Amazon Printing Vrs. Ingram


Most artists know that a printer is just as vital as a piece of art itself. I have certainly been caught a few times by printing something myself to make sure it prints right and then find that another printer somewhere else has destroyed that same exact picture. Most of the time, at Staples, I pass it off as the workers not knowing what they're doing, but for more official printers, that shouldn't be an issue... shouldn't.

For authors, why does this matter? Well, it could mean quite a few things for your book if you're self-publishing. Here are some differences between the Amazon printing and the Ingram printing that might help.

BINDING: Amazon tends to use a dark glue in their binding, (As seen on left). That same glue is just a bit wider than the line of glue Ingram uses, thereby creating a sharper, more square fold.

COLOR: Ingram prints everything a slightly darker shade than what will show up on a computer screen. Amazon prints the same cover more gray and paler. (Once again, Amazon's print is on the left, and Ingram's is on the right. In my picture, the difference is not so noticeable, but it is there, particularly on the upper half of the image.)

TEXTURE: I have found that Ingram's covers and pages are slightly softer to the touch. There is a coarseness with Amazon's that I sometimes like and sometimes don't. It depends on the time.

PRINTER'S MARKS: This is just an observation, and has nothing at all to do about quality. If you ever want to know which printer printed a book you find before you, the image on the left is classic Amazon, and the one on the right is Ingram's. One nice thing about Amazon's is that years later, you will be able to look back and know what day your copy was printed without having to go to any site. This could tell you how valuable your copy is ;)

If you know of anything else, please share. I hope you find this useful information.

(This post was purely about some things that I don't think are often mentioned when discussing the two printers. Such things as price differences and the ability to return books or not, I assume are widely discussed. However, there is an excellent comment on those very things by Mark Dressler below.)

Comments

  1. Mark L. DresslerJune 8, 2020 at 2:39 PM

    My books are available from both Amazon and Ingram. I have not seen enough difference in quality to make me unhappy. The biggest difference is price. I sold 1200 books last year at various events. I had only one order from INGRAM. WHY? PRICE. On an apples to apples cost basis, an order of 50 books including shipping --from AMAZON was $238.50 ($4.77) per book. The same 50 book order from INGRAM including shipping was $311.48 ($6.11) per book. Multiplying my costs and sales - If all books were ordered from AMAZON my cost would have been $5,724. The INGRAM equivalent cost would have been $7,464. MY net sales would have suffered by $1,740. Turning to shipping however, I haven't figured out how AMAZON decides to ship books. I have received partial orders in 17 different envelopes (1 book in each and then a box with the remainder). No matter how many I order, there is always a straggler or two. Haven't had this experience with INGRAM...But I only order from them on rare occasions. In case authors do not know why INGRAM is important...You can make your books returnable. That's important because book stores will only order books if they are returnable. AMAZON does not allow books to be returned.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Merlin Reveiw

Image
Merlin Review/Story Plot Unlike the classic image of Merlin as an old, wise wizard, Julian Murphy’s and Johnny Capps’s Merlin rewrites the image. The series starts as a twenty-year-old Merlin travels to Camelot, sent by his mother to her friend, Camelot’s physician, Gaius. Her intention is for the physician to become the father-figure for her fatherless, magical son. It seems easy. Merlin even smiles with excitement as he sees Camelot for the first time, a shining white castle on the horizon. Mood and music quickly alter, however, as the wizard arrives inside the city just in time to witness King Uther’s execution of a person charged with performing magic. As the ax falls, the king commences to remind those gathered that all magic is pure evil and punishable by death. Despite the imminent danger, Merlin finds Gaius and remains in Camelot. And like the naïve boy he is, he shrugs aside his peril, carelessly using his own untrained magic, even in a bout with the young, seem
Read more

The lack of Thanksgiving decorations

Image
A Turkey in a yard from a 'how to' video on Youtube Thanksgiving Decorations Or the lack of them With October over, stores are putting up Thanksgiving dec... or I mean Christmas decorations. There may be a few inflatable turkeys or a turkey figurine here or there, but for the most part, Thanksgiving is not an easy holiday for those who like to decorate their house to match the day. So how about you? Do you find this a problem? Why or why not?
Read more