In brief. If you are a UK author choosing where to print and distribute a paperback, four names keep coming up: Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, BookBaby and Lulu. They are not four versions of the same thing. One is a retailer’s own press, one is a trade distributor, one sells packages, and one is a print shop with a storefront. Pick the wrong one and you either lose money on every copy or lose the reach you actually needed. I have rated all four the way I rate everything on this site, run the same £9.99 paperback through each, and taken every fee from the platform’s own page with the date I checked it. Where a platform hides a figure behind a login, I say so rather than guess.
Fees checked on the platforms’ own pages 5 September 2026. Page reviewed by Robert Prime, 5 September 2026.
How to read this page
Four ratings, one to five, plus the arithmetic.
| Rating | What 1 means | What 5 means |
|---|---|---|
| Impact | A listing somewhere | The channel where your book will actually sell |
| Difficulty | Upload and press publish | Wholesale discounts, returns, your own ISBNs |
| Technical | If you can attach a PDF, you can do it | PDF/X-1a, spine calculators, metadata feeds |
| Budget | Free to start | Hundreds up front before a copy sells |
| Platform | Impact | Difficulty | Technical | Budget | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon KDP | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Amazon’s own press. Free, prints in the UK, puts you on Amazon.co.uk |
| IngramSpark | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | The trade route: bookshops, libraries, wholesalers, via Ingram’s catalogue |
| Lulu | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Print-on-demand with its own storefront; best for direct sales and unusual formats |
| BookBaby | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | A US package company; $199 or $399 before you sell a copy |
The short version most UK indies land on: KDP for Amazon, IngramSpark for everywhere else, and Lulu or BookBaby only for the specific jobs they do better. The rest of this page shows why, with the numbers.
What you need to know before choosing
A few terms and rules decide most of the maths.
- Print-on-demand. Books are printed one at a time as they sell, so there is no print run to fund. All four are print-on-demand for the options compared here.
- Royalty versus margin. Every platform pays you a percentage of the list price, then subtracts the print cost. It is (rate × list price) minus print, not the rate applied to what is left after printing. Get that order right or every projection is wrong.
- Wholesale discount. On IngramSpark you set the discount a retailer keeps. The bookshop trade effectively requires 55% and the right to return unsold stock; set it lower and shops will not order.
- ISBN. In the UK, ISBNs come from Nielsen. Verified on the Nielsen UK ISBN Store, 2 September 2026: £93 for one, £174 for a block of ten, including VAT. KDP and Lulu both offer a free ISBN that names them as publisher, which the trade notices. See ISBN UK requirements.
- Trim size. UK trade paperback is B-format, 129 × 198mm; 6 × 9in (152 × 229mm) is the non-fiction standard. All four support both.
The decision table
Fees as stated on each platform’s own pages, 5 September 2026. Print costs are for a black-ink paperback.
| Factor | Amazon KDP | IngramSpark | BookBaby | Lulu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Free | Free (setup fees removed May 2023) | $199 (Bookshop) or $399 (Bookshop + Amazon POD) | Free; global distribution £4.99 one-off |
| Print cost, UK, black ink | £1.93 flat for 24–110 pages; £0.85 + £0.010 a page for 110–828 pages | Public sheet (dated March 2020): £1.12 a cover + £0.0094 a page; current rates in the account calculator | Not published; quote-based | Not published outside the calculator |
| What you keep | 60% of list at £7.99 and above, 50% at £7.98 and below, minus print | List minus the wholesale discount you set, minus IngramSpark’s distribution fee, minus print | 50% royalties on BookBaby’s Bookshop, per its own page | 80% of gross profit after print on Lulu’s store; in retail distribution 50% goes to the channel first, then 80/20 |
| Revisions | Free | $25 per resubmission of a live title | Not published | Free |
| Free ISBN | Yes, Amazon as publisher | No, bring your own | Not verified | Yes, Lulu as publisher |
| UK bookshop and library reach | Weak (Expanded Distribution at 40%) | Strong: Ingram catalogue, returnable | US-centric | Weak for UK trade |
| Prints in the UK | Yes | Yes (Lightning Source) | No | Partly |
| Best at | Amazon sales | The trade | Done-for-you convenience | Direct sales and unusual formats |
Sources: KDP printing cost and KDP paperback royalty; IngramSpark’s announcement of free setup and a 1% distribution fee (19 May 2023) and the $25 revision fee in the IngramSpark User Guide v3.3 (August 2026); BookBaby print-on-demand; Lulu Creator Revenue Guide and Lulu global distribution.
