CreateSpace

[bxs122]

Got my first request for a printed copy of my book.

I hadn't planned to go that route but might as well give it a look.

So what have experiences been using CreateSpace?

If I signed up for the three month trade dealy with Amazon, limiting where i can sell from, does that also exclude print versions?

thanx

[ETS PRESS]

You can have a print version if you are in KDP-Select. Createspace is easy and your price for purchasing copies is the best around.

[Donald Wells]

CreateSpace is great. They do a good job and are fast. I've done several books through them already.

[bxs122]

How is the quality?

When I create the print version of the book, how do I add it to the Kindle book? Do I add it via ASIN?

[ErikHyrkas]

I used CreateSpace and think the quality is good.

On Amazon's Author Central, there is a form to fill out for linking the editions. They call you on the phone about 1 minute later.  It takes a few days for them to then show up linked.

As I understand it, if you did nothing, they'd get linked after two weeks or so. I'm impatient, though.

Erik

[Feenix]

Hey there!

Betrovia was published first as an ebook for the Kindle. Then when requests came in for a paperback version, I went with Createspace. It was a no-brainer. There are many helpful people on the Createspace forums that like to help.

Dave King

[Caddy]

Createspace rocks.  The quality is good.  I have gotten many compliments on how lovely my printed books look.  Of course, you have to make sure you provide a kickin' cover.

[Birdie]

I've been using Createspace for four years and love the service. The books look fantastic and professional, and the interface is so easy to use. You can use their cover creator if you don't have money for a cover designer, and those look decent, too.

The accounting is always up to date, and the pay out fast, too! Book you sell in February will be paid to you in March.

[-alex-]

While we're on the subject, can I jump in and ask, how does Lightning Source compare with Create Space these days? I know things change all the time.

[Donald Wells]

Lightning Source is also very good. I always found their customer service to be exceptional. I used to use them for hardcovers, but since I've started publishing digitally, I haven't bothered making hardcover versions. I think I will correct that soon, I always did like having my books available in both paperback and hardcover.

[Rick Gualtieri]

I've been very happy with Createspace.  Even more so now as they just lowered their prices and updated their templates.  Waiting for a proof for my new book, but judging by the updated proofs of two of my older books, I don't expect to be disappointed.  Even better, I was able to pass on the new pricing to my readers.  My books went from $13 to $9.99, within range of a mass published paperback.

[bxs122]

I used CreateSpace and think the quality is good.

On Amazon's Author Central, there is a form to fill out for linking the editions. They call you on the phone about 1 minute later.  It takes a few days for them to then show up linked.

As I understand it, if you did nothing, they'd get linked after two weeks or so. I'm impatient, though.

Erik

Good to know - that is my concern, not being able to link them.

Forgot to ask, what is a preferred print size for books? I prefer traditional paperback but know most like larger books.

[twg144]

Good to know - that is my concern, not being able to link them.

Forgot to ask, what is a preferred print size for books? I prefer traditional paperback but know most like larger books.

CreateSpace is excellent but there are a few gotcha's.
1. READ their docs on how to set up a professional looking book. There is an excellent one given out for free which is like 98 pages long that covers everything from fonts to each page. Read it.
2. You have to know how to get Word or InDesign to behave. For this Createspace has templates to use. These are excellent but will need a bit of massaging for your own use.
3. They tell you that you should use .doc format and not .docx. I have not found this to be true. I have found that once set out right the movement into PDF will show you most of the problems.
4. Download their "pre-flight" file for Adobe PDF. That is excellent in telling you where potential problems may lie.
5. The Interior Book Reviewer is great to see pages and finds a lot of problems BUT do not rely on it to find all the problems.
6. Expect to spend a week or so in getting it all right.
7. Their forum, has some really knowledgeable people, who tend to answer serious questions really swiftly. In two cases dealing with DPI and greyscale I had the answers within an hour.
8. Cover designer is also very good, and if you really play with it, you can get it to produce some really outstanding covers (something I learned a bit late in the game but better late than never!)

