the "How did this get here" game again, no one knows, but right now the door seems wide open.

From what I see on their site:

Is there a cost for distribution services?

Yes, effective July 1, 2023, IngramSpark will charge a fee for Ingram's global distribution services. The fee will be in the amount of 1% of the list price of a book and will be deducted from the compensation earnings each time the book is sold. The fee will appear in the "other" column of the compensation report.

Fee example: If the book has a US list price of $20.00, the fee will be $0.20 cents.

Depending on the country you are located in there may be additional VAT or GST charged on top of the Global Distribution Fee for print books.

 

[ElectricBlue]

@BobbyBrandt I use Lulu, after doing a comparison several years ago, comparing them to other houses available at the time.

They were very good until they fucked up a major upgrade about a year after I set up an account, which sent them backwards. Their service still functions, but it's clunky. I still get paid though, through PayPal.

If I could be bothered spending the time needed to prepare book content (I earn more in two hours in my daytime job than my first year's income selling books), I'd probably still use them and put up with the annoyance. I wouldn't spend any time learning a new input.

I used them for print on demand, where they offer a very good range of formats, papers, sizes - the difficulty is, knowing what each one feels like in your hand - which cost me a bit trying different formats and paper stock, then reworking the content files to fit all the different margins, font sizes etc.
That's the most time consuming thing - the Word copy of my Arthurian novel (104000 words) was 240 pages in one format, 280 in another. That's a lot of pagination, table of contents checking. That's the tedious, time consuming part. Some people obviously don't care about the quality though - some of the self-published books I've seen have shocking content quality from a presentation point of view, amateur covers, maybe five thousand words if you're lucky. How they have the balls to charge for that, I don't know.

Their print network seems pretty good - here in Australia they use a printer based in Melbourne, who'd get a single copy done and delivered in a week.

The good thing though, is that the Lulu distribution to all of the major booksellers - Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. obviously works. I get fuck all margin if someone buys a print book through Amazon, say (a couple of bucks only, because those fuckers gouge everything out of the price for doing fucking nothing), whereas I can get $8 or $9 a copy if someone orders through Lily.

Similarly, their e-distribution is also very good - epubs, Amazon, Apple etc. Again, the downside is another version of your master copy, because the layout rules are different again. That's what killed it for me in the end - the time needed to get good quality.

If I was to do it again, I'd do something illustrated, and really focus on format. My words are okay, but the drawings would need to be "the next stage"

 

[BobbyBrandt]

@BobbyBrandt I use Lulu, after doing a comparison several years ago, comparing them to other houses available at the time.

They were very good until they fucked up a major upgrade about a year after I set up an account, which sent them backwards. Their service still functions, but it's clunky. I still get paid though, through PayPal.

If I could be bothered spending the time needed to prepare book content (I earn more in two hours in my daytime job than my first year's income selling books), I'd probably still use them and put up with the annoyance. I wouldn't spend any time learning a new input.

I used them for print on demand, where they offer a very good range of formats, papers, sizes - the difficulty is, knowing what each one feels like in your hand - which cost me a bit trying different formats and paper stock, then reworking the content files to fit all the different margins, font sizes etc.
That's the most time consuming thing - the Word copy of my Arthurian novel (104000 words) was 240 pages in one format, 280 in another. That's a lot of pagination, table of contents checking. That's the tedious, time consuming part. Some people obviously don't care about the quality though - some of the self-published books I've seen have shocking content quality from a presentation point of view, amateur covers, maybe five thousand words if you're lucky. How they have the balls to charge for that, I don't know.

Their print network seems pretty good - here in Australia they use a printer based in Melbourne, who'd get a single copy done and delivered in a week.

The good thing though, is that the Lulu distribution to all of the major booksellers - Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. obviously works. I get fuck all margin if someone buys a print book through Amazon, say (a couple of bucks only, because those fuckers gouge everything out of the price for doing fucking nothing), whereas I can get $8 or $9 a copy if someone orders through Lily.

Similarly, their e-distribution is also very good - epubs, Amazon, Apple etc. Again, the downside is another version of your master copy, because the layout rules are different again. That's what killed it for me in the end - the time needed to get good quality.

If I was to do it again, I'd do something illustrated, and really focus on format. My words are okay, but the drawings would need to be "the next stage"

I'm familiar with Lulu, but they don't accept "pornographic" material, which includes stories depicting graphic sexual acts,so that won't work for the writer in question.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm familiar with Lulu, but they don't accept "pornographic" material, which includes stories depicting graphic sexual acts,so that won't work for the writer in question.

Not true. All of my books through Lulu contain stories here on Lit, they're explicit. I also have a collection of explicit drawings.

They're badged as erotica, 18+. I've had no problems, either from them or the booksellers they broker into.

Nobody vetts the content, so far as I can see.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I have not. I have an account with Lot's Cave, but I have yet to publish anything on there. Same with Snashwords and kpd. I do like the idea of a hybrid publisher that does ebooks and paper books. I need to get around to talking to my cousin about his wifes publishing company to see what that's all about, maybe not for erotica, but for my regular stuff.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Lot's Cave is basically shut down, and last I checked, what they've changed the name to isn't functioning.

I have not. I have an account with Lot's Cave, but I have yet to publish anything on there. Same with Snashwords and kpd. I do like the idea of a hybrid publisher that does ebooks and paper books. I need to get around to talking to my cousin about his wifes publishing company to see what that's all about, maybe not for erotica, but for my regular stuff.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Lot's Cave is basically shut down, and last I checked, what they've changed the name to isn't functioning.

I just found this; https://www.publish0x.com/runesrealms/lots-cave-will-be-missed-xwvrlko

Damn shame.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'd never gotten started there. I have an account, but of course, nothing works. I think my publisher had set up the account but hadn't published there, and something went haywire, and he held off on posting my stories.

I just found this; https://www.publish0x.com/runesrealms/lots-cave-will-be-missed-xwvrlko

Damn shame.