Find out how IngramSpark is being viewed by many people. Is IngramSpark considered a vanity publisher or vanity platform? If you are still curious about it, then read below.
So first, we will just take a look at where exactly to start. Is IngramSpark a vanity publisher or vanity platform? This is an excellent question.
The main reason I'm guessing that you are asking this question is that whether something is a vanity self-published matters a lot for you. There is this perception that if you do it yourself, then, of course, the quality of the book would be lower. It doesn't mean anything.
This is one of the common reasons people don't self-publish. They say unless some gatekeeper approves of your thing and accepted it as quality work. Well then, it must just be low quality.
That brings you to think maybe IngramSpark would also be viewed as opposed to it being viewed as an actual major publishing house. But Is IngramSpark considered a vanity publisher or vanity platform?
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Let's start with my own story when I first started publishing. I realized I didn't know anything about publishing. I wasn't maybe even built to be an author.
I had some ideas that I wanted to get out into the world. And so I knew self-publishing would probably be the right choice at the same time.
Check out this related article: After Self-Publishing What Is The Best Way To Market A Publication For Free?
When you were looking at the Kindle Gold Rush, lots of people were publishing books at that time. There are tons of people who are buying books as well which is continued to this day. As I started getting deeper into it, I realized something.
Suddenly, there was this issue between should I publish a book myself or should I only go for one of the others? In which case it would matter.
I mean obviously, if people viewed it lesser when you self-published then maybe the correct choice for you is to go to a different publishing house.
A Vanity Publisher Indeed
Let us go not to find somebody who actually approved of it. I went with Amazon and also did Lulu and later on IngramSpark. We'll get a little bit into that. For me, though it didn't make a difference.
So Is IngramSpark considered a vanity publisher or vanity platform? The answer is yes, IngramSpark would be considered a vanity publisher and not a vanity platform.
It is very simple to explain why because there are no gatekeepers. If you pay this simple fee they will put whatever book that you have written. Assuming it meets their quality standards.
It is not a copy, it is not violating copyright or somebody else's work. Then the book would be able to go and be published to their distribution channels. But does it matter?
No, it doesn't matter. Most people when they hear you have published a book, the first question they ask is "which publishing house was it?". Most people would just say "wow that's amazing".
So the value of self-publishing the book is still there. That is also a very important point to keep in mind. If you are doing it through IngramSpark, some additional barriers make it harder for some people to do it.
One of them is that you will use your ISBN which will cost you if you only bought one for $150. But it drops in price depending upon which country you live in. It can be even as cheap as free.
Check out this related article: Where To Get An ISBN Number?
I know Canada and Norway have it for free. So if you pay $50, you also have to pay $50, in addition, to getting them to check the book. So that would mean it could cost you as much as $200 just to publish through Ingram Spark.
No One Will Do Quality Checking
This could give a little bit of credibility. In comparison to Amazon where you pay almost nothing. Or Lulu where for hardback covered books they charge you just for the print, maybe $20 for the book but otherwise you don't have to pay anything else.
Price-wise it is a little pricier but it goes through different distribution channels. Your book will end up on Amazon as well. However, there are no editors that are looking through your document.
No gatekeepers that are checking to see if, oh is this a good book? Should people read this? They don't really care about that.
They only care that the book is of a quality standard that they can stand behind. They are willing to let it go so most books would make it through their checks. As long as it's formatted correctly and the pricing and everything along those lines is done reasonably.
Check out this related article: How Long Should Your Self-Published Book Be?
My question for you is, what have you found? Is whether something vanity publishing does that make a difference for you? Does that play a role?
When you think of IngramSpark, does it seem like, oh that's a cheaper or lower quality? Or in reality, do people not even know what IngramSpark is? Is IngramSpark considered a vanity publisher or vanity platform?
So they would just assume and with your ISBN you are using, it would just be your own publishing company. Even a person holding your book wouldn't even know you went through Ingram Spark.
Yes, as opposed to it if you have done it through Kindle or Amazon then they would see their name unless you use your ISBN. Do you face any of these issues? Leave your comments below.