Keep the whole pie.
Start your Books.by store and earn $9.60 per book instead of $4.75. Daily payouts. 100-day money-back guarantee.
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IngramSpark distributes your book to 40,000+ retailers. Books.by lets you sell direct to readers. Different tools, different purposes — here's when to use each.
Books.by assumes recommended $5 customer shipping. IngramSpark assumes standard 55% wholesale discount with IngramSpark's published print rates.
IngramSpark is genuinely impressive for what it's designed to do:
Massive retail reach. 40,000+ retailers worldwide. Bookstores, libraries, online retailers — Ingram's distribution network is the backbone of the global book trade.
Library catalog access. If you want your book orderable by libraries, IngramSpark is the standard path. Libraries use Ingram catalogs to stock their shelves.
Bookstore ordering. Independent bookstores can order your book through Ingram just like they order from major publishers. That's legitimacy in the traditional book world.
Professional credibility. Having your book in the Ingram catalog signals to the industry that you're serious. Reviewers, librarians, and bookstore buyers all use Ingram.
For wide distribution into the traditional book supply chain, IngramSpark is the industry standard. Nothing else comes close.
The distribution power comes at a real cost — not just in fees, but in how the entire chain works. Here's the journey of a $19.99 book sold through IngramSpark:
Every link in that chain takes a cut. Here's how the math actually works:
55% wholesale discount. Most retailers require a 55% discount off the list price. On a $19.99 book, that's $11.00 going to the retailer/wholesaler before you see anything. You're left with $9.00.
Print cost. ~$4.98 for a standard 200-page B&W paperback (Ingram's print pricing). That's deducted from your share.
What's left? About $4.75. On a $19.99 book. That's your royalty.
$49 setup fees. Per title. Want to make a revision? Another fee. New edition? Another fee. IngramSpark's pricing page is deliberately confusing. We designed Books.by to be the opposite.
90-day payment terms. Sell a book in January, get paid in April. Maybe. If there aren't returns.
Returns. Bookstores can return unsold copies, and that comes out of your future royalties. You might see a negative royalty statement.
From our team: "Ingram is essential for mass-market bookstore distribution. But it comes at a real cost to authors. Reaching bookstores means sacrificing the majority of your earnings, slow payouts, losing visibility of your customer, and exposing yourself to returns. It serves a purpose, but the industry is moving towards direct-sales for a reason." — Books.by Publishing Team
Books.by eliminates the entire middleman chain. Here's the journey of a $19.99 book sold through Books.by:
That's it. Reader buys from your storefront, the book is printed and shipped, and you keep everything above the print cost.
No wholesale discount. There's no retailer or wholesaler demanding 55% off.
No setup fees. Publish as many titles as you want. Revise as often as you want. One flat annual price.
No returns. Books are printed on demand when ordered. Nothing to return.
Daily payouts. Not 90 days. Not 60 days. The next business day.
Your customer data. You know exactly who bought your book. Build relationships. Email about your next release. Create actual fans, not anonymous transactions.
| Feature | Books.by | IngramSpark |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Type | Direct-to-reader storefront | Print distributor / aggregator |
| Cost | $99/yr flat | $49/title setup + revision fees |
| Royalties | 100% | ~40–55% (after wholesale discount) |
| Payout Speed | Daily | 90 days |
| Customer Data | ✓ Full details | ✗ No customer data at all |
| Retail Distribution | ✗ Direct sales only | ✓ 40,000+ retailers, libraries |
| Custom Storefront | ✓ | ✗ |
| Print-on-Demand | ✓ Built in | ✓ Built in |
| ISBNs | ✓ Free, no restrictions | ✗ BYO required (or $85 each via Bowker) |
| Bookstore Returns | N/A (direct sales) | Yes — returns at your cost |
| Cover Builder | ✓ | ✗ |
| Library Catalog Access | ✗ | ✓ |
Here's what you'd actually earn on a $19.99 paperback (200 pages, B&W, 6"×9") on each platform:
2× more per sale
And you get paid 89 days sooner.
IngramSpark and Books.by serve completely different purposes. Smart authors use both:
IngramSpark → for wide distribution. Get your book into the Ingram catalog so libraries can order it, independent bookstores can stock it, and it shows up on retail sites worldwide. This is your credibility and discoverability layer.
Books.by → for direct sales. Every reader you can reach directly — through your website, social media, email list, events — should buy from your Books.by store. You earn ~4× more per sale and own the customer relationship.
Think of IngramSpark as your distribution network and Books.by as your profit center. IngramSpark gets your book "out there." Books.by makes sure you actually earn from the traffic you create.
The key insight: most of your sales (especially as an independent author) will come from your own marketing efforts. Why route that hard-earned traffic through a chain that takes 80% of the sale price? See Books.by pricing or compare with Amazon KDP.
See exactly what you'd keep on Books.by — no wholesale discounts, no hidden fees.
Estimated Royalty Per Book
Monthly Earnings
Yearly Earnings
Same book on IngramSpark (55% wholesale):
Start your Books.by store and earn $9.60 per book instead of $4.75. Daily payouts. 100-day money-back guarantee.
Start Your Bookstore →