On your first book resist the temptation not to wait for the Proof. Wait for it and then approve. If you did it right the next book - waiting or skipping the proof part (takes around a week or so to get to you) is up to you.

As for Hardcover, I am not the one to ask. I still am on the fence as to whether hardcover is worth it, unless of course you have a best seller. With a best seller I would put it into hardcover asap.

My 2 cents

ETA: CS immediately gives you by default the 6X9 option. I thought that was large, until i went to a book store with a tape measure (real tacky I know!) and started looking at the newly published books and measuring them. Turns out....6X9 is becoming standard as far as I can tell.

[bxs122]

Awesome list of information - thank you.

[twg144]

Start off here:

https://www.createspace.com/en/community/docs/DOC-1482?decorator=print

[Feenix]

Awesome list of information - thank you.

Hey there Brian!

So when can we expect to see a sequel to Superman's Cape? 

Dave King

[Sean Patrick Fox]

With regards to black and white or full color books: if you want your cover to be in color, do you have to do the full color option? This seems terribly expensive (but maybe I'm missing something).

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

CreateSpace is one of the best for printed books. They are efficient and very helpful. I have not read a single negative comment so far.

But sale and marketing is totally author responsibility. You sell what you advertise. You cannot expect royalty checks with minimum efforts as in case of traditional publishers. Wish you and other CS authors the very best.

[altworld]

The cover is printed in full color and you don't have to select the Full Color option for that to happen, it is included in the price of the book.
Arigato,
Nick Davis

[Jena H]

This is good info.  I too found CreateSpace pretty confusing at first, but we'll see how my first use of it actually goes now that I've gotten partway through the process.

Two questions that perhaps some of you experts can answer:  for the pages, white or cream?  I'm thinking cream, but not sure if it makes that much of a difference.  Also, regarding font size...  I wonder how much difference is between 11 and 12.  It looks fine in the template, and I imagine that with the template, what you see is what you get, so I'd like to be sure 11 is okay.

[Feenix]

I wonder how much difference is between 11 and 12.  It looks fine in the template, and I imagine that with the template, what you see is what you get, so I'd like to be sure 11 is okay.

Hey there!

The proof that I ordered for Betrovia was 9 point. Everyone I asked said that the font was too small. So I reformatted for 11 pt. Doing that added nearly 75 more pages

Dave King

[MeiLinMiranda]

I've been extremely happy with CS's quality and customer support. I get my paper copies professionally typeset; it makes a difference. And yes, DO get a proof!!

[twg144]

Points in Fonts:

I think, and this is by the way based on research in docs and forums and discussions I have had on the web and in person, that when you are creating a Paper book (Hardcover or Paperback) despite the page difference it will make you should try 12 points. I will explain why.

1. Many people who buy Paper books today, are in the over 30 range. They like their eyesight, and usually at that point in one's life small print gets more and more difficult.
2. The people I asked all said they would rather the larger font than the smaller one (I do not think there was even one exception to that btw.) But again these are just random samples from questions I posed.
3. If you are going for the suggested 6X9 or near that...then a 12 pt. font happens to make sense in the aesthetics of the book.
4. Kindle, Nook and Tablet readers get the ability to enlarge or decrease font size. Paper books you cannot do that. Going with a small 9-11 pt. font, may put off people from buying the book.
5. Read the docs on CS site. There are some very good ones on book layout.

The big argument these days seems to be whether to allow 6 pts. between each paragraph or not. Some suggest it some do not. That is all up to you.

There is one Gotcha here though
If your book is going to be 500 pages+ then you are going to really have to lay it out well with the correct font. But it seems that "the perception of what you are buying and what you are paying for rules the day" as usual. Say your book is priced at 11.99 and the person sees 140 pages cause you used a 9 pt. font or 10 pt. It would be better to have that same book at 200 pgs (which of course will raise the price around $1.00) and give them the perception of something inside.

Plus they can read what you wrote without squinting!

MHO