Use Amazon KDP to sell on Amazon and IngramSpark to reach Australian bookshops, libraries and every other retailer. Buy your own ISBNs, put the same paperback ISBN on both platforms, and leave KDP Expanded Distribution switched off so the two don't clash. If you only ever want to sell on Amazon, KDP alone is enough.
Most comparisons of IngramSpark vs KDP are written for American authors. They skip the parts that matter here: where your book is actually printed when someone in Brisbane orders it, which wholesalers Australian bookshops buy from, and what happens to your ISBN if you take the free one. This guide covers the Australian side, with every platform claim checked against KDP's and IngramSpark's own pages in October 2026.
The Quick Difference
Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon's own self-publishing platform. It prints paperbacks and hardcovers on demand and publishes Kindle ebooks, and its job is to sell your book on Amazon.
IngramSpark is the self-publishing arm of Ingram, one of the world's largest book wholesalers. It prints on demand too, but its real value is distribution: it lists your book with the wholesalers, online retailers and library suppliers that bookshops and libraries order through.
So the real question is which job you need done. Often the answer is both.
IngramSpark vs KDP Australia: Side By Side
| Amazon KDP | IngramSpark | |
|---|---|---|
| Printed in Australia | Paperbacks for Amazon.com.au are printed at Amazon's Western Sydney fulfilment centre | Ingram has its own print facility in Melbourne, expanded in 2020 |
| Hardcovers on Amazon.com.au | Amazon.com.au isn't a primary hardcover marketplace; a hardcover only appears there if it's available on Amazon.com | Hardcovers can be distributed to Australian retailers like any other edition |
| Where it sells | Amazon stores, plus optional Expanded Distribution through US and UK distributors | Online retailers, wholesalers and library suppliers worldwide, including Amazon AU, Booktopia, Fishpond and The Nile |
| Library reach in Australia | Indirect at best | Lists Australian library suppliers James Bennett, ALS and Peter Pal as partners |
| Wholesale discount | Set by KDP | You choose it |
| Returns | Terms set by KDP, not you | You choose non-returnable, or returnable with returned copies destroyed or delivered |
| ISBN | Free KDP ISBN (KDP-only) or your own | Free ISBNs are US-only, so Australians bring their own from Thorpe-Bowker |
| Print files | PDF interior (or Word and others if there's no bleed); cover as one continuous image or via Cover Creator | Separate PDF interior and cover, cover built on IngramSpark's template, CMYK at 300ppi |
| Ebooks | Kindle only; accepts DOCX, EPUB and KPF | EPUB to Apple Books, Kobo and other stores |
| Author copies in Australia | Proofs and author copies can be ordered from Amazon.com.au | Printed and shipped through Ingram |
Where Each Platform Prints For Australian Readers
Overseas guides miss this. If you're comparing print on demand Australia options, both platforms print here, which changes how fast a reader or a shop gets the book.
Amazon KDP Australia
Amazon opened its first Australian print-on-demand facility in May 2021, at its Western Sydney fulfilment centre. It prints paperbacks when an Amazon.com.au customer orders one. KDP's own help pages also confirm that you can order proof and author copies from Amazon.com.au. Note that KDP sets separate printing costs for each marketplace, and Amazon adds GST to the list price you enter for Australian sales, so check your Australian list price on its own rather than converting from US dollars.
Hardcovers are different. KDP doesn't list Amazon.com.au as a primary hardcover marketplace. To get a KDP hardcover onto Amazon.com.au, it has to be available on Amazon.com. If a hardcover edition matters to you, say for a picture book, a cookbook or a family history, that's a strong reason to look at IngramSpark.
IngramSpark Australia
IngramSpark says Ingram has its own office and print facility in Australia, with an expansion in 2020 to keep up with regional demand. The facility is in Melbourne. When an Australian retailer or library supplier orders your book, it can be printed here and sent on, rather than flown in. For a bookshop in Hobart filling a customer order, local printing means the book doesn't have to come from overseas first.
Retail And Library Reach: IngramSpark vs KDP For Bookshops
Australian bookshops don't buy stock from Amazon. They buy from wholesalers and distributors, and libraries buy through library suppliers. That's the heart of the IngramSpark vs KDP for bookshops question.
IngramSpark's partner list for Australia and New Zealand names Amazon AU, Booktopia, Fishpond and The Nile on the retail side, and James Bennett, ALS and Peter Pal, which are library suppliers. Being listed doesn't mean a shop or library will order your book. It means they can, through systems they already use.
KDP's reach is Amazon. That's a big reach, and for plenty of genres it's where most sales happen. KDP Expanded Distribution is its add-on for everything outside Amazon, and it's worth understanding before you tick the box.
