CreateSpace Question

[leslee]

For those of you who are familiar with, or have personally used Createspace:

I know that they have the right to refuse to publish any book. I'm wondering what would cause them to refuse.

In particular, do they have issues with graphic sexual content?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

[Gary Kessler]

They pull incest and violent rape off the listings when a reader complains--so I guess they would reject publishing that if they caught it beforehand (which, I think, is unlikely unless it's displayed on the cover. I don't think they read the books).

[leslee]

Thanks, Gary.

[James North]

They simply do not have time to read the files before publishing. If customers complain, they will pull the book. You will sell a lot more Kindle copies, so if you publish through CS, go with KDP too. In August, I sold 981 Kindle copies and less than 100 paperbacks. It's still worth going with CS too though. The writers with six or more books are the ones selling the most. Each book helps sell the others. If they like one of your books, they will likely buy all of them. I have four and will have five soon. I want to put about ten out before I slow down. My last novel is the big seller, but it's helping the others grow in sales too. The sequel to the best producer will be out in less than two months. That book will probably sell fast the first month to the thousands who bought the first in the series. Amazon is a good way to build an extra income stream. I did not believe it until I tried it.

[Lea Zalas]

The more I read what you all have to say about e-pubbing, I think that's the way to go nowadays. There's a gal in my writers' group who sells all her books that way. Her last book was in the top 200 e-books on Amazon. She gets a good enough check every quarter that she has quit her job and writes full-time now. I've read her books and know that probably no agent would have any interest in them, but the readers (which is what counts) love them.

[leslee]

If customers complain, they will pull the book.

I wonder how many complaints it takes.

so if you publish through CS, go with KDP too

You do this simultaneously?

[Gary Kessler]

If customers complain, they will pull the book.

I wonder how many complaints it takes.

so if you publish through CS, go with KDP too


You do this simultaneously?

My publishers go with both at the same time. It has to be close to 30,000 words to make a print book, though, so there are more on Kindle than are in print through CreateSpace. If you submit both at the same time, the paperback will come out some time after the Kindle version, though. You have to receive and sign off on a proof copy before they will activate the CreateSpace setup and offer it for sale.

[leslee]

Thank you, Gary, Lea, James.

Is there any comprehensive online article or book you can suggest on this subject? I'd really like to be more educated about it, and don't want to take so much of your time.

I feel I'm behind the curve on understanding this stuff - which isn't entirely unusual, as I'm one who tends to avoid technology. But I would like to have the same level of comprehension regarding non-traditional publishing as I have of traditional publishing.

So, if I understand correctly, once an individual has finished the process of publishing on Createspace, and has received a copy of their book and signed off on it, the book will be available on Amazon and THEN you submit it for publication on Kindle?

Sorry for being ignorant about it - but I am. I appreciate your help.

[Gary Kessler]

Thank you, Gary, Lea, James.

Is there any comprehensive online article or book you can suggest on this subject? I'd really like to be more educated about it, and don't want to take so much of your time.

I feel I'm behind the curve on understanding this stuff - which isn't entirely unusual, as I'm one who tends to avoid technology. But I would like to have the same level of comprehension regarding non-traditional publishing as I have of traditional publishing.

So, if I understand correctly, once an individual has finished the process of publishing on Createspace, and has received a copy of their book and signed off on it, the book will be available on Amazon and THEN you submit it for publication on Kindle?

Sorry for being ignorant about it - but I am. I appreciate your help.

Can't help you much with the technicals. That's why I go with a publisher. So they can publish and I can write. But I see no reason to wait to put it up on Kindle--I think you're going to find that nearly all of your sales are electronic anyway.

[James North]

If customers complain, they will pull the book.

I wonder how many complaints it takes.

so if you publish through CS, go with KDP too

You do this simultaneously?

You can ask any question you want on the CS and KDP communities. I suggest you check out the threads there. Start with the instructions at CS and KDP. It will all seem confusing at first, and you will have to ask a few stupid questions before you start to understand what is required. You can publish either paperback or Kindle first but might want to do your CS paperback first so you can use their free book cover creator. (Many publish through CS or KDP only, but I certainly would publish through KDP even if I did not publish a paperback because that’s where the money is.) You can use the same picture for your paperback cover for your Kindle product page for free too. I always publish the paperback first for that reason. Use your own photo to personalize/customize your book cover. Of course you can design the whole book cover yourself or pay someone. You can pay someone to do the whole thing for both paper and Kindle, but that is costly. The title is VERY important. Make it short so the font size can be large and easy to read on the book’s cover picture. The book cover is very important to attract attention. The genre you choose to write about will make a big difference in sales. The description on your product page is important. Your book must stand out among nearly a million Kindles and millions of paperbacks. Once you get your sales ranking up enough, Amazon will automatically show your book with others in their “customers who bought this book also bought [your book]” feature. This feature alone will sell your books. Once you’re on the list of 100 bestsellers in a certain category like young adult, paranormal romance, science fiction, or whatever, you have succeeded and can watch the money come in. Both KDP and CS pay every month through direct deposit but are two months behind at all times. The first month you may not get paid if you do not sell enough copies to reach a certain threshold. I do not remember what it is. It’s not very much, maybe ten bucks or so.

Who knows how many complaints it takes to get a book blocked by Amazon? Amazon does not enforce any of its terms of use rules evenly. It’s basically a crap shoot if you write anything controversial, but it has to be really far out stuff to get blocked.

Peruse the CS and KDP publishing communities at Amazon and you will learn a lot. Read the threads, ask questions. Keep in mind that formatting and going through the publishing process will be a headache and take MANY hours. A cheap way to save time and headaches is to do your paperback first and then pay CS $69 to turn the file you uploaded for your paperback into a file ready to upload for KDP. The formatting for KDP is entirely different than for CS paperbacks. It will take you hours to do each book, paper and Kindle, especially the first time, so how much is your time worth? I have always done it all myself, and it DOES get easier after a few times, but it still is not fun! I am no computer whiz but have never had an interior file rejected for bad formatting. Take your time, do it right the first time.