How to Open Preorders on IngramSpark

How to Open IngramSpark Preorders in 5 Easy Steps!

Preorders are a big deal in the writing world! When I started my self-publishing journey, I did as much research as I could on how to launch them on different platforms. Unfortunately, while I found a huge berth of information on KDP preorders, the actual step-by-step process for preorders on IngramSpark was a wasteland, to say the least.

Having gone through this process many times now, I want to fill in that gap by giving you simple, clear instructions for how to open preorders on your IngramSpark project!

1. Create Your Title
This is pretty self-explanatory. On the IngramSpark homepage, you’ll see the left-hand sidebar and you'll need to click on "Titles" to create a dropdown menu:

When you click “Add Title”, IngramSpark will walk you through a three-page process of titling, categorizing, and pricing your book.

Now on the second page of this, you will see a place where you can select your PRINT RELEASE DATES.

The first date you will set is your publication date - the day you want the book to come out. But then you'll see the option below that: "SHOW MORE FIELDS TO IMPROVE BOOK OPTIMIZATION."

There you'll see the ON-SALE DATE.

2. Set your On Sale/Publication Dates - TO THE SAME DATE!

When I first used IngramSpark, I thought the PUBLICATION DATE was the release date and the ON SALE DATE should be the PREORDER date. Makes sense, right?

NOPE. Your ON SALE DATE and PUBLICATION DATE should be the SAME. DATE! I wrestled with this for a while before I finally got it:

This is because the ON SALE DATE is not for the readers purchasing your book, it is for the distributors sending your book out. Therefore, if you have differing dates, your book may be sent out early. Even way early. So set both the on sale and publication dates to your publication date!

3. Approving Proofs

Once you have your book set up, within a week or so you will get an eProof to approve. Don’t worry if you need to upload files multiple times and approve multiple eProofs while you correct changes, it’s all part of the process. But one thing you absolutely want to make sure you do is approve the title only for yourself to view and purchase.

To do this, when you go to view your eProof, check your options. You will be given four. One of them is along the lines of “Author approves proof but not for distribution channels” or something to that effect, and that is the one you want. This will enable you to order printed proofs to check formatting WITHOUT the book going into sales.

4. Enabling Distribution

Once your title is created and you have approved it for your own viewing, you can click into it and see a page that looks like this:

Select "Print Info" and you will see the page shift to include this:

Now, notice the part that says “Enabled For Distribution”? This screenshot is for DARKWIND, which has been available for order since 2019; you'll see the toggle is green. For books not available for order, this toggle area will be red.

Just click on that button to enable distribution, and there you have it! Your book will begin to appear on retail sites.

5. Timing?

Timing is tricky for preorders.

While DARKWIND showed up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble within 24 hours of me clicking “Enable”, for my debut novel, THE CHAOS CIRCUS, it took closer to a week – meaning my preorders were NOT available when I said they’d be.

My advice to authors is to enable preorders about a week before you need them, then keep them on the down-low until you announce them on a specific date. So if you plan to open preorders on December 1, toggle the "Enable for Distribution” button on November 22 or 23.

------

I hope this is helpful! Feel free to email me at renee.s.dugan@gmail.com if you have any further questions about IngramSpark processes and I will do my best to help answer them or point you toward resources that can!