Finally Seeing Our Print Books on Indigo's website
“Bookstores are lonely forts, spilling light onto the sidewalk.
They civilize their neighborhoods.”
— John Updike
So exiting that we can share that our books are finally starting to appear on Indigo’s website. After a long stretch of backend setup and waiting, seeing those listings populate feels like a real turning point.
We chose IngramSpark intentionally for long term distribution and library access. We will link back to our earlier post explaining that decision in more detail, but the short version is that we wanted a system that supported bookstores, libraries, and print on demand rather than locking us into a single retailer.
Our Ebooks Were Already There
One interesting contrast is that our ebooks have actually been available on the Indigo site for some time.
Because we distribute ebooks through Draft2Digital, they are automatically sent to Kobo, which powers Indigo’s ebook catalogue. That part of the system worked exactly as expected. Once the ebooks were live through Draft2Digital, they appeared at Indigo without any additional action from us.
Print books, however, are a different story.
Why Indigo Works Differently for Print
Unlike some international retailers like Waterstones or Barnes & Noble, Indigo does not automatically list print books simply because they are available through IngramSpark.
Even when a print book is fully set up, wholesaled, and live in IngramSpark, Indigo requires an additional step. Publishers must email Indigo directly and request that each title be added to their website.
So while IngramSpark handles printing and distribution, discoverability at Indigo requires a manual follow up each time.
POD Titles Are Starting to Populate
The great thing is that once they confirmed receipt of the email and sent the titles along to their website team, our print on demand titles are now starting to show up, confirming that the workflow is working as intended.
We talked about what print-on-demand books are and and why it made sense for our group, especially given current print costs and the realities of small press publishing in this post.
Seeing these listings appear reassures us that once Indigo is contacted at the right time, the system does respond, even if there is a delay.
The Ongoing Catch: Timing and Repetition
There is one important limitation to be aware of.
As of now, Indigo will not accept ISBNs for books that are not yet fully live. We cannot pre-send ISBNs for books coming out next month, and we cannot batch future titles in advance. Each book must already be published, active in IngramSpark, and available for wholesale before we can request listing.
This is important to remember because our books will always be delayed compared to other sites both in Canada (some smaller bookstores allow auto-population) around the world that sell our books.
That means this becomes a recurring task rather than a one time setup.
As new books go live, we will need to:
- Confirm the title is active in IngramSpark
- Email Indigo with the required information
- Wait for confirmation of acceptance and then for the listing to appear
It is not complicated, but it does require careful timing and regular follow up.
Why We Still Consider It Worthwhile
Even with the extra step, Indigo remains an important retailer for Canadian readers. Many families, educators, and librarians search Indigo first, and its listings often influence purchasing and requests.
For us, this is part of building a sustainable and transparent publishing process. It is slower than instant uploads, but it supports broader goals around accessibility, libraries, and long term availability.
Seeing our books finally appear there feels like progress, even knowing this step will now live permanently on our monthly checklist.
Unexpected Bonus for Manual Submission
As much of an extra step can be considered a bit of a hassle, there is a bonus that has happened for us at the same time. Because we publish books in Canadian English, American English & British English as well as other languages (coming in 2026), we can choose to submit only the Canadian English version of our books to be showcased on their website. This actually stops any possible confusion when people are looking for books for their family that are written using Canadian English.
You can always see all of our available books on our Books page.
