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Ingram Spark Quality Control (or lack thereof)

1K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Bob Stewart 
#1 ·
I put my first book up at IS in February and have found them very disappointing.

The first proof I received has ink stains on the title page and every 12th page following:
http://www.lycophospress.com/IS-issues/IS-proof1.jpg

I didn't complain because I needed to adjust the cover image anyway.

The second proof came with a white line along the right margin of the cover as if the cover image lacked the bleed margin:
http://www.lycophospress.com/IS-issues/IS-proof2.jpg

In fact, the cover image does have the requisite bleed. I pointed this out and was sent a replacement proof free of charge.

This third proof arrived today and there are splatters of ink on the front, spine, and back cover:
http://www.lycophospress.com/IS-issues/IS-proof3.jpg

It's as if no one even looks at the books before shipping -- not even a book ordered as a replacement for a previous problem with QC. The last two issues were immediately obvious on opening the packages that they came in.

Is this normal for them?

I've had QC issues with CreateSpace, but it's like 3-4 books out of several hundred. The last 50, for this same book, were almost flawless.
 
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#5 ·
Mark,

That's one of the problems I had with CS.

I know these things are never perfect, but each of three proofs had something really noticeably wrong.

With both IS and CS, you have to wonder what the reaction is of some other buyer.  You'd never see books with issues like these in a bookstore.
 
#6 ·
I've seen people having these issues around the internet with IS recently, unfortunately matching issues that used to be much more common with CS.

I'm not sure what's going on but it's made me look like a liar when I used to say that IS' quality made it a better choice and worth the fees. Unfortunately, there aren't many other fabulous options, either.
 
#7 ·
AmpersandBookInteriors said:
I've seen people having these issues around the internet with IS recently, unfortunately matching issues that used to be much more common with CS.

I'm not sure what's going on but it's made me look like a liar when I used to say that IS' quality made it a better choice and worth the fees. Unfortunately, there aren't many other fabulous options, either.
That's what I had heard, so I was surprised to find them even worse than what I've encountered with CS.

What made the whole thing particularly galling is the silly make-paperwork way of dealing with an issue. I waited half an hour in vain for someone to respond via their chat interface, then called and waited half an hour on hold. I emailed the person images immediately and he saw the problem, but instead of just ordering a replacement, he insisted I had to file the official form.

This was a word Doc which asked me my name, address, account number, isbn, etc. In other words, everything anyone could see looking at the order. Then late the next afternoon, I get an email saying they're ready to send it, but are waiting for an address. My address was on the account, the order, and the damn word Doc.

At least when I've brought an issue to CS's attention, they made the process as simple as possible.
 
#9 ·
I can't address IS, which I haven't used so far, but out of hundreds of books ordered from CS, I've only had a problem with one proof copy (bar code freakishly too small).

This is another subject on which it would be nice to have big picture stats, and there's no way of getting them. Some of us are lucky with CS; others are unlucky. Apparently, the same is true of IS, and, from what I've heard, of KDP Print as well. But which one really has the highest error rate overall? There's no way to know. Even the more expensive print runs from larger trad publishers don't always produce perfect books. For most of my life, I've bought huge numbers of physical books, only recently switching to ebooks as my primary mode of consumption. A few of those trad published books had printing issues, a small number really serious issues. Given the overall number of books I purchased, it wasn't an unreasonable number, but what are the overall trad pub stats? Again, there's no way to know.
 
#10 ·
Bill,

We're much the same way, we have hundreds of trad books. But I don't think I've seen any with FUs as bad as the three proofs I got from IS.

I think there are two big differences. One, the trad manufacturing process is probably ten times more consistent than PoD. And two, there is probably far more done in the way of quality control. If a printer screws up a run of a big customer's book, they're most likely on the hook for a make-good. And that customer is not going to need to jump through any hoops to get it.
 
#11 ·
I have weirdly had the MOST issues with Proof copies of books rather than finalized copies. I have not yet worked with IS, but CS has been great for me save a small handful of units. Oddly, there have been MAJOR issues with every proof copy I've ever gotten from them. To the point that I am now convinced they don't give a crap about proof copies because they go to the author and not a customer. So, I don't complain about the proof copies, just fix the errors I know are my fault and not theirs and then await my boxes of finalized books with bated breath. Oddly, this has worked for me. The finalized books always turn out well despite the issues with the proof copies.
 
#12 ·
I had complained to IS about it and have exchanged several emails (mainly due to the fact they don't seem to read mine.)

In the last one, I was told: "It just is not physically possible to inspect all orders due to the mass production and speed that our facilities are running at."

In other words, the book comes off the machine and goes into a box. They do quality spot checks, but not individual books.

PoD would seem viable only where you order them yourself and can inspect them--and then resolve the inevitable problems...
 
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