Print isn’t dead — it’s where the margin is. Print books accounted for roughly 75% of trade book revenue in the US in 2024, according to the Association of American Publishers, and that share has been growing, not shrinking, for the past several years. If your self-publishing strategy is ebook-only, you’re leaving the majority of the market on the table.

But here’s the catch: print only works if the interior looks professional.

The revenue split most indie authors misunderstand

There’s a persistent myth in indie publishing circles that ebooks are where the money is. That was arguably true around 2014, when ebook growth was explosive and print was in decline. It’s not true anymore.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) tracks revenue across formats annually. Their 2024 data shows print book revenue at approximately $19.5 billion in the US trade market, while ebook revenue was around $5.8 billion. That’s a 77/23 split in favor of print. And that gap has been widening — ebook revenue has been flat or slightly declining since 2020, while print has posted modest but consistent growth each year.

For indie authors specifically, the picture is more nuanced. Ebooks still represent a larger share of indie revenue because of Kindle Unlimited and the ease of ebook-first publishing. But the authors earning the most — particularly those building backlists and selling across multiple channels — have embraced print as a primary revenue stream.

Why print commands higher prices (and margins)

Let’s do the math on a 280-page 5.5” x 8.5” novel:

  • Ebook at $4.99: 70% royalty minus ~$0.05 delivery = ~$3.44 per sale
  • Paperback at $15.99: KDP Print cost ~$4.15, 60% royalty = ~$5.44 per sale
  • Paperback at $15.99 via IngramSpark (55% wholesale discount): ~$2.93 per sale

The paperback earns you $2 more per sale through Amazon. And that’s before considering that print books can access distribution channels ebooks simply can’t.

IngramSpark and the distribution advantage

Here’s where print gets really interesting for serious indie authors. IngramSpark connects your print book to Ingram’s distribution network — the same network that supplies roughly 40,000 retailers, libraries, and wholesalers worldwide. This includes Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, airport bookshops, and library acquisition systems.

Ebooks can’t do this. Your Kindle ebook is on Amazon and nowhere else (unless you go wide, in which case it’s on a handful of digital retailers). Your print book through IngramSpark can be ordered by any bookstore in the English-speaking world.

The tradeoff is margin. IngramSpark’s wholesale discount model means you’ll earn less per copy than selling direct through KDP Print. But the access to physical retail channels — and the credibility that comes with having your book orderable through any bookstore’s system — is a strategic advantage that compounds over time. Our KDP vs. IngramSpark comparison breaks down exactly when each channel makes sense.

Ebooks still matter — just not for the reason you think

None of this means you should skip ebooks. They serve a different strategic purpose.

Ebooks are your discovery engine. They’re what readers buy on impulse at $4.99. They’re what Kindle Unlimited readers borrow, generating page-read revenue and pushing your book up the algorithm. They’re what you discount to $0.99 during a promotional push to spike your rankings.

The authors who earn the most per title tend to have both formats available on day one. According to BookStat’s analysis of indie publishing data, titles available in both print and ebook formats earn approximately 35—45% more total revenue than ebook-only titles, even accounting for the fact that some of those sales are just format substitution.

Here’s the part that matters most: print exposes bad formatting in ways ebooks never will.

An ebook reader reflows text to fit the screen. Minor formatting issues get smoothed over by the reading device. But a print book is fixed. Every margin, every gutter, every chapter opener, every running header is locked in place and visible to anyone who opens the book.

Readers — and especially bookstore buyers and librarians — can tell the difference between a professionally typeset interior and one that was exported from a word processor. Uneven margins, missing gutters, incorrect page numbering, and bland chapter headings all signal “self-published” in the pejorative sense.

The standard most readers (and retailers) compare against is traditionally published books from the Big Five. Those books are typeset by professional designers. To compete in print, your interior needs to hit that bar. That means proper trim sizes, correct bleed settings, professional fonts, and well-designed front and back matter.

The smart play: both formats, professional quality

The data is clear. Print is the larger market, carries higher margins, and opens distribution channels that ebooks can’t reach. Ebooks are essential for discoverability and impulse purchases. You need both.

The practical question is how you produce both formats efficiently. Formatting a book twice — once for print PDF, once for EPUB — doubles your work and introduces inconsistencies. The better approach is a single-source workflow where you manage one manuscript and export to both formats.