What KDP Expanded Distribution actually does
KDP says Expanded Distribution makes your paperback available to large distributors, handled in the US and UK, so bookstores, libraries and academic institutions can order it. It's free to enrol. But the fine print matters for Australians:
- The paperback must be available on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
- Hardcovers aren't eligible.
- The ISBN must not have been submitted for distribution through another service.
- KDP doesn't guarantee acceptance by distributors or orders from any bookseller or library, and it can't tell you who bought your book.
That third point is the one that trips people up. Switch on Expanded Distribution and you can't also list that ISBN through IngramSpark. You also hand control of the discount and returns terms to KDP, which brings us to the two concepts bookshops care about most.
Want Files That Pass Both Platforms First Time? We typeset interiors and build full cover wraps to KDP and IngramSpark specifications, and we can set up your ISBNs in your own name. Tell us about your book for a fixed quote. Get a fixed quote or call +61 8 7111 2944.
Wholesale Discount And Returns, Explained Simply
The wholesale discount is the reduction off your list price that a retailer gets when it buys your book. The retailer's margin comes out of that discount, and the printing cost comes out of what's left before you're paid. A bigger discount makes your book more attractive to a shop and leaves less for you. With IngramSpark you set the discount yourself. The IngramSpark wholesale discount you pick is one of the main levers in pricing a book for shops, so think it through before you upload.
Returns are the other lever. Australian bookshops, like bookshops everywhere, are used to sending unsold stock back. IngramSpark returns come in three settings: non-returnable, returnable with copies destroyed, or returnable with copies delivered back to you (IngramSpark lists that last one as a US-market option). IngramSpark's own blog says many booksellers pass over non-returnable titles as a rule. The trade-off is risk. If a shop sends a copy back, you're charged back the wholesale price, so a returned copy can wipe out what you earned on it.
What moves your earnings per copy: page count, trim size, colour or black-and-white interior, paperback or hardcover, the discount you choose and whether you accept returns. Both platforms publish their current print charges and terms on their own sites, and they change from time to time, so check there before you set a price.
File Requirements: Same Book, Slightly Different Files
You can use one set of print files for both platforms if they're built to the stricter standard. Here's where the two differ.
KDP accepts a PDF interior, and if your book has no bleed it will also take Word, RTF, HTML or text files and convert them. Covers are uploaded as one continuous image spanning back, spine and front, or made in KDP's Cover Creator. For ebooks, KDP accepts DOCX, EPUB and KPF (from Kindle Create).
IngramSpark file requirements are tighter. The interior and cover must be separate PDFs, with fonts embedded and no printer marks. The cover is built on IngramSpark's own template, which works out the spine width from your page count and paper, and should be CMYK at 300ppi. Both platforms ask for a bleed of about 3mm on covers and on interiors with full-page images. IngramSpark ebooks must be a valid EPUB.
In practice, a professionally typeset PDF and a full-wrap cover built to IngramSpark's template will usually pass KDP too, as long as the trim size and page count match. That matters because the same ISBN on both platforms needs to be the same book. Our formatting service sets interiors to both platforms' specifications, and our cover designers build the full wrap, spine and barcode to your printer's spec.
ISBN Ownership: The Decision You Can't Easily Undo
The KDP free ISBN looks like a saving. KDP's help pages are clear about the limits: free KDP ISBNs can only be used on KDP, and the imprint shows as "Independently published". IngramSpark's help centre adds that if you published with a free KDP ISBN, KDP is listed as the publisher, so you can't go wide with that edition until you buy your own ISBNs.
IngramSpark only offers free ISBNs in the US. In Australia, you buy from Thorpe-Bowker, the official agency, which IngramSpark itself points to. Each format (paperback, hardcover, ebook) needs its own number. If you own the ISBN, you're the publisher of record, and you can move the book between printers whenever you like. Our guide on how to get an ISBN in Australia walks through the steps.
How To Use Both IngramSpark And KDP
This is the setup most Australian self-publishers settle on, and it's the one we'd suggest for anyone who wants bookshop or library sales as well as Amazon. Here's how to use both IngramSpark and KDP without the two tripping over each other.
- Buy your own ISBNs from Thorpe-Bowker, in your name or your imprint's.
- Prepare one set of print files to IngramSpark's spec, with the trim size, paper and page count identical across both platforms.
- Upload the paperback to KDP with your own ISBN, and leave Expanded Distribution switched off. This is how you sell paperbacks on Amazon Australia with local printing.
- Upload the same paperback ISBN to IngramSpark, set your Australian price, wholesale discount and returns setting, and switch on distribution. Add a hardcover here if you want one, with its own ISBN.
