How to Transfer Your Expanded Distribution Book to Ingram Spark From CreateSpace/KindleDirectPublishing
You went to CreateSpace or KDP and uploaded your self-published published book to them, and they offered you a free ISBN. You took them up on their offer and proceeded to upload your book so that you could be on Amazon. Okay!
But now you are thinking about bookstores and libraries and want to start getting your books in there. No problem, right? After all, you saw on Create Space (now KDP) that they could get you into bookstores and libraries all you have to do is click the “extended distribution for bookstores and libraries” button.
Not so fast! Unfortunately, when Create Space/KDP offers you bookstore and library distribution, they’re doing it by using a third-party Print on Demand company called IngramSpark. IngramSpark is the second largest POD company after KDP. They’re owned by the Ingram family in Lavergne, Tennessee (they also own Ingram Distribution and Ingram Wholesalers.) While all three of these companies are owned by the same family, they are three separate companies that do different things.
To get into bookstores and libraries (Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million), you need to be in a wholesaler. Ingram Wholesaler is the largest book wholesaler in the US and the best one to be in. They have the furthest reach, and more bookstores and libraries use them first than any other wholesaler.
The fastest and easiest ways to get into Ingram Wholesaler is to sign your book and your publishing up with Ingram Spark. (You CAN apply to Ingram Wholesaler as a non-POD publisher, but they have VERY high standards, and most small publishers are not accepted.)
It is not only acceptable, but it is also IDEAL to have your book files up on KDP AND up at IngramSpark at the same time. I have an article explaining why here.
WHY YOU NEED BOTH INGRAMSPARK AND KDP
Ideally, you will want your book up on Amazon through KDP, but you want your book up for bookstores and libraries through IngramSpark. To get in the Ingram wholesaler there are a number of steps you need to take.
This will allow you to get the best profit from Amazon from KDP and the best distribution options to retailers through Ingram. If you have your own Ingram Spark account, YOU set the discount, and returnability factor and YOU own your distribution decisions… not KDP.
Ready? Here are the steps you need to take:
FIRST – You have to confirm that the ISBN you have on your book belongs to YOU. If you took an ISBN from Create Space or KDP, then you don’t own it, and you cannot take that book anywhere. (If you already have an ISBN and that you bought from Bowker or your own governmental agency you’re ahead of the game – you can skip this part…) But if you got an ISBN from Create Space or KDP, that means that they own your ISBN, and THEY own the distribution rights to that edition of your book. This is not good. I’ve written an article explaining why here:
Buy your own ISBN from the proper entity. If you’re in the US, go to www.myidentifiers.com
SECOND – Sign up for an Ingram Spark account at WWW.INGRAMSPARK.COM. There’s an actual instructional videos on their site you will find helpful Here is one here:
Once you’re all signed up for Ingram spark and they have all of your tax ID and bank information, you’re ready.
Sign into IngramSpark, give them your book information and upload the new file with the new ISBN.
THIRD (A) – FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAD TO PURCHASE NEW ISBNs AND ARE UPLOADING NEW EDITIONS.
Once you have your new ISBNs and you’ve registered the new edition of your book (yes, if you put a new ISBN on the book it’s a new edition) it is time to upload the new files (interior and cover) both to KDP AND to IngramSpark.
THIRD (B) – FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO GAVE CREATE SPACE or KDP EXTENDED DISTRIBUTION:
Your ISBN is in KDPs IngramSpark account and needs to be released from them before you can proceed to claim the book at IngramSpark.
This is how to get KDP to release your title and allow you to claim it at IngramSpark:
Sign into your KDP account and go to the distribution tab. Uncheck extended distribution to bookstores and libraries. You need to uncheck that button telling KDP that you no longer give them permission to offer your book through their IngramSpark account.
Next, send KDP an email through the customer service contact portal telling them that you have unchecked permission and asking them to release your book from their IngramSpark account.
Next, fill out the form found on THIS page:
http://help.ingramspark.com/hc/en-us/articles/211155403-Title-Transfers
Then email the form and the ISBNs and titles of your books to: ingramsparksupport@ingramcontent.com
Wait for 5 to 7 business days to hear back from KDP and IngramSpark that KDP has released your ISBN from their Ingram Spark account and hear from Ingram Spark that they have accepted your title transfer.
Once you have completed the third steps (A or B), you will confirmation emails letting you know that you are all set. Log into IngramSpark, and you should see your title in your dashboard.
For those that are worried about losing existing Amazon reviews on their KDP listing… once your new edition is up on Amazon, you CAN get your reviews from the old edition up on your new edition. You have to go through your Author Central account and call the author central customer service group. (yes, they still have a phone number!) Just ask them to duplicate the reviews onto your new ISBN edition.
Hope that helps!
