Author Topic: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?  (Read 3741 times)

garygibsonsf

Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« on: May 07, 2019, 09:14:55 PM »
I just had a query from a Canadian reader and didn't realise until this moment they might not be available there. Can anyone confirm whether or not this is the case?
 

Rickie Blair

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2019, 10:17:45 PM »
Sadly, yes, this is true. You can purchase them on Amazon's Italian site, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, the U.K.—but not Canada. It's ridiculous, but that's Amazon for you.

As a Canadian, I can't order author copies, either.
 

garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2019, 10:21:17 PM »
Sadly, yes, this is true. You can purchase them on Amazon's Italian site, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, the U.K.—but not Canada. It's ridiculous, but that's Amazon for you.

Just great. I have my own ISBN for it so maybe I can look into Ingram Sparks or Lulu for printing non-Amazon specific copies and get it outside of those countries.

Question on that: Lulu cost nothing and use Ingram Sparks for distribution, whereas going directly through Ingram Sparks can apparently be expensive. Is Lulu good enough?

Second question: do a lot of Canadians have Amazon US accounts? Could they get around it that way?
 

Rickie Blair

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2019, 10:25:58 PM »
I publish all my books on Ingram Spark. It's the only way to get it into libraries and other retailers. (My books are wide.) For instance, Indigo carries some of my paperbacks online (available to Canadians), but not all. I have no control over that.

It can be expensive to use IS, but usually you can find a discount code that allows you to upload a book to IS for free. They always offer them during NaNoWrMo and ALLI has them, as well. Do a Google search. :)

It's also the only way for me to order author copies.

And yes, you could order the paperbacks through Amazon. com, but you have to pay higher delivery fees.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2019, 10:35:32 PM by Rickie Blair »
 
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bardsandsages

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2019, 10:43:50 PM »
Question on that: Lulu cost nothing and use Ingram Sparks for distribution, whereas going directly through Ingram Sparks can apparently be expensive. Is Lulu good enough?

If you actually want to make money on print and be able to sell your book at a competitive price, DO NOT use Lulu. Period. Their print costs are excessive compared to other POD services and always have been.

Your costs for Ingram are to add the book to their catalog ($49) and the cost of the ISBN. You can buy a block of 10 for $295. So that means if you eventually publish 10 titles, that will be $78 a book. That is not a lot of money. Assuming you have your book priced correctly to make at least $3-4 profit, that is under 25 print sales per title.

Sure, Lulu will give you a "free" ISBN, but your per unit prices will be outrageous.

If you aren't really serious about investing in print, just use KDP and call it a day. At least then you get the low cost of Amazon's print service for your own copies and you will be able to price your books reasonably.
Writer. Editor. Publisher. Game Designer. Resident Sith.
 
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Rickie Blair

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2019, 10:47:51 PM »
Just FYI, Canadian authors get their ISBNs at no cost from Library and Archives Canada.
 

garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2019, 11:07:57 PM »
Just FYI, Canadian authors get their ISBNs at no cost from Library and Archives Canada.

Same here. I'm British but live in Taiwan. ISBNs are free.

Okay, I've hunted down some coupons and I'll get a hardback and paperback set up on Ingram Sparks (I have ISBNs for both). I'll have to pull the KDP paperback out of extended distribution, but that's a minor hassle, I think? Thanks for all the advice.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2019, 11:22:12 PM by garygibsonsf »
 

garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2019, 12:16:23 AM »
Question on that: Lulu cost nothing and use Ingram Sparks for distribution, whereas going directly through Ingram Sparks can apparently be expensive. Is Lulu good enough?

If you actually want to make money on print and be able to sell your book at a competitive price, DO NOT use Lulu. Period. Their print costs are excessive compared to other POD services and always have been.

Your costs for Ingram are to add the book to their catalog ($49) and the cost of the ISBN. You can buy a block of 10 for $295. So that means if you eventually publish 10 titles, that will be $78 a book. That is not a lot of money. Assuming you have your book priced correctly to make at least $3-4 profit, that is under 25 print sales per title.

Sure, Lulu will give you a "free" ISBN, but your per unit prices will be outrageous.

If you aren't really serious about investing in print, just use KDP and call it a day. At least then you get the low cost of Amazon's print service for your own copies and you will be able to price your books reasonably.

Question: if you print your books with Ingram Spark, do you have returnable or non-returnable selected?
 

RPatton

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #8 on: May 08, 2019, 01:09:31 AM »
Question: if you print your books with Ingram Spark, do you have returnable or non-returnable selected?

If you hope to distribute to stores, check returnable. If you don't want to market to stores, don't select it.

My advice is to select returnable. It's not as though customers buy directly through Ingram, it's a wholesaler. Allowing for returns won't be a concern for a lot of publishers and if it makes your book more enticing, why not include it. Only downside is if a bookstore buys a bunch of books they can "return" them and depending on your printing costs could lead with an accounting that barely breaks even, if it even does that.
 

Denise

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #9 on: May 08, 2019, 01:51:51 AM »
I don't understand.

