--- title: "Self publishing platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?" description: "Compare the platforms authors publish books through. Share of Search among Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, Smashwords and Lulu, the self publishing platforms Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/self-publishing-platforms" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Self publishing platforms: Which brands are most popular in search? Compare the platforms authors publish books through. Share of Search among Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, Smashwords and Lulu, the self publishing platforms Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Competitive set**: Self publishing platforms - **Market**: Global - **Brands compared**: 5 - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **Highest Share of Search**: Amazon KDP, 90.3% ## Which brand is most popular in search among self publishing platforms worldwide? - In August 2026, Amazon KDP was the most searched among self publishing platforms worldwide, with an estimated 1.5M branded searches and 90.3% estimated Share of Search within this set. - IngramSpark is in 2nd place, 84.9 percentage points behind at 5.4% Share of Search. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Amazon KDP’s estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide increased from 89.2% to 90.3%. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Smashwords’ estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide decreased from 2.4% to 1.6%. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Amazon KDP’s estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide peaked at 90.3% in August 2026 and was lowest at 87.1% in November 2025. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, IngramSpark’s estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide peaked at 6.5% in February 2026 and was lowest at 5.4% in January 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Smashwords’ estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide peaked at 2.9% in January 2026 and was lowest at 1.6% in August 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital and Lulu held steady: their estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide each moved less than 0.5 percentage points. ## Compare search popularity between leading brands - [Amazon KDP vs IngramSpark: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/amazon-kdp-vs-ingramspark): 90.3% against 5.4% Share of Search. ## How did search popularity change for self publishing platforms worldwide in August 2026? - In August 2026, Amazon KDP gained estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide, from 89.2% to 90.3%. - In August 2026, Smashwords lost estimated Share of Search among self publishing platforms worldwide, from 2.4% to 1.6%. - Estimated monthly branded searches for IngramSpark worldwide rose 22.3% over 11 measured months, from 74K to 90.5K in August 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Lulu worldwide rose 22.2% over 11 measured months, from 8.1K to 9.9K in August 2026. ## Share of Search ranking | Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Amazon KDP | 90.3% | 1.5M | +23.0% | Amazon KDP | | 2 | IngramSpark | 5.4% | 90.5K | +22.3% | IngramSpark | | 3 | Draft2Digital | 2% | 33.1K | 0.0% | Draft2Digital | | 4 | Smashwords | 1.6% | 27.1K | -18.1% | Smashwords | | 5 | Lulu | 0.6% | 9.9K | +22.2% | Lulu | ## Historical estimated branded-search demand | Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 89.2% | 1 | | Oct 2025 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | Oct 2025 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.4% | 3 | | Oct 2025 | Smashwords | 33.1K | 2.4% | 4 | | Oct 2025 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | Nov 2025 | Amazon KDP | 1M | 87.1% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | IngramSpark | 74K | 6.4% | 2 | | Nov 2025 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.9% | 3 | | Nov 2025 | Smashwords | 33.1K | 2.9% | 4 | | Nov 2025 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.71% | 5 | | Dec 2025 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 89.2% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | Dec 2025 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.4% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | Smashwords | 33.1K | 2.4% | 4 | | Dec 2025 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | Jan 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 88.2% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | Jan 2026 | Draft2Digital | 40.5K | 2.9% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | Smashwords | 40.5K | 2.9% | 4 | | Jan 2026 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | Feb 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1M | 87.7% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 6.5% | 2 | | Feb 2026 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.9% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | Smashwords | 27.1K | 2.4% | 4 | | Feb 2026 | Lulu | 6.6K | 0.58% | 5 | | Mar 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 89.2% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | Mar 2026 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.4% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | Smashwords | 33.1K | 2.4% | 4 | | Mar 2026 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | Apr 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 89.1% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | Apr 2026 | Draft2Digital | 40.5K | 3% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | Smashwords | 27.1K | 2% | 4 | | Apr 2026 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | May 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 89.6% | 1 | | May 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | May 2026 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.4% | 3 | | May 2026 | Smashwords | 27.1K | 2% | 4 | | May 2026 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | Jun 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 90% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.5% | 2 | | Jun 2026 | Draft2Digital | 27.1K | 2% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | Smashwords | 27.1K | 2% | 4 | | Jun 2026 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.6% | 5 | | Jul 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.2M | 89.2% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | IngramSpark | 74K | 5.4% | 2 | | Jul 2026 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2.4% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | Smashwords | 33.1K | 2.4% | 4 | | Jul 2026 | Lulu | 8.1K | 0.59% | 5 | | Aug 2026 | Amazon KDP | 1.5M | 90.3% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | IngramSpark | 90.5K | 5.4% | 2 | | Aug 2026 | Draft2Digital | 33.1K | 2% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | Smashwords | 27.1K | 1.6% | 4 | | Aug 2026 | Lulu | 9.9K | 0.6% | 5 | | Sep 2026 | Amazon KDP | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Draft2Digital | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | IngramSpark | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Lulu | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Smashwords | — | — | — | ## What is being compared - **Amazon KDP**: Measured on the search term “amazon kdp”. - **Draft2Digital**: Measured on the search term “draft2digital”. - **IngramSpark**: Measured on the search term “ingramspark”. - **Lulu**: Measured on the search term “lulu publishing”. - **Smashwords**: Measured on the search term “smashwords”. - [Amazon KDP](/demand/global-en/brands/amazon-kdp) - [Draft2Digital](/demand/global-en/brands/draft2digital) - [IngramSpark](/demand/global-en/brands/ingramspark) - [Lulu](/demand/global-en/brands/lulu-publishing) - [Smashwords](/demand/global-en/brands/smashwords) ## Methodology - [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which brand is most popular in search among self publishing platforms worldwide? In August 2026, Amazon KDP was the most searched among self publishing platforms worldwide, with an estimated 1.5M branded searches and 90.3% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Self publishing platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/self-publishing-platforms This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/self-publishing-platforms. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.