How to Publish a Book on IngramSpark

What do you need before you start?

1. Your own ISBN for each format (paperback, hardcover, eBook), with you or your imprint named as publisher. IngramSpark does not assign one for you.
2. A print-ready PDF interior and a separate cover PDF sized to your trim, page count and paper.
3. An EPUB file if you also want to distribute an eBook.
4. Your book details: title, description, categories, a retail price and the audience age range if it applies.
5. An account, with your payment and tax details.

Platforms change their menus, formats and terms. Use this guide for the order of the work, and check the platform's own help pages for the current rules before you upload.

How to publish on IngramSpark, step by step

1. Buy or assign your ISBN and set up your imprint name, so the publisher of record is you.
2. Create an account and add the payment and tax information.
3. Create a new title and choose the format, trim size, paper, binding and cover finish. These choices fix the spine width, so settle them before you design the cover.
4. Generate the cover template from your final page count and design the cover to it, with the ISBN barcode in place.
5. Upload the interior and the cover. The platform checks them, and you correct and re-upload anything it flags.
6. Set the price in each market, the wholesale discount you give retailers and whether unsold copies can be returned. These three settings decide whether bookshops will stock the book, so read the platform's guidance before you choose.
7. Order a printed proof, check it page by page, then approve the title for distribution.
8. After approval, the book is listed in the distribution catalogues, and retailers order copies when customers do.

The mistakes that hold an IngramSpark book up

1. Uploading a cover built for a different page count or paper from the final book.
2. An ISBN registered to someone else's name, so the book shows another publisher.
3. A wholesale discount too low for retailers to stock the book, or returns switched off without understanding the effect on bookshop orders.
4. Fonts not embedded in the PDF, which the file check rejects.

IngramSpark or Amazon KDP?

KDP is the simplest route to Amazon. IngramSpark is aimed at wide distribution to bookshops and libraries and asks more of you: your own ISBN, stricter files and pricing decisions. Many authors use both, with one ISBN per format and the same files.

If you want the files prepared and the title set up for you, Harmony can format, design and prepare the book for submission.

Related guides and services

• Harmony vs IngramSpark
• Book formatting services
• Book cover design
• Book trim sizes
• ISBNs for books
• Book printing cost calculator
• Self-publishing packages
• How to self-publish a book (2026)

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• IngramSpark
• Bowker: ISBNs in the United States