My paperbacks are available on Amazon Canada. I can buy author copies, but yes, it goes through Amazon.com.

That said, I also use Ingram. Are the books sold on Amazon.ca from Ingram? I had no idea.  :icon_eek:

Edit: I'll also have to add that author copies with Ingram are a bit expensive too. They end up being cheaper from Amazon, at least when I order only one copy. And last copy I ordered from IS never arrived... Not happy.

I might order from Amazon.ca to check the Ingram quality if it's true they are not KDP print.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2019, 01:54:07 AM by Denise »
 

garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2019, 12:36:18 AM »
I've done some further research on this and decided to keep my paperback in KDP Print with Expanded Distribution. That said, the next time I put out a paperback, I *might* opt to release it through both KDP Print and IngramSpark.

The best explanation I've seen of how all this *really* works is here:  https://www.birdsofafeatherpress.com/kdp-expanded-distribution-ingramspark/.

From that article:

Quote
Far from being adversaries, Amazon and Ingram Spark work closely together, and they have different, and complimentary, global reach advantages. Even if you distribute through both, it’s actually the shipping destination of your book that determines who is actually printing and shipping it.

For example:

If you chose Amazon expanded distribution, they distribute through IngramSpark in territories Amazon doesn’t have a printing presence.

If you choose IngramSpark distribution, they may use Amazon printing and shipping services to ship to territories Amazon has a more cost effective printing presence.

If you choose Amazon Narrow and IngramSpark distribution, your orders are printed and shipped by the company who has the most cost effective (for them) printing and shipping options within that territory.

More specifically, I've spoken with some other hybrid and self-published writers on a private writer's forum and it seems their KDP Print paperbacks can, indeed, be bought in areas Amazon supposedly doesn't serve. The whole thing is far more interconnected and tangled than it at first appears to be.
 

Denise

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #11 on: May 11, 2019, 01:15:12 AM »
Update: I just got my paperback bought on Amazon Canada and... it's from Ingram Spark!

I swear I didn't know that.

For the previous books, I set up CreateSpace, and then, later, IngramSpark. I noticed the books weren't available in Canada, but I thought it was an issue of taking longer to show up on the Canadian site or something. No, they only showed up once I set up Ingram Spark. So I think IS is important. You never know where your readers are.



« Last Edit: May 11, 2019, 01:18:12 AM by Denise »
 

garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2019, 01:07:27 AM »
i had word from a Canadian reader that the KDP paperback finally appeared on Amazon.ca, so that's that mystery cleared up.
 

Denise

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2019, 04:38:19 AM »
i had word from a Canadian reader that the KDP paperback finally appeared on Amazon.ca, so that's that mystery cleared up.

But isn't it maybe through expanded distribution? Because there are all those small sellers. Is your book available through expanded distribution?

I'm just wondering.


garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2019, 10:11:29 PM »
i had word from a Canadian reader that the KDP paperback finally appeared on Amazon.ca, so that's that mystery cleared up.

But isn't it maybe through expanded distribution? Because there are all those small sellers. Is your book available through expanded distribution?

I'm just wondering.

It is.
 

Denise

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2019, 10:47:46 PM »

But isn't it maybe through expanded distribution? Because there are all those small sellers. Is your book available through expanded distribution?

I'm just wondering.

It is.

Got it.

I don't use expanded distribution with KDP print, and it means the paperbacks getting to Amazon Canada are from Ingram.

It's odd because one would think KDP print would serve all Amazons... But I guess it doesn't. Some Amazons will get print books only through expanded distribution.


garygibsonsf

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2019, 10:54:37 PM »
I'm guessing there are fulfillment algorithms. Like, even if you're running stuff through Ingram, if their presses are busy and it's easier to squirt the digital information of your book to an Amazon press, they'll do that according to algorithms designed to fulfil orders in the cheapest and most efficient way possible.

Although of course, it's much more likely that Amazon and Ingram are instead sending the data to presses not owned by them but owned by some business fulfillment printing service who take information from either company according to the same algorithms.

It's like trying to figure out which power station your electricity comes from. It has to do with automated systems largely invisible to most of us.
 

notthatamanda

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #17 on: June 07, 2019, 03:20:03 AM »

Your costs for Ingram are to add the book to their catalog ($49) and the cost of the ISBN. You can buy a block of 10 for $295.

Does anyone have a link for this block of ten ISBN numbers at Ingram?  I am only being offered the single option, one for $85, which is a lot more.  Thanks for your help.
 

Denise

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #18 on: June 07, 2019, 04:41:11 AM »
You can get 10 ISBN for the USA here: https://www.myidentifiers.com/Get-your-isbn-now

At $295 it's really not that bad.

I'm assuming you're in the US, right?

In Canada they're freeeeeee! :banana:
 
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notthatamanda

Re: Are KDP paperbacks available in Canada?
« Reply #19 on: June 07, 2019, 04:50:57 AM »
Yep, I'm in the US.  Thank you.