1. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    IngramSpark Questions: New & Improved Thread

    Discussion in 'Self-Publishing' started by Bakkerbaard, Aug 22, 2021.

    I know it's bad form to say shitty things about our fellow authors, but at some point we're gonna have to admit that we don't do well on camera.
    I'm here because I can't bring myself to sit through another "tutorial" that doesn't answer my questions and that last lady I watched seemed like her head was floating independently. She scared me.

    So. This might be answered by just using IngramSpark, but it's bugging me to finish my account setup first, which I don't wanna do if it turns out it's not worth the hassle, and it looks like I'm supposed to pay them for the privilege of uploading first.
    Also, it's gonna sound like I'm in it for the money. I'm not. I don't expect to make a profit on the book at all, but it seems illogical to just throw money around like confetti. Very frugal, the Dutch, yes.

    - Can I make IngramSpark work their magic in some places, but not others? Like, I might want to handle Kobo and Google Books myself, thus keeping the extra chunk Ingram would otherwise take. On the other hand, I'm quite willing to leave Barnes & Noble to them, because those folks want me to hand them something called Form W8, which, by the looks of it, I can only screw up.

    - Some people said you can use Ingram in tandem with other publishing options and the other publishers will take precedence over Ingram. As in, Amazon will pay me the full 70%, instead of the 60(?) I would get if Ingram managed the same sale.

    - On a more general note: Is IngramSpark's convenience worth the "pay" cut?

    - What if I choose to do the Sparky thing and disagree with it enough to want out? Like, if I might get over my fear of W8 forms and want to handle B&N myself after all. Could I do that, uhm... retroactively?
     
  2. marshipan

    marshipan Contributor Contributor

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    :rofl:
    It's just tax information. Every place requires it. I just set myself up in B & N and found it pretty easy, about the same as KDP.
     
  3. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    I also created a B&N account alongside KDP. It's another potential avenue to move books. Also, KDP doesn't do hardcover, but B&N does.
     
  4. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, I filled out the form anyway. We'll see if it's what they wanted.
    It's just that everywhere else I signed up they didn't tell me to fill out the form myself. They just asked me where I was from and agreed that there was a tax treaty.
    When you think about it, B&N is the only one who does it right then, not believing me on my baby blue eyes.

    I don't think hardcover is a viable option for me. Right now it doesn't seem like a thing I should be throwing money at, as I have no idea how the paperback is realistically gonna do, and there's nothing to suggest there'll be a market for a more expensive version.
    For my book, at least.
     
  5. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    There's no right or wrong answer. The only real additional cost for a hardcover edition is a second ISBN. (And possibly some alterations to the proportions of the cover, which you might be able to handle for yourself.)
     
  6. Mullanphy

    Mullanphy Banned

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    My understanding of IS is that opening an account is free, but anything else costs either in up-front payments or in a sizable bite of the book price. What they actually supply in return may or may not be worth the investment, but until certain the cost is a fair value for you, maybe holding off and publishing through Amazon or other platform that has no up-front fees.

    Self publishing is a lot of work, but, like my Father used to tell me when I whined about pulling weeds, anything worthwhile is a lot of work.
     
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  7. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    I have the ISBNs ready to go, that won't be the problem.
    But after I posted my reply I spent a little more time thinking about it and I'm actually putting off a hardcover to prioritize a translation. It's starting to smell like I overestimated the Dutch capacity to read English...
     
  8. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Yes, well that could be a bit of a sticky wicket.

    Out of curiosity, what agency issues ISBNs in The Netherlands, and do you have to pay for them? (I think I read that they're free in Canada -- am I remembering correctly?)
     
  9. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, Canada gets them for free.
    In the Netherlands you go to ISBN.nl, which is a part of CB (Centraal Boekhuis/Central Bookhouse). It seems they also distribute books. I'll have to dig a little deeper into that.
    They'll sell you one ISBN for $122, a bundle of ten (which I got) for $318. So you can bet your ass I'm gonna be releasing ten books, because, damn.
    Fun fact: Amongst the things they'll let you register an ISBN for I found pillow cases, stuffed animals, and children, for some reason. Though it seems my mother wasn't aware of this at the time.
     
  10. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Maybe I can just revive this thread for a new question. It's about credit cards.

    I need to complete my account setup with Ingram and they want a credit card. I don't have one because it's just less common around these parts.
    I told Neena at IngramSpark this and, like the site, she said a debitcard would also work. This confuses me.
    A debit card is just a regular bank card, isn't it? Does anyone here have this problem? And possibly a fix?