D5 Creation
[…] How to Transfer Your Book to Ingram Spark From CreateSpace […]
As stated, I uploaded to CS, published and sold through them for some time. Then, sales began to dwindle. I contacted IS and uploaded my files NUMEROUS times and each and every time they were declined because “fonts not embedded”. I contacted WORD and paid to have them help EMBED the fonts, resubmitted and rec’d the same results. I purchased several times several different editing aids and each and every time my files were declined for the same reason. Only now, do I find I need to ask CS to release the previous ISBNs, could this be the problem? the files Im trying to upload are with an unreleased ISBN and it cannot/will not embed the fonts somehow? I have been YEARS attempting to make this change and on every occasion I have finally given up and hoped someday the light would shine through and I could make the desired move. Do you have ANY offering solution? I have spent, literally THOUSANDS of dollars on purchases of editing aids,WONDERSHARE, WORD, ADOBE, and on and on. I could far moe easily spent the ivestment in a shyster and had this accomplished by now. YES, I have purchased a complete listing of new ISBNs for each form of all three books, but they are of no use fi I cannot achieve upload.
Ray Lee, if the message you’re receiving from I/S is that your fonts aren’t embedded, it’s because I/S needs files saved as a PDF/X-1a. When you save files as a PDF from Word, you get a PDF/A, which doesn’t embed all fonts and isn’t accepted by I/S. The only way I know to save as a PDF/X-1a is with Adobe Pro, which is something like $20 per month.
If you own your ISBNs, you can simply follow the instructions above to have the files transferred from C/S to I/S. This is the easiest way, because C/S will have already embedded all of the fonts for you.
Regarding the ISBNs, if that were the problem, that’s the message you’d get from I/S – they’d tell you your ISBN was already in the I/S catalog (happened to me one time when I didn’t give C/S enough time to remove it before trying to upload to I/S).
There are a number of designers I know who can easily fix the embedded font issue for you. If you want to email me at Amy @ newshelves.com I would be happy to put you in touch with them.
Where I am confused is if I have my OWN ISBN that I previously purchased from Bowker (used 1 for Softcover and 1 for Kindle), used my own Self Publishing LLC, can I just publish (assuming need to upload the PDF files, etc as I did with Createspace) through IngramS and uncheck the “Expanded Distribution” on CreateSpace and be done? Do I still need to fill out any forms or risk the Amazon reviews being lost, etc?
If you are publishing a new book through in Ingram Spark account, should you also publish it through Createspace? Won’t IS make the title available through Amazon? Is there any negative to having IS be the printer for Amazon?
This article has SAVED me and reinvigorated my quest for complete publishing FREEDOM! I so wish I would have had this resource BEFORE I published THREE books with CS. Grateful it was only three. Almost finished with the conversion. Thank you once again.
Gary Westfal,
Best-Selling Author
Publisher
You are NOT signing over your rights. You are giving them permission to sell to Amazon. You can have the SAME FILE and SAME ISBN at CreateSpace AND INgram Spark. Promise.
Excellent! Thank you for the valuable information! I plan on uploading my book and contacting you about getting it into the stores and libraries.
Once you publish on CS with their ISBN, you’re pretty much screwed, right? How about buying an ISBN from Bowker for the same title but setting it up through IS? Possible? Pros and cons?
I won’t judge if you want to sell your book exclusively on Amazon. A createSpace ISBN is fine if you have limited resources and sales goals. BUT, if you want to sell larger quantities and sell outside of Amazon, YES! Buy an ISBN from Bowker and set your book with YOUR ISBN up at Ingram Spark AND CREATESPACE BOTH. Claim and rule your world with your own ISBN!
I bought my own ISBN and signed up with IS. I had asked IS about transferring my book to Amazon because I would make a slightly bigger profit plus, I have no control of my Amazon account (can’t even offer a discount on Amazon); however, they told me that if I were to change distributors, I would HAVE to change my ISBN. This never seemed right to me. And what I’m reading from here is that is NOT the case. Would you mind addressing this?
I have the same comment. Can I just buy a new ibsn, go to ingram and upload the same files with cover, so I can avoid the process with Createspace? In other words I would have the same book in createspace and ingram, but with different isbn. What is your opinion?
I will be telling my authors organization about this in detail. I do well with my books but would like to get into bookstores.
Thank you so much for this article!!!! I have been wondering about this for a long time and tried to find a simple answer to this online, but never could. I realized, after publishing on CS, that I needed to be on IS. I set up the entire account with IS and then they said, “Sign over all your distribution rights from Amazon,” and I panicked. I never could find an answer and so I left it all with Amazon, but continued to wonder how to get the books to bookstores and elsewhere when they wouldn’t go through Amazon. Thanks again so very much!