Jul 18 2018

How to Add Expanded Distribution to KDP Print Books

EXPANDED DISTRIBUTION

KDP’s print option now includes an Expanded Distribution channel.

It may not (yet) be equivalent to CreateSpace’s Expanded Distribution, but it’s another big step in the right direction.

When KDP print originally rolled out, CreateSpace was a much better option.

Since then, KDP has added printed proofs and author copies.

(For authors based in Europe, KDP offers a huge advantage: You can order proofs and author copies printed in Europe.)

KDP lets you advertise paperback books through AMS.

CreateSpace automatically distributes to Canada and pays the same royalties as the US for Canadian sales, which is nice.

IMPORTANT NOTE

If you already published a paperback book using KDP print before the Expanded Distribution option became available, your book isn’t included in Expanded Distribution yet.

Go to the pricing page.

Check the box to enroll in the Expanded Distribution channel.

(This checkbox is quirky. Make sure you only click there once, and make sure it stays checked.)

Unfortunately, you have to “republish” your book.

As usual, it may take a couple of months for your books to become available to the entire Expanded Distribution market.

You might see third-party sellers offer your book within a day or so. First of all, they don’t actually have your book in stock: Their plan is to order a copy and ship it through their Expanded Distribution partner if your book sells. Second of all, in my experience, the presence of third-party sellers on your product page is far more likely to help with sales than it is to compete with your Amazon.com sales channel (unless your book has a much higher price than is typical of most authors using KDP print and CreateSpace). Those new and used offers make your book look more popular than it would without them, yet most customers will order directly through Amazon.

Expanded Distribution helps some books, but not all books. What you get is availability to other channels. Whether or not that leads to additional sales depends in large part on the nature of your marketing and your book. (Don’t expect physical bookstores to order your book this way unless you approach them and succeed in making arrangements, and even then your best bet is to order author copies to sell to them directly.)

Write Happy, Be Happy.

Chris McMullen

Author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of math workbooks and self-publishing guides

24 comments on “How to Add Expanded Distribution to KDP Print Books”

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  10. Just been experimenting with KDP paperback migration [CS to KDP] and discovered that the book I was testing is not eligible for expanded distribution…because the ISBN cannot be the same as the ISBN used by another distributor.

    As I have also setup the same book on IngramSpark [but have not yet ‘approved’ it for publishing], I have no idea whether the problem is caused by CS or Ingram.

    Either way, having to buy a second ISBN just so Amazon can get a 3rd party to supply my book to the rest of the world is annoying to say the least. I think I’ll stick with IngramSpark as the distributor for all the other places where Amazon doesn’t supply paperbacks…like Australia. :/

    Reply

    • p.s. Another point re migration, it’s no longer necessary to login to CreateSpace in order to verify ownership prior to migration. Just tried and as soon as I entered the ISBN of the book, the KDP screen said verified.

      Clearly, this is more convenient for authors, but…it also left a strangely unpleasant taste in the mouth. I know CS and KDP are both owned by Amazon, but if they’ve been separate entities until just recently, why ‘merge’ them now?

      Reply

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