The same £9.99 paperback on each platform
One book: 300 pages, 6 × 9in, black ink, list price £9.99. This is the comparison that earns or loses you money.
The anchor. KDP’s UK formula for 110 to 828 pages is £0.85 plus £0.010 a page, so this book costs £0.85 + £3.00 = £3.85 to print.
Amazon KDP, sold on Amazon.co.uk
At £9.99 the book is above KDP’s £7.99 threshold, so the rate is 60%.
- 60% × £9.99 = £5.99
- Minus print £3.85 = £2.14 a copy
That is the number to beat. Now switch on KDP’s Expanded Distribution, its route to shops beyond Amazon: the rate drops to 40%. 40% × £9.99 = £4.00, minus the same £3.85 = £0.15 a copy. That is the single most useful fact on this page. KDP does not give you real trade reach. If bookshops matter, you need IngramSpark.
IngramSpark, wide trade distribution
You set the wholesale discount. To be stockable by UK bookshops and libraries you set 55% and allow returns.
- Retailer keeps 55%, so you receive 45% × £9.99 = £4.50
- Minus IngramSpark’s distribution fee, which its public pages put at 1% (about £0.10 on this book)
- Minus print. IngramSpark’s public UK sheet gives £1.12 + (300 × £0.0094) = £3.94, but that sheet is dated March 2020; run the calculator in your account for today’s figure
- Roughly £0.46 a copy, and it moves with whatever print figure the calculator gives you
Thin. But you are now on the same catalogue as Penguin, orderable by any UK shop, on Bookshop.org through Ingram, and available to libraries through Gardners. The reach is the product.
Set the discount to 40% (online listing only, no physical shops) and the maths changes: 60% × £9.99 = £5.99, minus £0.10 and £3.94 = roughly £1.95 a copy. Close to KDP, with wider online listing. The catch is that at 40% the trade will not order, so this is for other websites, not shelves.
Lulu, direct on your own storefront
Lulu’s edge is direct sales, and its formula is published. On the Lulu bookstore, gross profit is the retail price minus manufacturing and hosting costs, split 80/20 in your favour; for ebooks it is 90/10. Lulu does not publish a UK print price outside its calculator, so I cannot give you a pound figure for this book without inventing one. What I can say is the shape: after print, you keep four-fifths of what is left, which beats every Amazon route on margin. The catch is that no Amazon shopper ever sees it. You bring the traffic.
Send the same book through Lulu’s global distribution and the arithmetic changes: Lulu’s guide states 50% of the retail price goes to the distribution channel first, then Lulu takes 20% of what remains after print. On £9.99 that is £5.00 to the channel, print out of the rest, and 80% of the remainder to you: back in IngramSpark territory, with a one-off £4.99 distribution fee to enter.
BookBaby, package model
BookBaby’s print-on-demand page, checked 5 September 2026, offers two options: BookBaby Bookshop at $199, a direct-to-reader storefront on which it states you “Earn 50% royalties”, and Bookshop plus Amazon print-on-demand at $399. Per-copy print costs are quote-based. So the honest line is: $199 or $399 before you sell a copy, then 50% on its own shop, and Amazon economics on Amazon. For a single £9.99 UK title, that puts the per-copy result at or below KDP’s after an up-front cost KDP does not have. It makes sense only if you are buying the done-for-you service, in dollars.
The takeaway
| Route | What you keep on a £9.99 copy | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|
| KDP (Amazon) | £2.14 | The biggest sales channel, no trade reach |
| IngramSpark at 55% | about £0.46 | UK bookshop and library reach, returnable |
| IngramSpark at 40% | about £1.95 | Wide online listing, no physical shops |
| Lulu (own store) | 80% of what is left after print | Best margin; you supply every reader |
| BookBaby (Amazon) | KDP-level or below, after $399 up front | Convenience, done for you, in dollars |
The honest conclusion is not that one platform wins. KDP wins Amazon, IngramSpark wins the trade, Lulu wins direct, and BookBaby sells convenience. Most successful indies run two of them together.
Distribution reach: who gets you into UK bookshops and libraries
Print margin is half the decision. The other half is who can actually buy the book.