- Publish your Kindle ebook directly on KDP. IngramSpark won't supply an ebook to Kindle if it has been provided to Amazon for Kindle in the past 12 months, so direct is simpler.
- Order proofs from both and check them side by side before launch.
Already published with Expanded Distribution switched on? IngramSpark's help centre says to remove the book from Expanded Distribution first, then request a title transfer, which both you and KDP need to approve and which can take up to 30 days. If you used a free KDP ISBN, you'll need a new ISBN and a new edition instead.
KDP Select vs Wide For Your Ebook
Print isn't the only fork in the road. KDP Select vs wide is the ebook version of the same choice.
KDP Select is free, runs in 90-day terms, and commits the digital edition of your book to Amazon exclusively. In return, your ebook joins Amazon's subscription reading service, Kindle Unlimited (KDP's pages now call it Kindle+). KDP is explicit that you can keep distributing the book in physical format, so Select doesn't stop the IngramSpark paperback.
Going wide means selling the ebook on Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play and the library ebook platforms as well. Fast-release genre series often do well in Select. Authors who want library loans, readers on Apple and Kobo, or a book that sits outside Amazon tend to go wide. You can trial Select for one term and leave at the end of it.
So Which Should You Choose?
| Your situation | Best fit |
|---|---|
| You'll only sell online and most readers are on Amazon | KDP alone, with your own ISBN in case you change your mind |
| You want the book in Australian bookshops or libraries | Both: KDP for Amazon, IngramSpark for everyone else |
| You need a hardcover for Australian buyers | IngramSpark for the hardcover |
| You'll do launch events, school visits or local stockists | Both, with IngramSpark returns and discount set for shops |
| It's a private family history you won't sell through the trade | Neither may be needed; a short local print run can work |
If bookshops and libraries are part of the plan, read our guide to getting your book into Australian bookshops and libraries.
Want Someone To Set It Up For You?
Self-publishing on Amazon Australia and through Ingram isn't hard, but it is fiddly, and small mismatches (a page count off by two, an ISBN on the wrong edition) cause rejections and delays. Through our book publishing service, we set up ISBNs, barcodes and metadata for every edition, registered in your name, and list the book with the retailers and wholesalers bookshops and libraries order through. You keep your copyright and 100% of your royalties.
What it costs depends on your manuscript's length, the formats you want (paperback, hardcover, ebook, audio), whether it needs editing or illustration, and how soon you need it. Get in touch with the details and we'll send a fixed, itemised quote.
IngramSpark And KDP Questions
Is IngramSpark or KDP better for Australian authors?
Neither wins outright. KDP is the simplest way to sell paperbacks and Kindle ebooks on Amazon, and its Australian paperbacks are printed in Western Sydney. IngramSpark reaches the wholesalers and library suppliers that Australian bookshops and libraries order from, and it handles hardcovers. Most authors who want both Amazon sales and shop or library sales use the two together.
Can I use the same ISBN on KDP and IngramSpark?
Yes, if you bought the ISBN yourself from Thorpe-Bowker and the edition is identical on both platforms. The catch is KDP Expanded Distribution: KDP says the ISBN must not have been submitted for distribution through another service, so leave Expanded Distribution switched off. A free KDP ISBN can only be used on KDP, so it can't go to IngramSpark at all.
Should I switch on KDP Expanded Distribution?
Not if you're also using IngramSpark. Expanded Distribution sends your paperback to US and UK distributors, and it conflicts with listing the same ISBN through IngramSpark. If your book is already enrolled and you want to move to IngramSpark, remove it from Expanded Distribution first, then ask IngramSpark about a title transfer.
Does IngramSpark print books in Australia?
Yes. IngramSpark says Ingram has its own office and print facility in Australia, expanded in 2020, and it is based in Melbourne. Orders from Australian retailers and library suppliers can be printed locally rather than shipped from overseas, which matters for delivery times and for shops that need stock quickly.
Should my ebook go in KDP Select or go wide?
KDP Select makes your ebook exclusive to Amazon for each 90-day term and puts it in Amazon's reading subscription. Going wide means selling it on Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play and library platforms too. Select can suit fast-moving genre fiction. Wide suits authors who want library loans and readers outside Amazon. Your print books aren't affected either way.
Want Files That Pass Both Platforms First Time? We typeset interiors and build full cover wraps to KDP and IngramSpark specifications, and we can set up your ISBNs in your own name. Tell us about your book for a fixed quote. Get a fixed quote or call +61 8 7111 2944.
Related: How to get an ISBN in Australia · Getting into Australian bookshops and libraries · Formatting for KDP and IngramSpark · Book publishing services · Cover design with print wrap and barcode