    I am in the process of getting a real credit card, by the way. It seems unavoidable anyway, and worst case scenario, it'll just make it easier to watch porn. Anyway, I would still like to try and get it fixed before the bank deems me worthy to own a new plastic rectangle. I'm wasting too much time waiting for shit as it is.
     
  11. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Some ATM cards are also debit cards (most, I think), but it is possible to have an ATM card that does not serve double duty as a debit card. If you have a bank card, check with the bank if you don't know whether or not it's also a debit card.

    Personally, I would not link my bank card to any service over the Internet, because there is no protection if the number gets hacked and your account gets drained. At least in the U.S., credit cards only make the card holder responsible for the first $50 if the card it stolen or hacked -- and they sometimes even waive that. A debit card? Not so.

    Some years ago, when I opened a PayPal account, I opened a separate account at a bank I had never done business with specifically for the purpose of linking to the PayPal account. I don't keep more than $500 in that account so, if something happens, I'm not in danger of having all my accounts drained.
     
  12. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Like mine.
    I've managed to go forty-something years without a single moment I needed a credit card. I was hoping to keep that up for forty more and if it wasn't for IngramSpark, I would have too.

    Luckily then, that I can't link my bank card.
    I'm sure they have a similar protection system here in the Netherlands for credit cards.

    Have one, but I linked nothing to it. I figure the less I link, the less can get chain-hacked.
    We got a thing here called iDeal. That allows you to pay the desired amount via a one-time transfer with the bank card. Paypal keep nagging about just linking my bank account, because "dude, such convenience!", but I don't see why I would need to give Anonymous access to all my money.

    Anyway, that settles it then. I'll wait for the credit card. Thanks!
     
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  13. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    A credit card makes a lot of payments go through easier, as long as you use it to pay for things you already have the money for ...and pay it off every month. My MasterCard account doesn't charge me anything for using it, as long as it's paid off once a month.

    Mine is linked to Paypal, to Amazon, etc, and is usable everywhere. I don't normally carry the card around with me here at home, though, so the likelihood of it getting stolen or lost is not all that high. When I'm out buying groceries, etc, I use my debit card—which doesn't carry such a large balance.

    However, the credit card was very handy the few times I've been overseas, including a week-long visit to Leiden, several years ago! :) The Dutch were very happy to accept my MasterCard.

    I'm a bit nervous lately, though. Our wonderful Clydesdale Bank, which holds all our accounts, has been bought out by the fairly odious Virgin Money ...and they've been making a few changes to how we can operate. I no longer have total faith in them, to be honest. Not happy with this change at all. There is a LOT of pressure to switch to online banking, which I am not at all happy to do. I like our telephone banking procedures, supplemented, if necessary, by a nearby branch. I don't trust the internet all that much, tbh. It's not that I don't know how to use it ...hello, I'm here now! ...but that I don't trust its security.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
  14. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Exactly my plan. I've never had a use for a creditcard, until IngramSpark asked for it. I'm just gonna stick it in a drawer and curse myself for not bringing it on my next vacation.

    We're like magpies. We'll basically accept anything of value. There used to be 10-guilder coins, which were taken out of rotation long, long ago. But they're still accepted as legal tender (tender, right?), though the kids at the checkout are gonna be mighty confused.

    Sounds like they went Dutch. I work for a consumer program every saturday and we've been talking about the big banks a lot lately.

    Smart.
     
  15. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Ooh, I was not aware of that. I have a mortgage with Clydesdale (you'd think they would mention it?); I don't know anything about Virgin Money, but Virgin Media are positively the worst company I have ever had to do business with!

    Security of internet banking is an illusion, bolstered by a historic willingness of banks to cover losses to fraud. The whole system is a house of cards founded on belief and goodwill; if they falter the whole thing would come tumbling down, which would be a catastrophe - I would say for the Western world, but actually I think a global catastrophe.
     
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  16. Earp

    Earp Contributor Contributor

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    Reminded me of this ...

    To teach children about the banking system, a U.S. primary school walked its students to a local bank where each opened a savings account into which each deposited $5. Implicit in this activity is the message that the bank is trustworthy. Another bank then acquired that bank and charged all low balance account holders a monthly maintenance fee that wiped out the children’s savings. The children may have learned a more important lesson about the financial sector than the school intended.

    - Lauren E. Willis
     
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  17. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Aaand it's gone.
    [​IMG]

    Over here we have something called negative interest. Which means they managed to screw up their shit so much that you could possibly have to pay the bank interest.
    So they can use the money I'm storing with them to do their money-stunts with and have to pay them for the privilege. If my back wasn't already so bad, I'd actually be better off stuffing it in my mattress.
     

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