Comments on: Amazon Out of Stock Issues and the Pros and Cons of Publishing with KDP and IngramSpark https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/ Nonfiction Authors & Writers Group Membership Community Wed, 05 Apr 2023 21:21:59 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bonnie Kreitler https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-76844 Sat, 05 Nov 2022 19:03:58 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-76844 THANK YOU to Stephanie and all who have commented. Clarified much that’s been confusing me.

]]> By: Kermit https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-71436 Mon, 03 Jan 2022 02:37:51 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-71436 In reply to rochelle garfield.

Hi Rochelle, your guess is likely the reason! Amazon’s algorithms will pre-order stock books to buffer against sales. The more consistent your sales, the more consistent their stock. Sometimes you’ll start to see “only 12 left in stock” which is really just in the warehouse.

]]> By: rochelle garfield https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-59572 Mon, 30 Nov 2020 21:43:32 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-59572 I have a weird situation that I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced. I used IngramSpark. I was selling about 50 books a month for the first five months my book was published. Then, since August, IngramSpark is telling I haven’t sold one book. However, I know that Amazon has consistently sold books in the past few months. I don’t have an exact number, but I’m guessing it was around 70 (maybe more). Does this mean Amazon pre-ordered these books from IngramSpark and are just selling what they already have? Or is something wrong? I tried to contact IngramSpark to ask if they can send me the data that shows how many books they sold to Amazon and when they were sold, but they said they can’t give me that data. Is there anything I can do to verify this information? I hope my question is understandable. Thanks to anyone who can help me.

]]> By: Lil https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-53265 Fri, 12 Jun 2020 17:09:56 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-53265 I, too, recently experienced the woes of distributing through Amazon. I’m using IngramSpark and have had no issues. Then in the last week, Amazon decided to list my book as “out of stock.” And to add to my pain, the ebook it sent to one of my customers was corrupt. I sent it to the customer directly through my website’s online store and she had no issues.
Now IngramSpark is holding my title hostage because of “pending orders “ through Amazon!

Something needs to be done about this monopoly on trying to strong arm indie authors!

]]> By: Stephanie Chandler https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-51837 Thu, 16 Apr 2020 21:13:03 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-51837 In reply to Remi B..

If only the FTC would pay attention to these complaints! Something should be done to stop Amazon from bullying self-publishers into utilizing their services.

]]> By: Stephanie Chandler https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-51836 Thu, 16 Apr 2020 21:11:13 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-51836 In reply to Robin Surface.

We share your frustration and wish someone would go after Amazon for their monopolistic business practices.

]]> By: Robin Surface https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-50880 Wed, 04 Mar 2020 13:33:42 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-50880 I think this is totally a ploy by Amazon to force you to use KDP. They’re even playing this game with hardcover books now. One of my clients had a hardcover through IngramSpark that showed up as in stock for the first few weeks, then mysteriously went out of stock. Just to see if my suspicions were correct, I created a paperback version of his book and listed it with KDP. Within a week his hardcover book was suddenly back in stock.

Another issue with this whole scheme is the extremely high print costs for color books through KDP. I have another client who has a 400-page color book that is priced at $23.95 through IngramSpark, but had to be priced at $49.95 on Amazon due to their crazy print costs. He makes much more on sales of the IngramSpark version, so all of his marketing efforts are directing buyers to Barnes & Noble.

It’s extremely frustrating and creating twice the work for authors and smaller publishing companies, but there’s really no other option because Amazon is the biggest bookseller and most people’s go-to for buying books.

]]> By: Remi B. https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-50856 Tue, 03 Mar 2020 07:03:29 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-50856 I am a children’s illustrator and run a small publishing company (PlayPen Publishing) that distributes print on demand with IngramSpark. I’ve had this Amazon headache for the past 6 years. It’s so bad that I keep an Amazon tab open on the my computer. The tab has all my Amazon book listings and I’m forced to constantly check the availability and shipping info of my clients’ books. I’ve gone back and forth between Amazon and Ingram about the issue. Unfortunately, I have even had to list a couple of titles with KDP and Ingram. It makes no sense and it’s a completely underhanded way for Amazon to frustrate and force indie authors and publishers to deal with them. IngramSpark offers more publishing options and better printing.

]]> By: Don Winn https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-32484 Tue, 22 Jan 2019 15:40:36 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-32484 Stephanie, I Just came across this article and I have to say you are right on the money. Since this article, the problem, in my opinion, has only gotten worse. I use Lightning Source and about 35% of my titles show Temporarily Out of Stock or Ships in 1 to 2 Months. I’ve been dealing with this problem for a few years and I’m tired of beating my head against the wall. It’s quite maddening. Perhaps the only way things will change is if we have a loud enough collective voice.

]]> By: Susie Johnson https://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/amazon-out-of-stock-issues-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-createspace-ingramspark-and-lightning-source/#comment-22827 Mon, 23 Jul 2018 20:03:42 +0000 http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/?p=18180#comment-22827 So I just published with Ingham. They put the book up on Amazon. Like the article was saying my books ok “Some Dreams Are Worth Keeping” is saying out of stock. So I should publish on Create Space with distribution to Amazon only and my problem is solved??

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