[LINK] a self-publishing experience

[Jan Whitaker]

CreateSpace is the Amazon POD service.
Jan

>And Now a Word from Our Sponsor...
>----------------------------------
>I did say I'd get in a plug for my book, didn't I?  I also promised
>to tell you more about my experiences with CreateSpace as they
>unfold, so let's kill two birds with one stone.  (Sometimes,
>cliches have their place...)
>
>My experiences with CreateSpace.com would have to be described as
>"so far, so good!"  I was a bit concerned about the fact that while
>my book had appeared in the CreateSpace.com e-store (which offers
>higher royalties, BTW), it had not appeared on Amazon.com itself.
>I inquired, and was told that it takes about 15 days from the
>moment you approve your proof for actual sale before your page on
>Amazon.com is completed.  I've checked, and my book is now up on
>Amazon itself.  I've also just completed the book details form,
>which should take another five days or so to "propagate."
>
>The CreateSpace.com process as a whole is a bit more cumbersome
>than Lulu.com.  On Lulu, you upload your book, decide whether it's
>for sale publicly or just available to you, order a copy, make
>corrections if you need to, and that's it.  There's no "review"
>process, which certainly saves time.  On CreateSpace, your files
>must be checked by some unseen reviewer.  And CreateSpace seems to
>have more "compatibility" problems than Lulu.com.  I have a book on
>Lulu that works just fine; CreateSpace, however, couldn't "read"
>the very same PDF file (so that one is still in limbo).  They also
>complained about a low-resolution image on my Contests cover, which
>looked just fine in the cover proof.  And the fact that you have to
>order your proof, wait for it to be delivered, and then "approve"
>it before your book goes "live" does build in a bit of a delay.
>
>However, I was EXTREMELY pleased by the quality of the interior
>print (and, if I do say so myself, design, which was my own).  I
>did decide to make changes to my cover, as I'd misunderstood the
>guidelines on the cover template.  (Lulu's cover "wizard" is a bit
>easier to use; on CreateSpace, you have to design a complete
>one-piece cover, but they provide a template for Photoshop, so that
>works out OK.)
>
>Like Pearl Harris, who answered Dawn's "inquiring writer" question
>on CreateSpace, I've found that they're very responsive to
>questions.  One of my questions was whether I could order books at
>the author rate and have them mailed directly to reviewers (thus
>saving having to pay shipping to me and THEN pay postage to send
>them out again).  The answer was yes, and I've also been told that
>if I order a quantity of books, I'll be charged the actual shipping
>cost rather than some flat "per book" rate.  (Which means, in fact,
>it may be cheaper to order in quantity and send books to reviewers
>than to have a flat rate charged on each single book sent directly
>from CreateSpace.)
>
>And speaking of reviewers, if you run a newsletter, blog, or other
>publication for writers and you'd like an electronic review copy of
>the book, please just drop me a note and I'll send you one.  And if
>anyone would like a sneak preview of the book, I've pulled together
>all the February listings and posted them as a free sample at
>http://www.writing-world.com/bookstore/books/Contests-February.pdf
>
>And if you'd like to order, just to go:
>http://www.createspace.com/3364376/
>
>-- Moira Allen, Editor


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

Writing Lesson #54:
Learn to love revision. Think of it as polishing the silver for 
guests. - JW, May, 2007
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