Post-Publishing Author Guide

If your book is published with only Kindle Direct Publishing, we recommend you place the order directly with them by following these instructions: 

• Login to your account.
• On the Bookshelf page, scroll down to your books. There are separate listings for the Kindle and Paperback version.
• Hover over the ellipses to the right of the Paperback listing.
• Click “Request Author Copies.”
• Enter the number you need.
• Select the correct Amazon marketplace (usually Amazon.com unless you are outside of North America). Note – if your market is not shown, then you cannot order directly from them. For example, in Canada, you must order from the US .com site.
• You will be redirected to Amazon.com (or your appropriate site) to complete payment and shipping information. This part of the process is the same as using Amazon as a consumer.

If you’re using IngramSpark, follow these instructions:

• Login to myaccount.ingramspark.com.
• Select “Orders” from the ribbon across the top of the page.
• Then you’ll select “Create New Order” on the far left.
• If you have questions about shipping or delayed orders, you can contact IngramSpark directly using one of the emails listed on this page: www.ingramspark.com/help

• As of now, there is no way to do this directly in the Amazon/KDP system. However, you may purchase Author Copies via KDP in quantities up to 999, and you may resell these yourself.
• IngramSpark does not offer a gift card option – but you can purchase copies at your cost at any time.

Kindle eBook and Paperback

• Login to your account at https://kdp.amazon.com
• Everything you need to know about changing your KDP prices can be found here, in the Help section

IngramSpark

• Login to your account at https://www.ingramspark.com
• From the dashboard, click your book title
• Scroll down to Market Pricing and click the edit button
• In the Effective Date dropdown, select the date you would like the price change to go into effect
• Change the prices, discounts, and returnable options as you like. Price changes are scheduled and effective the first day of each month. (Changes should be submitted at least a week before the scheduled update.)
• Click Submit

Kindle eBook and Paperback

• Login to your account at https://kdp.amazon.com
• Everything you need to know about changing your KDP categories can be found here, in the Help section
• Note: If you want to add your book to a category that is not available for selection, you can login to your account at Author Central and contact support with a request for your book to be added to that category.

IngramSpark

• Login to your account at https://www.ingramspark.com
• From the dashboard, click your book title
• Scroll down to Categorize Your Book and click the edit button
• Change the Subjects as you like
• Scroll down if necessary to click Save

Login to your account at https://authorcentral.amazon.com

• To update your bio:
  • Everything you need to know is here, in the Help section
• To update your photos:
  • Everything you need to know is here, in the Help section

• The final publishing and source files for your book are your property, and it’s important to keep them in case you need to update your book in the future.
• The final publishing files are your book covers and interiors for the different editions of your book. These are the files ending in PDF, JPG, MOBI, etc., and aren’t intended to be edited.
• The source files are the editable files used to create your publishing files. These are the files ending PSD, INDD, AI, etc.

• If you ever need to make edits to your book files, please contact your PM to ensure the edits are made properly.

In Kindle Direct Publishing:

• Login in to your KDP Dashboard (not Author Central)
• Click Reports in the top menu bar
• The default view of this chart is all marketplaces and both Kindle and Print – shown as a bar chart.
• You can select the drop down menus to filter the information
• If you scroll down on this main page, you will see the Royalties owed in dollars

IngramSpark:

• Login to your account https://www.ingramspark.com
• Click Reports in the top menu bar
• Date range – Select a date range
• Operating unit – Select a region – usually LS US
• Currency – Select a currency – usually US Dollar
• Compensation type – Select only POD
• Optional Filter – no need to add anything here unless you have more than one title
• Select your delivery option – on screen or email
• Click Submit

• You can always email your Publishing Manager directly and ask for help.
• If you have problems with your KDP account or Amazon in general:
  • Login to your account at https://authorcentral.amazon.com
  • Click Help
  • Click Contact Us
  • Make a selection from the menu to define the issue and choose email or phone to specify how you’d like customer support to contact you
• If you have problems with your IngramSpark account, author copies, or general printing issues:
  • Login to your account at https://www.ingramspark.com
  • In the header, click Contact Us
  • Use the listed phone numbers or emails to contact support

The distribution channels we use make your book available for almost any bookstore and retailers to order if someone walks into the store and requests it. Of course, that’s not the same thing as having the bookstore stock your book on the shelves.

A book sitting on a shelf doesn’t sell in most cases. In terms of buyer-behavior, most people who shop at Barnes & Noble also shop on Amazon, so if they don’t see a book at Barnes & Noble they’ll just go on Amazon. In other words, lack of bookstore distribution in and of itself doesn’t necessarily lose you very many sales.

The reality is, for almost all authors, being in a bookstore is purely about ego, and not about actual ROI. We don’t deny that going into a bookstore and seeing your book on the shelf is nice, but having a book in a bookstore does almost nothing in terms of sales or awareness.

Getting a book onto store shelves is very difficult. This is because bookstores carry very few books and reserve their limited space for established authors or books from publishers who are paying for shelf space.

Our advice: write a book that is so good it demands attention from booksellers so they ask you if they can sell your book.

We’ve written a long piece about how to decide whether or not to use a traditional publisher. It boils down to the fact that there are only a limited spectrum of people for whom traditional publishing still makes sense, and for everyone else, they should use some form of professional self-publishing (like us).

Let us know! We’d love to hear it!