Self-Publishing in 2025: Amazon KDP, IngramSpark and Wide Distribution

The Platform Landscape

Self-publishing in 2025 means navigating an ecosystem dominated by Amazon but offering alternatives that matter. Understanding where and how to publish affects your visibility, your royalties, and your relationship with readers.

Here’s what you need to know about the major platforms and distribution strategies.

Amazon KDP: The Elephant in the Room

Market Position

Amazon dominates the ebook market with 70-80% market share. For most self-published authors, Amazon generates the vast majority of sales. You can ignore Amazon and publish wide, but you can’t ignore that you’re leaving the biggest market on the table.

KDP Terms

Ebook royalties:

70% for books priced $2.99-$9.99
35% for books outside that range
Delivery fees apply (roughly $0.15 per MB at 70% rate)

Print royalties:

60% of list price minus printing costs
Printing costs vary by page count, trim size, and ink type
A 300-page paperback might cost $4-5 to print

KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited

KDP Select is Amazon’s exclusivity program. If you enroll, your ebook is exclusive to Amazon for 90-day periods but gains access to:

Kindle Unlimited: Subscribers borrow books; authors are paid per page read (roughly $0.004-0.005 per page)
Kindle Countdown Deals: Time-limited price promotions with special visibility
Free book promotions: Up to 5 free days per 90-day period

The trade-off: KU readers are voracious but generate less per-read than sales. Some genres (romance, thriller, sci-fi) thrive in KU; others don’t see enough page reads to justify exclusivity.

KDP Advantages

Massive audience reach
Powerful algorithm for discoverability
Pre-order capabilities
Series page linking
Real-time sales reporting
A+ Content for enhanced product pages

KDP Disadvantages

Exclusivity pressure (for KU benefits)
Algorithm changes can tank visibility overnight
Terms can change without warning
Dependence on single platform is risky long-term

IngramSpark: The Distribution Giant

What It Is

IngramSpark is the self-publishing arm of Ingram, the world’s largest book distributor. Unlike KDP, which focuses on direct-to-consumer sales, IngramSpark gets your books into bookstores, libraries, and retailers worldwide.

Key Features

Wholesale distribution: Books available to 40,000+ retailers globally
Returnability option: Bookstores require return ability to stock shelves
Library distribution: IngramSpark books appear in library catalogs
Print quality: High-quality print options, including hardcover
Global reach: Print facilities worldwide reduce shipping costs

The Economics

Setup: IngramSpark charges $49 per title to set up (often waived during promotions).

Print costs: Generally comparable to KDP, sometimes slightly higher.

Wholesale discount: Retailers expect 50-55% discount off list price. You set the discount—lower means more profit per book but fewer bookstore orders.

Example: $15.99 book, $4.50 print cost, 55% discount. Retailer pays $7.20, you receive $2.70 per book. Not great per-unit, but it’s bookstore access.

When to Use IngramSpark

You want bookstore and library availability
You need hardcover options
International distribution matters
You’re doing events and need wholesale ordering

Going Wide: Multiple Retailer Distribution

The Wide Strategy

“Going wide” means publishing across multiple platforms instead of Amazon-exclusive. Retailers beyond Amazon include:

Apple Books: Strong international presence, especially UK and Australia
Kobo: Dominant in Canada, growing elsewhere
Barnes & Noble Press: Nook readers, though declining market
Google Play Books: Global reach, good for international sales
Libraries: Via OverDrive, hoopla, and other platforms

Aggregators

Rather than upload to each platform separately, aggregators distribute to multiple retailers from a single dashboard:

Draft2Digital: Free to use, takes a percentage of royalties (10-15%). Excellent customer service, easy interface, asset creation tools.

Smashwords: Now merged with Draft2Digital. Previously known for catalog access and library distribution.

PublishDrive: More comprehensive global distribution, subscription pricing model.

StreetLib: Strong European distribution.

Wide Advantages

Reduced Amazon dependence
Access to readers who don’t use Amazon
No exclusivity restrictions
Long-term platform stability

Wide Challenges

Lower total sales for most authors (Amazon’s volume is hard to replace)
More platforms to manage
Less promotional leverage per platform
No Kindle Unlimited page reads

Strategic Considerations

Genre Matters

Romance: KU-dominant; most romance authors stay Amazon-exclusive for KU income.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Strong in both KU and wide markets; test both approaches.

Literary/Upmarket: Often better wide; these readers use libraries and indie bookstores.

Non-fiction: Usually better wide; readers find through search, not browsing.

Series Strategy

Some authors put book one wide (or free/cheap on all platforms) and later books in KDP Select. The first book reaches the widest audience; engaged readers follow to Amazon for the rest.

Testing and Pivoting

KDP Select has 90-day enrollment periods. You can test KU for a quarter, analyze page reads versus lost wide sales, and adjust. Data should drive your decision, not ideology.

The Multi-Platform Author

Many successful indie authors use multiple approaches:

Ebooks on Amazon (possibly KU for some series)
Print through IngramSpark for bookstore access
Direct sales through their website for highest margins
Audio through ACX, Findaway, or direct distribution

This multi-platform approach maximizes reach while hedging against any single platform’s changes.

Getting Started

For your first book:

Start with KDP—it’s free, easy, and where most sales happen
Test KDP Select for 90 days if your genre suits KU
Add IngramSpark if bookstore/library presence matters
Consider going wide later as you learn the market

The platform landscape keeps evolving. New options emerge; terms change; market share shifts. The successful self-published author stays informed, tests strategically, and adjusts based on data rather than assumptions.

Your publishing strategy should serve your goals, not someone else’s ideology about the “right” way to publish. Experiment, measure, and optimize for what actually works for your books.