In a recent YouTube video, Mandy Lynn expresses frustration with IngramSpark’s decision to cut indie authors’ royalty rates. She discusses her own experience with the platform and highlights the impact of the new policy on authors’ earnings. Despite her initial reluctance, she decides to remove her books from distribution with IngramSpark in protest, emphasizing the challenges authors face in maintaining their income amid industry changes.
Lynn provides a breakdown of the email announcement from IngramSpark, explaining the implications of the 40% minimum wholesale discount requirement for authors’ earnings. She critiques the decision and proposes alternative solutions, questioning the fairness of shifting the financial burden onto the authors. Lynn’s video aims to raise awareness about the challenges indie authors encounter in navigating publishing platforms and advocating for their rights in the industry.
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What do you think about IngramSpark forcing authors to change their royalty rates? Let me know in the comments below!
As if Ingram wasn’t making enough in the first place! Terrible!
I feel like we’re going to hear about a lawsuit in ingram sparks future. I just get this sketchy feeling that there’s going to be legal drama with them at some point.
I have yet to jump in bed with them because I keep hearing sketchy stuff.
This makes me glad that I don’t do any business with them.
I personally think the indie community needs to band together and form something that works for indie authors. I know there are indie type associations, but having an indie author friendly place to publish is the ticket
In hardback! That’s what I need for the children’s book I do.
I’m a wide author, but that’s a personal choice.
I am starting from scratch with my novel (change of genre), but playing around with IS’s Publisher Comp Calculator.
For a paperback 5.5×8.5 that has 200 pages – to make $1, the book would have be priced at $8.61 to meet the 40% wholesale discount.
But only $7.36 to make $1 at 30%. A price increase of 14.52%.
I think they have just moved the $49 upload fee from the start to elsewhere in the process (re: 60 days, and wholesale at 40%), rather than removing it entirely – which a newbie would assume.
After 60 days if you have to upload new files or change changes, then you have to pay their fees
I bet you’re right! They redistributed the fee so they wouldn’t lose that money even though from the outside it looks like you don’t have to pay it. ???
I’m curious to know how many more retailers picked up your book due to the 40% discount.
You said you’re making 3,20$ per sale of your book with a 30% discount. But if no retailers pick up your book due to low wholesale discount, then you have no sales.
With a 40% discount you make 1,90$ per sale but more retailers might pick up your book. If you now have 2 sales, you make 3,80$, more than you were making before.
So the question becomes, is the 40% discount worth it?
Everything i read said if you don’t opt for the 55% discount (the maximum) then bookstores won’t take your book. Even though it scales between 30% and 55% effectively the choice is between 55% or not selling your book.
Full side note, whenever I log in to IS, they ask me how likely I am recommend them to other authors. I rate them 0 for their customer service and for their ease of website use.
I do this too, LOL
I had my book set to 14.99 and I was making $1.90 at a 35% discount… I had to raise my book price to $16.99 or make only like 30 cents per book :/
Holy crap.
As a first-time author in the final stages of publishing my first novel, I have to say…this sucks. Thank you for breaking it down for us. I guess the question is, is there an alternative? Does it make sense to switch to Draft2Digital or is their quality not up to the standards at IngramSpark and Amazon? Also, and this is WAY off topic, but I’ve noticed your hair looks AMAZING lately – pregnancy hair is a wonderful thing. Your hair is gorgeous. Take lots of pictures and don’t freak out when it starts falling out by the brush-full when the baby gets here. You’ll be so in love with the baby you mostly won’t care but…we all care a little so have fun with it while you can. Also, my unsolicited mom advice is to read up on baby sleep problems before the baby gets here (just in case) because trying to make sense of it when you’re sleep-deprived is not fun. I learned that the hard way with baby #2 and it’s my favorite advice to give moms-to-be (and dads-to-be, for that matter). Thanks for all the insight, and good luck in the home stretch of pregnancy 🙂
There are aggregare publishers out there that DON’T charge ANYTHING to upload your book, and have HIGHER royalties for Indie authors.
One will even professionally format your book for FREE just for using them as your publisher, then they’ll list it on over a DOZEN of the world’s most popular websites.
I was considering NOT using Ingramspark anyway, but KNOWING THIS, I am now absolutely NEVER GOING TO USE THEM.
Plus, they charge $49 to upload your book, on top of now paying LESS than what they already were.
Draft-2-digital has from what I understand, very good quality print books, but I’ve heard that Barnes & Noble Press is NUMBER #1. For print books that is.
I have never understood the royalty rates. I have always used 55% because I thought that’s what you were supposed to use. I have never been able to make money from my paperbacks even when my books are low. I haven’t gotten paid by Ingramspark for a year now because no one is buying paperbacks. I have only sold 3 paperbacks this year
This was helpful. What are your thoughts on BookBaby?
Also also, this means you have to get new ISBNs for all your books and updated covers with the new codes to reflect higher prices, doesn’t it?
I don’t put the price on my barcodes for this reason
Ooooooh! I thought you had to. Thanks! @Mandi Lynn – Stone Ridge Books
Thanks for the info! This news does suck, not happy with this at all. We really need someone to look out for indie authors more, when a platform forces us into a corner like they are doing its messed up.
YES! You made the video! ?? But I’m sorry you had to. I’m so over IS.
I was totally waiting for some error to pop up on your back end while you were filming this ? would have been so on point
Ingram Spark attributed both of my self-published titles to a Sociology professor, by the same name. Professor John Orr died in 2010.
As someone who’s from the UK, THIS WAS THE FINAL STRAW! I couldn’t update my files because of this stupid update! You were right, this is NOT user friendly!