Bookvault in 2026: Better Than Amazon KDP?

About this video

Dale reviews UK-based print-on-demand company BookVault in 2026 and compares it with Amazon KDP and IngramSpark using proofs he ordered. BookVault distributes print to Amazon, Gardners, Alibris, and its own Great British Bookshop, and offers direct-sales integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, Payhip, Wix, and API, but no ebook or audiobook distribution. It is not free to publish: the free tier charges £19.95 per book upload, the £24.95 per month tier lowers that to £4.95 per book, and the £89.95 per month tier removes upload fees. Royalties are about 40 to 80% minus print fees through retail, 90% via The Great British Bookshop, and 100% of net profit after print costs for direct sales. For paperbacks BookVault offers 12 trim sizes and seven paper types and lets authors split color and mono page counts in one book. His 124-page paperback proof cost $6.07 total and arrived in about 13 days, versus $6.57 and 12 days for KDP and $7.13 and 9 days for IngramSpark, and he judged BookVault’s interior clearly better than KDP’s and on par with IngramSpark’s. His hardcover proof cost $11.29 versus $11.59 for KDP and $11.30 for IngramSpark, again matching IngramSpark on quality and beating KDP, which he notes tends to bow hardcovers. BookVault Bespoke adds foiling, sprayed edges, ribbons, custom endpapers, cloth binding, wire-o, and slipcase box sets — the UK-printed box set convinced him to trust BookVault for his Kickstarter special edition hardcovers, which averaged about £15.06 per book before bulk discount, shipping, and taxes. Cons are limited, gatekept reach through Gardners, no digital formats, and bespoke options being UK-centred so shipping can stack up.

Key takeaways

• BookVault is a paid UK-based print-on-demand platform — £19.95 per upload on the free tier, with monthly tiers at £24.95 and £89.95 — not a free-to-publish service like KDP.
• In Dale’s proof tests BookVault was cheapest on both paperback ($6.07 total) and hardcover ($11.29 total) versus KDP and IngramSpark, with interior quality beating KDP and matching IngramSpark.
• BookVault allows mixed color and mono pages in a single book, 12 trim sizes, and seven paper types, giving more print configuration control than KDP or IngramSpark.
• Bespoke features — gold foiling, sprayed edges, ribbon bookmarks, custom endpapers, and slipcase box sets — are BookVault’s biggest differentiator, with UK print quality notably better than its US printing.
• Drawbacks are limited retail reach with Gardners as a gatekeeper, no ebook or audiobook publishing, and expensive stacked shipping when UK-produced bespoke books are sent to readers elsewhere.

Episode details: published April 28, 2026 · 27:53 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

← Previous: Amazon KDP in 2026: Still Worth It for Authors? · Next: This Scam Could Cost Authors Real Money →

All Dale L. Roberts videos · Dale L. Roberts profile · Dale L. Roberts on YouTube