No Content Book Publishing: @IngramSpark Clarifies New Policy

About this video

Dale interviews Robin Cutler, founder and director of IngramSpark, to clarify Ingram’s new policy on no-content and low-content books rather than rely on speculation. Cutler explains the change was prompted company-wide after incidents including people publishing under a legitimate publisher’s ISBN and retailers complaining about inaccurately or deceptively listed books — for example summary versions imitating a bestselling book’s cover, or covers showing a drug bottle. On the blank-content rule, she clarifies the FAQ was rephrased: the target is books that are 90 to 100 percent blank, not books with some blank space. Diaries, journals and planners with some substance, workbooks companion to another book, and low-content books such as children’s activity and colouring books will probably be allowed, judged case by case; a title might be pulled from the distribution feed (the catalog) yet still be printable for author orders. On mass uploaders using third parties to blast out the same interiors with slightly different covers, she says upload volume is a trigger for human review, noting IngramSpark has no mass-upload tool and its team reviews content. She also clarifies that KDP expanded distribution runs through Lightning Source, not IngramSpark, and discusses IngramSpark’s new free US ISBN option while still recommending authors own their ISBN, plus a forthcoming free in-platform formatting tool.

Key takeaways

• IngramSpark clarified its rule targets books that are 90–100% blank; journals/workbooks with some substance will probably be allowed
• Titles removed from the distribution catalog may still be printed for the author’s own orders and direct sales
• Mass uploading the same interior with slightly varied covers is a trigger for human review; IngramSpark has no mass-upload tool
• The policy was driven by ISBN misuse and deceptive listings that misled retail customers, per Cutler
• KDP expanded distribution runs through Lightning Source, a separate Ingram company, not IngramSpark itself

Episode details: published March 4, 2020 · 26:23 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.

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