To Ebook Or Not To Ebook

Publishing an ebook is a great way to make your work available to a whole new market of readers! You may be wondering if your book will only work as an ebook or if it can also be a print book. What type of books should or should not be an ebook? Except for a few niche genres, anything that can be a print book can be an ebook as well! All different genres and book types, from cookbooks to poetry, memoirs to illustrated children’s books, can all become ebooks accessible on multiple smart devices.

What is Kindle Direct Publishing? 

In the world of self-publishing, Kindle Direct Publishing is undoubtedly a well-known name. Kindle Direct Publishing or KDP for short, is Amazon’s platform for self-publishing ebooks, paperback, and hardcover books. When deciding to self-publish your ebook, you probably thought of KDP as the go-to platform. If you have used KDP, then you are aware of the process of creating an account, uploading your book, book cover, and the book’s description to create a book that is ready for sale. It is a fairly straightforward process that has worked for many authors.

Updated January 29, 2024

Getting your ebook into the world is a smooth process with IngramSpark. Whether you've already published a print book through IngramSpark or are ready to start your self-publishing journey, there are only six steps for your ebook to go from your computer to the rest of the world!

Whether it’s on a small phone screen or a large desktop, your ebook cover needs to grab attention and pique the reader’s interest. While the print cover and ebook cover are usually the same, the design approach is different for each. For the print cover, there are numerous factors to consider, such as paper type and texture, colors, embossed or debossed lettering, the spine, and back cover design. The ebook cover design doesn’t have those concerns but must still communicate effectively and attract the reader.

Who Sells Your Ebook?

There is a great sense of pride in seeing your book for sale at a bookstore. You can touch your book, you can take pictures of it, and persuade your friends to come and see your book in person. It can be an adjustment to feel that same level of excitement when your ebook is for sale on a website. Sending your friends a link is not quite the same as having them stand in front of your book on the shelf. Yet we cannot deny that our society continues to increase its activity and engagement in the digital world. So who are the distributors in this digital world, and how are they going to sell your ebook? IngramSpark is in partnership with over 40 ebook sellers and subscription services. When you create your ebook through IngramSpark those 40-plus distributors can sell your ebook to readers all over the world. There are too many to discuss all of them in one blog, so let’s focus on the top subscription services and the top online stores that will sell your ebook.

Determining the price of your ebook is a similar process to choosing a price for your print book; with a few key differences. Perhaps you've already priced your print book, and it’s currently being sold, or you may be just starting on your self-publishing journey and want to find the right price for your ebook and your print book. Whichever position you’re in, you need to know how to price your book and what strategies align with your goals. Self-published authors must approach ebook pricing strategically. It affects everything from discoverability and competitiveness to perceived value and earnings.

When considering converting your book into an ebook, there are multiple benefits. Readers get instant access to ebooks, and distributors don’t have to bother with supply chain delays. The most rewarding advantage is that authors can receive higher compensation. Knowing the different ways in which your ebook can be sold is crucial to understanding how this compensation is achieved.

We offer three main sales models to maximize your ebook distribution and profits: Retail, Library, and Institutional. Here, we'll dive into the methods and advantages of each model and discover how to increase your ebook’s readership and earnings.

Updated July 3, 2025

As a self-published author, converting your print book to an ebook is one of the smartest moves you can make to increase visibility, access a global audience, and maximize sales opportunities. Reach readers how they like to read by offering your book in more than one format! With digital formats, readers can instantly access your work on their preferred devices, and distributing your ebook to major online retailers and libraries has never been easier. 

Updated July 17, 2025

One of the things that stands in the way of many writers' ability to self-publish is book design. Finding and hiring a book cover designer, formatting the interior, uploading your files to IngramSpark—it can all seem a bit daunting. Not to worry—that's where IngramSpark's FREE book-building tool comes in! 

When you embark on the journey of getting a book published, there’s a lot to consider and one of the things that should be on your priority list is how much you’ll be pricing your book for, which is a crucial piece of your book metadata. The editors of traditional publishing houses must fill out a profit and loss spreadsheet (P&L) before they can even acquire a book, let alone publish a book. The P&L accounts for decisions they’ll need to make in order to turn a profit on the book they hope to add to their list. So one of the best places to start when determining the profit goals of your book publishing endeavors is to seriously consider how you'll be pricing your book.