My First Time Using Ingram Spark for Preorders
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Let me take a moment to air a grievance: Amazon, the largest bookseller on the planet, doesn’t have a system for paperback preorders. None whatsoever. WTAH? I used to have a hack for this, but sadly, since CreateSpace went away and we’re stuck with KDP Print now, that no longer works. We could talk about the pros and cons of Amazon all day—believe me, I get it—but in the end, Amazon is still one of the biggest players, and they do provide a great channel for authors to get their books out into the world. Amazon isn’t the focus of my post today, but their baffling lack of a paperback preorder option is what prompted this latest experiment of mine.
Y’all know I love a good experiment. I need to press all the buttons to see what they do!!!
Ingram Spark, I would argue, is an equally good platform—[whispering] possibly even better 🤭—and they do have a preorder system set up for paperbacks. There are some drawbacks, though…
1) The system is more complex to use. See this blog entry I wrote about converting to IS for more information.
2) It’s not free. That’s why so many people like Amazon (besides the fact that they’re such a big player), because they don’t charge for using their distribution services. I personally think authors do themselves a disservice by using Amazon’s “free” ISBN number for their paperbacks because you can’t use that “free” ISBN anywhere but Amazon. The cost is limiting yourself. Bookstores don’t want to order from Amazon because it’s a massive competitor. Ingram is massive too, though. They’re the sixth largest book distributor in the world. Possibly bigger now that Baker and Taylor have left the retail space. And, dare I say it, your book’s ISBN shouldn’t be free^. Your books should be an investment, and the ISBN is a huge piece of it. It’s how anyone in the world can find your book, so don’t sell yourself short.
^If you live here in the US, Bowker is the company from whom you’ll buy your ISBN. You get a discount if you go through either Amazon or Ingram Spark, so I recommend doing that.
Right, so those qualifiers out of the way, let’s talk about the process for preorders in good ol’ IS. And I mean that, I really like Ingram Spark as a company. That being said, no one is perfect. Mistakes were made, and my process suffered a little for it. Mistakes can be excellent teachers, though, and I will happily pass what I learned onto you all.
So the setup process is actually really similar to the process as explained in the aforementioned blog entry. The biggest difference is the dates. Specifically, the Publication Date and the On-Sale Date. Aaaaaaaand here’s where things went squirrely. Here are the definitions for those two terms according to IS’ own blog:
“On-Sale Date: The date to determine when a book may be sold by retail partners.
“Publication Date: “The date on which a retail consumer or library may take possession of a product.“
Um, great, but what does that actually mean? Because that’s not entirely clear, when I was getting ready to put Across the Ice up for preorder, I contacted Ingram Spark’s customer service team via their chat—I prefer the chat because I get a transcript emailed to me after the fact, which I can refer back to.
Long story short, the first time I contacted support, I was told the Publication Date is the first day preorders can be placed and that the On-Sale Date was the day that members of the public can actually get their hands on said book. Fast-forward to a few weeks later and I noticed my listing looked wonky on Amazon. Cue another chat with IS support. This time I was told that they recommend the On-Sale Date and the Publication Date be set to the same date—that is, the book’s release date. To Ingram Spark’s credit, they were very apologetic about me being misinformed, and I’m not upset about it. These things happen; we’re all human.
Besides, it turns out there was a better guide out there all along. I should have thought to reference IS’ (extremely detailed) User Guide^^, and I highly recommend you do too if you ever use Ingram Spark. You can find that under the Help section in your account.
^^Can we all talk about how much I love a well-written technical manual? If you’re a reading this blog entry, you probably already figured that out. Plus, writing technical manuals was part of my job in a past life, so I know what goes into a good one. Anywaze…
So do you know what I learned when I actually cracked open the User Guide? Oh look! Highly detailed definitions of the very dates in question. Nice going, Dana 😑.
“PUBLICATION DATE: This is the official release date of your book, when you plan to promote and market your book. The Publication date can also be the date that you plan to make the book available for purchase to bookstores, libraries and online retailers, by using the same date for the on sale date. If the On Sale Date field is left blank, the publication and On Sale Date will be the same. Be sure to make this date far enough in the future so that you will have time to order a bound proof, apply any revisions that arise from the proofing process, and have your first print run produced at least a month before your publication date. Unexpected delays can occur and allowing a cushion of extra time will be your best friend.
ON SALE DATE: The On-Sale Date is the date that you wish to release a title to be printed and delivered. However, our distribution partners’ systems are not all capable of recognizing or managing an on-sale date (for preorders) that is different from the publication date. This can cause availability status issues on some websites. Because of this we suggest making the on-sale date and publication date the same.
If the On-Sale Date is left blank, the Publication Date will be used as the On-Sale Date.
At least 10 days before the On-Sale Date has been reached, Lightning Source, the printer for Ingram Spark, will start routing the orders to print and Ingram will begin to fulfill those orders, to ensure that the books arrive to the bookstores and our distribution partners, by the specified On-Sale Date. Although it is not advisable, you can change the On-Sale Date while a title is in production and if orders have already begun routing for printing we will not be able to stop or cancel them. This is also true for uploading revised files of the book. We cannot process revised files if there are orders being printed for the book. Once those orders have finished printing and there are no other orders waiting to be printed, we can then process the revised files.” ~Ingram Spark's User Guide (V. 4), page 17
So that’s the biggest hurdle I faced while doing my preorder setup. I mentioned before that mistakes can be excellent teachers, and I learned a lot from this experience. I’ll know better for the next one, and I will be using Ingram Spark again, despite the aforementioned kerfuffles. That’s how much I like them as a company. Plus, again, They weren’t the only ones who made mistakes. We’re all human.
Thanks for reading!
Related Entries: Using IngramSpark: My Experience and Mistakes.
Next Time’s Entry: Should You Go the Traditional or Self-Publishing Route?
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Dana Fraedrich / www.wordsbydana.com participates in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, Audible.com, and others. This page contains affiliate links.
