A letter of thanks from Robin Cutler, Director of IngramSpark, as she reflects on five fantastic years  of IngramSpark's publishing service.

Is there anything more thrilling than seeing your finished book for the first time? To stand there admiring that beautiful cover, to breathe in the smell of paper and ink, to feel the surprising heftiness of that book in your hands. Even content that lives only as an ebook is often imagined as it would appear on a tangible device such as an iPad or mobile phone. These visions are powerful and help to spur us on as we undertake the really hard work of spinning the creative impulse into an art form.

As we come to the close of a very busy and productive year, I just wanted to personally thank you for helping us improve what we do at IngramSpark.

Nothing makes me happier than to see an author successfully publish their first book. It is one thing to say you want to publish a book and become a published author but another to actually do it. It takes incredible focus for some to just sit still long enough to put words on a page. Not to mention that natural storytelling is a talent that few possess. There’s a story inside of all of us, but the craft of writing is one that takes discipline and practice to do well. So when someone reaches the point where they have a manuscript ready to publish, it is an accomplishment worth celebrating. Taking that one step further is to turn their publishing skill into a business.

by Robin Cutler, Director of IngramSpark, originally posted on Bookworks
One of the most frequent questions I get from authors I meet at writing conferences is “How do I get my book into libraries?” So I recently posed this same question to my friend and Ingram colleague Joyce Skokut, Director of Library Collection Development who had just returned from the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Orlando. Joyce graciously met with the IngramSpark team to offer some insights and sage advice for indie authors in how best to get their book onto library shelves.

I’ve written and presented many times on the value of using print on demand (POD) as a means to get broad book distribution in bringing your book to the global marketplace while reducing your overall financial risk. This is especially a good path as a new author with a first book where the demand is unknown.