So you’ve decided to self-publish!

Great! Self-publishing has never been more accessible or easy as it is now. While that means that you have a lot more competition to deal with, it also means that getting up and running is a breeze (after you’ve finalized everything that you are looking to print, anyway). There are two primary avenues that you can go down to self-publish: Amazon’s KDP and Ingram Spark. Other solutions exist (including printing the books yourself), but these two avenues represent a large portion of where manuscripts go nowadays if you aren’t going through a large publishing house.

So there are pros and cons to both?

As easy and tempting as it is to write a “well, both sides have their place” article, that’s really not where things stand. Ingram has a number of distinct advantages over Amazon, such as:

  • Your book will be on Amazon if you publish through Ingram (but not the other way around)

  • Bookstores will be able to order your book at a wholesale rate directly (instead of having to talk to you for every order)

  • From our experience when we launched a book simultaneously on both platforms, Ingram’s print quality is better

  • You don’t have to support Jeff Bezos any more than you already do

And this is just to start. We should note that Ingram does not sponsor us in any marketing context; while we receive book sale revenues through them, we just really like the distribution network and printers.

So why should I bother with MWP or other small publishers if you just use Ingram?

Because of everything else that goes into getting your book ready to publish. What we handle (and any publisher worth their salt) is assisting with edits, graphic design, proofing, etc. before your book becomes available. As an author, you can often be too close to review your work objectively and the value we provide is in making your book as good as it can be. We also have expertise in formatting, layout, copyright page formulations, pricing, and a bunch of other items you may not even be aware of.

In other words, despite the ease of self-publishing in the modern era, publishers still have a role to play if you want them to. But you now have the freedom to go your own way if you choose to do so.

No matter what, we wish you the best of luck with your book’s publication journey.