- Amazon KDP puts you on Amazon.co.uk within a day or two, and that is roughly where it stops. Expanded Distribution technically reaches further, but at 40% minus print it pays pennies and UK shops rarely order through it.
- IngramSpark opens the trade. Because it feeds the Ingram catalogue, your book becomes orderable by Waterstones and independents, by UK libraries through Gardners, and it appears on Bookshop.org, which draws on the Ingram catalogue. To make that real you set a 55% wholesale discount and mark the book returnable. Then a sell sheet to your local branch does the rest.
- BookBaby distributes to Amazon and US retailers; UK trade penetration is not its strength.
- Lulu offers global distribution through Amazon and Ingram’s catalogue too, but for UK shelves specifically it is the weakest of the four. Its real reach is your own store.
If the honest goal is “I want to walk into a Waterstones and see it, and I want libraries to be able to order it”, the answer is IngramSpark layered on KDP.
UK-specific considerations
Most comparison guides are written for US authors. These are where UK reality changes the answer.
ISBNs and publishing rights. Nielsen only: £93 for one, £174 for ten, including VAT. A KDP or Lulu free ISBN names them as publisher. If you plan more than one title, the block of ten is the sensible buy. See ISBN UK requirements and get the copyright page right at the same time.
VAT. Printed books and ebooks are zero-rated in the UK. Audiobooks are not. Amazon handles VAT on Amazon.co.uk sales; BookBaby’s dollar pricing can bring currency conversion and, on services, VAT you did not budget for.
US withholding tax. IngramSpark and BookBaby are US companies. File a W-8BEN, which the UK’s tax treaty lets you do, or they must withhold 30% of your royalties. Five minutes, routinely forgotten.
Printing and delivery. KDP and IngramSpark both print in the UK, so author copies are fast and cheap. Lulu prints in the US and some of the EU. BookBaby ships from the US, so factor in international shipping on every order.
Choose which
- KDP if your sales will be overwhelmingly on Amazon, which they are for most indies, and you want free, fast and printed in the UK. Nearly everyone should be on KDP; the only question is what you add to it.
- IngramSpark if you want physical bookshops and libraries and accept a thinner margin for the reach. Run it alongside KDP: KDP for Amazon, IngramSpark for everywhere else, ISBNs split cleanly.
- Lulu if your money is in direct sales, from your own site or at events, or you need a format the others do not print well. Best direct margin of the four, worst UK trade reach.
- BookBaby if you genuinely want it done for you and are comfortable paying $199 or $399 up front in dollars. For a cost-conscious UK author, KDP plus IngramSpark delivers more reach for nothing.
Other options worth knowing
- Draft2Digital. A free-to-join ebook aggregator reaching Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and libraries via OverDrive. Verified from its FAQ, 5 September 2026: a one-time $20 activation fee for new accounts, a $12 annual maintenance fee for accounts earning under $100 a year, and roughly 10% of the retail price on each sale. See Draft2Digital vs KDP.
- Doxzoo. A UK print-on-demand printer, not a publisher. Minimum order of one, GBP quotes online, but it does not register ISBNs or distribute to Amazon or the trade. It prints a book you already own; right for stock you sell yourself, useless for retail reach.
- Local offset printers. Some authors keep a title on IngramSpark for print-on-demand and bulk-print locally when they need a run to supply shops directly.
Common mistakes
- Relying on KDP Expanded Distribution for “wide” reach. At 40% minus print it pays £0.15 on my example, and shops still do not order it.
- Setting the wrong IngramSpark discount. 40% keeps more per copy but locks you out of bookshops; 55% plus returnable is the price of trade reach. Decide which you want before you publish.
- Forgetting the W-8BEN. 30% of US-platform royalties vanish until you file it.
- Taking a free ISBN when you want the trade. It names the platform as publisher.
- Assuming BookBaby’s headline price is the whole cost. $199 or $399 is the entry; per-copy print is quoted separately, in dollars, shipped from the US.
- Skipping the proof copy. Every platform prints slightly differently. Order a physical proof before you go live.
- Uploading a badly formatted file. All four reject or mangle wrong margins, missing 3mm bleed, or the wrong PDF standard (IngramSpark wants PDF/X-1a). It is the single most common cause of delay, and the reason I format books to spec.
Three authors, three stacks
These are not client stories. They are the three shapes of decision I see most often, with what I would tell each.
