Book Distribution Demystified

Your Book Is In There
Your Book Is In There
Book Distribution Demystified
Loading
/

Book distribution can feel like a maze once you decide to go wide — and in this episode, Inger Johnson maps out exactly how it works. She breaks down the two biggest distributors, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital, covering pricing, royalties, pros and cons, and the hybrid strategy most successful indie authors are using in 2026. Drawing from her own experience preparing to launch her novel Veiled Halos, Inger shares real numbers, common pitfalls, and a clear action plan to get your book into readers’ hands — on every platform.

Show Notes

  • 0:00 – Introduction: tackling book distribution
  • 0:40 – What “going wide” means and why distribution matters
  • 1:24 – Meet the distributors: IngramSpark and Draft2Digital
  • 4:09 – What aggregators actually do
  • 4:38 – Entering the “book distribution maze”
  • 4:38 – Why go wide: discoverability, library access, resilience
  • 4:38 – Ingram vs. D2D: the basic difference
  • 4:38 – IngramSpark deep dive: setup, account, and free revisions
  • 5:58 – The CMYK cover requirement (a maze dead end)
  • 7:27 – Setting your list price and using AI to calculate profit
  • 7:55 – Real royalty math example with Veiled Halos
  • 9:41 – Ingram’s reach: 40,000+ retailers and libraries
  • 9:44 – Pros and cons of using Ingram
  • 10:12 – Important: disable KDP’s expanded distribution
  • 10:38 – Making your book returnable
  • 11:26 – Manticore vs. Minotaur correction (and a fun tangent)
  • 12:35 – Into the D2D wing: e-book aggregation explained
  • 13:14 – D2D’s free tools and Books2Read universal links
  • 13:44 – D2D fees: activation and maintenance costs
  • 14:20 – D2D royalties and effective retailer rates
  • 14:46 – International sales and the W-8BEN form
  • 15:34 – Rule: don’t double-distribute the same format/retailer
  • 15:34 – Pros and cons of D2D
  • 16:32 – Recap: Ingram vs. D2D strengths
  • 16:53 – The 3-part wide distribution strategy (KDP + Ingram + D2D)
  • 18:03 – Using one ISBN per format
  • 18:24 – Myth-busting: aggregators don’t market for you
  • 18:24 – Myth-busting: higher wholesale discount ≠ automatically better
  • 19:11 – Action steps: create accounts, use calculators, use free tools
  • 20:00 – Optimizing metadata and subcategories
  • 20:41 – Wrap-up and listener Q&A invitation
  • 21:23 – Next week’s topic: metadata and discoverability
  • 21:51 – Sign-off

Resources Mentioned

Find more tools, warnings, and honest guidance on the Resources page.

Enjoying the show? Meet Inger’s novels, or join the conversation on Facebook.