Can I publish the same book on both KDP and IngramSpark?

Expanded Distribution or IngramSpark?

KDP's Expanded Distribution offers your paperback to bookstores, online retailers, libraries and academic institutions. It pays 40% of the list price, minus printing costs, taxes and withholding. Hardcovers can't use it, and KDP says it can take up to eight weeks before booksellers and libraries can order the book.

IngramSpark is non-exclusive, so you can keep selling on Amazon through KDP. But KDP's Expanded Distribution runs through Ingram, and in Ingram's network an ISBN can sit on only one account. So choose one route to bookstores: Expanded Distribution, or your own IngramSpark account.

The ISBN rules

• KDP's free ISBN can only be used on KDP, so it can't go to IngramSpark.
• IngramSpark's free ISBN can't be used on KDP or any other platform.
• An ISBN you own can go on the same edition at both. US authors can buy one from Bowker, or through IngramSpark for $85.
• Use the same ISBN for the paperback on both platforms. ALLi notes that two different ISBNs give Amazon two product pages, which splits your reviews and sales history.
• Each format needs its own ISBN, so the paperback and hardcover can't share one.

If your book is already in Expanded Distribution

If you own the ISBN, switch off Expanded Distribution in KDP, set up your IngramSpark account, then ask IngramSpark for a title transfer. Transfers can take up to 30 days. If KDP owns the ISBN, it can't be transferred, so the IngramSpark edition needs a new ISBN. A book that was never in Expanded Distribution can simply be set up as a new title.

Each platform needs its own files

One interior PDF can work on both if it meets both sets of rules. The cover is where they differ.

• Spine width: on a black-ink KDP book, the spine grows by 0.002252 in per page on white paper and 0.0025 in on cream. IngramSpark's paper differs, so build each cover on that platform's own template.
• Barcode: KDP adds one at no cost if your cover has none; if you add your own, KDP suggests 2 × 1.2 in on a solid white background. IngramSpark's template comes with a barcode you can move but not resize.
• Spine text: KDP prints it only on books with more than 79 pages. IngramSpark allows none on paperbacks under 48 pages.
• PDF: both want single pages, not spreads, with fonts embedded and no crop marks. IngramSpark asks for PDF/X-1a:2001 or PDF/X-3:2002.
• Interior bleed: 0.125 in on the top, bottom and outside edges on both, none on the spine side.

Which to upload first

Neither KDP's nor IngramSpark's help pages set an order. The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi, guide updated Aug 2026) suggests KDP first, because its review is faster and its proofs are cheaper, so it's the better place to catch file problems. Then set up IngramSpark with the same ISBN.

The exception is a print pre-order. ALLi says only an IngramSpark pre-order can give you a print pre-order on Amazon. In that case, save the KDP book as a draft, launch the pre-order on IngramSpark, and publish on KDP on release day.