The crime novelist who wants bookshops. KDP first, for Amazon. Then IngramSpark with her own Nielsen ISBNs, a 55% discount and returns on. Her trade margin will be thin, and the point of it is the shelf and the library catalogue, not the per-copy number. The two platforms are partners, not rivals.
The business author who wants speed. KDP only, live in a day or two, no upfront cost. Add IngramSpark later only when there is a concrete channel in mind, such as a trade body’s bookshop or library orders. Skip BookBaby: a UK-focused business book gains nothing from a dollar package shipped from the US.
The illustrated children’s book. Premium colour, a square trim, a hardback with a jacket: the formats KDP and IngramSpark handle least well. Lulu for the print quality and Lulu Direct for selling from her own site, keeping four-fifths of what is left after print. And a physical proof before the first order, because colour is the thing a screen cannot show you.
What I could not verify
- IngramSpark’s current distribution fee percentage. IngramSpark’s own public statement is the 1% announced in May 2023. Its price sheet dated 1 February 2026 sits behind an account login and I could not read it. A previous version of this page quoted 1.875%; I have not found a public source for that figure and have removed it. Check the sheet in your own account. On a £9.99 book the difference between 1% and 2% is a few pence.
- IngramSpark’s current UK print cost. The only public sheet I could read is dated 10 March 2020 (£1.12 a cover plus £0.0094 a page, black and white). Use the calculator in your account.
- BookBaby’s per-copy print cost and any packages beyond the two POD options. Quote-based on its site. Earlier versions of this page listed premium packages at $549 to $1,099 and a 25-copy minimum; neither appears on the print-on-demand page today, so they are gone.
- Lulu’s UK print cost. Only available through its calculator.
If any of these has changed, tell me and I will re-check and re-date.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper for print-on-demand in the UK, KDP or IngramSpark?
Per copy they are close. KDP is £0.85 plus £0.010 a page for a black-ink book of 110 pages or more; IngramSpark’s public sheet is within pence, though it is dated 2020 and the live figure is in your account. The real difference is the model: KDP takes nothing beyond print and pays 60% on Amazon; IngramSpark reaches the trade but you hand retailers a 40% to 55% discount. For pure Amazon sales KDP nets more; for bookshop reach IngramSpark is the only real option.
Do I need all four platforms?
No. Most UK authors need two: KDP for Amazon and IngramSpark for the trade. Lulu and BookBaby are for specific jobs: direct sales and unusual formats, or done-for-you convenience.
Does IngramSpark still charge a setup fee?
No. IngramSpark removed title setup fees in May 2023. Its user guide (v3.3, August 2026) states resubmissions of a live title carry a $25 revision fee, so get the file right before you upload.
What does BookBaby actually cost a UK author?
On its print-on-demand page, checked 5 September 2026: $199 for the BookBaby Bookshop option, on which it states 50% royalties, or $399 for Bookshop plus Amazon print-on-demand. Print costs per copy are quoted separately.
How much does KDP pay UK authors per sale?
On Amazon.co.uk, 60% of list price minus printing at £7.99 and above, 50% at £7.98 and below. On a £9.99, 300-page paperback that is £5.99 minus £3.85 = £2.14 a copy.
Does Lulu distribute to UK bookshops?
Only weakly. Lulu can push to Amazon and Ingram’s catalogue for a one-off £4.99 fee, but for UK shelves IngramSpark is the right tool. Lulu’s strength is direct sales through your own store and formats the others do not print.
Can I use KDP and IngramSpark together?
Yes, and most successful indies do. KDP for the Amazon paperback and ebook, IngramSpark for print everywhere else, a separate ISBN for each. One caveat: enrolling the ebook in KDP Select is a 90-day Amazon exclusive for the ebook only; print has no such exclusivity.
Which platform is best for selling books directly to my own audience?
Lulu. Its bookstore pays 80% of gross profit after print, and Lulu Direct plugs into Shopify and WooCommerce so you fulfil from your own website. The trade-off is that no marketplace shopper discovers you there.
Related guides
- Draft2Digital vs KDP: the ebook aggregator route
- IngramSpark alternatives: if the trade route does not fit
- KDP vs Lulu and BookBaby vs KDP: the two-way comparisons
- ISBN UK requirements: what Nielsen charges and why the free one costs you
- Best book formatting software: getting the file right the first time
