This meant if we wanted to, we could accept the changes we made after the first proof, and go right to having the book being published and available.  We still chose to order a second proof just in case.

Afterwards, CS sent an email about this and asked me to take a small survey on whether or not I liked this option.  I can see it having its advantages and disadvantages, but I gave it two thumbs up overall.

The main advantage is if you are 100% sure you are done with your changes, you can save the time and money by not having to order and wait on another proof copy…only to approve it immediately and then wait some more for the book to go live.

Disadvantages are authors rushing the publication process when more editing or changes may need to be made and a second proof might have helped.  Time and patience are the biggest factors when self-publishing, but also our biggest downfalls, right?

So, tell us what you think?  Do you think this option is good?  Bad? Why or why not?

How many proof copies have you gone through before you got it right?

And would you still consider opting out and ordering a proof copy anyway, even if you didn’t have to?

CreateSpace will convert your trade paperback book* into an eBook format that maintains the formatting and design elements used in your trade paperback book. You will also receive a JPEG thumbnail of your book’s cover.

Both files are ready for you to upload to Amazon’s Digital Text Platform (DTP) for distribution in the Kindle store. DTP also accepts html, Word .doc, .pdf, ePub, plain text, and MobiPocket files for free.

How It Works

1. Set up your book with CreateSpace, or use one of your existing CreateSpace titles.
2. We take your print-ready CreateSpace interior file and convert it to a Kindle-ready PRC file.
3. We provide you with the converted file and a JPEG of your cover.
4. You upload and distribute your book to the Kindle store at dtp.amazon.com

Typical turnaround time for this service is 2-3 weeks.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I don’t see this as too much of an over priced service if authors don’t have time to do this themselves, or are afraid to approach it.  My only concern is would you be able to use the files they provide to also upload your ebook to PubIt! or even Smashwords, or would CreateSpace watermark them or make you sign some sort of contract to prevent use outside the Amazon DTP?

Their turnaround time is also a bit much if you take into account that you can download a free help guide from Smashwords to help you, and practically convert your own file within a few hours.

If CreateSpace really wanted to make an effort, they’d connect the DTP to your CS account allowing your book to become available on Kindle all on the same screen if you wanted it, rather than you having to sign up for DTP and upload the file yourself.

The 2010 winners of the ABNA (Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award) have been announced.

Congrats go out to Patrica McArdle whose novel, Farishta, takes home the General Fiction award.

And Amy Ackley’s book, Sign Language, snagged the Young Adult Fiction win.

Here’s what  Molly Stern (editorial director at Viking Books) had to say about McArdle’s book:

“For all its problems, Farishta has an undeniably fabulous setup. Far too long and burdened by overwhelming detail and an underwhelming plot, Patricia McArdle’s novel does magnificently portray the experience of a soon-to-be-washed-up foreign service diplomat working at a military outpost in Afghanistan just after the 9/11 attacks. As the novel opens, Angela Morgan is, at 47 years old, considered past her prime. When her supervisor calls her with a last assignment–she is instructed to use her considerable language skills to learn Dari in a matter of weeks and work at a remote outpost on a one-year assignment with the British army–she knows she must accept or be forced to retire for good. After the devastating loss of her husband during a bombing in Beirut and the subsequent miscarriage of their child twenty years earlier, Angela has never quite recovered from her post-traumatic stress disorder. Panic attacks are always one unexpected loud noise away. And jumping into a war zone is almost more than she can imagine. But with the promise of a future post in London, and not much to keep her stateside, she packs her bags and begins a fascinating personal and professional odyssey. Instructed to keep her knowledge of Dari secret, Angela is charged with determining whether the army’s interpreters are passing along accurate and truthful information to the soldiers as they navigate the dire lawlessness of this embattled country. What follows is the fine-grained, deeply knowledgeable portrait of the life of a lone woman among soldiers in a military camp in rural Afghanistan.

Farishta’s principal accomplishment is its fascinating window into military life at the center of a complex conflict that will be relevant for years to come. McArdle is a confident, unaffected writer, and Angela is believable and compelling, even heroic, as a woman finding purpose at a later stage in life. Unnerved and sad at first, Angela finds an energizing bonhomie in her relationships with the soldiers who surround her; the Mr. Darcy–like figure in the form of the younger Major Davies, who inflames her; the interpreter she befriends but must deceive; and the native people she becomes determined to help.

However, a fine sense of place does not a great novel make. In fact, the novel’s most potent asset is also its undoing. The narrative is seriously lacking in discipline, with no detail spared, no regional ritual excised, no minute element of military-camp protocol truncated. At 550 pages, Farishta is 150 pages too long. The Jane Austen–esque love affair is preposterously drawn out, and crucial events are anticlimactically telegraphed rather than dramatized. And yet I am intrigued by the potential here. Though missed opportunities abound, buried as they are beneath the author’s good intentions and her rather astonishing ability to evoke the culture, I do firmly believe that with a strong editorial hand Farishta could be a hugely successful, even revelatory, novel.”

And Ben Schranks’s (President and Publisher of Razorbill) thoughts on Ackley’s title:

“This is a melancholic coming-of-age tale about standing by and watching a loved one die. Abby is 13 years old when her father is rushed to the hospital, where it’s discovered that he is battling kidney cancer. The North family–Abby, her brother, her older sister and their mother–nurse him to no avail. This novel moves at a slow burn, with plenty of loving attention given to even the smallest details. Abby watches her father move from the early stages of illness to a time when he’s on morphine and living in a hospital bed that the Norths have moved into their living room. The author’s focus on the haze of misunderstanding and illogic that surrounds death in the family is wonderful, and Abby’s struggle with faith gilds her character. Unable to find succor in God, she turns to a Magic 8 Ball that answers her big questions. ‘Abby wondered how many little girls were out there fooling themselves into believing they had guardian angels that watched over them, and if any of them had asked for a sign of life before and actually received one. Abby wondered if any of their dead mothers or fathers had given them something to hold on to, whether they were loved more than Abby was.’

The book moves at a steady pace and chronicles Abby’s journey from a bewildered and frightened girl to a strong young woman. Her grasp on reality tightens and, eventually, she processes the loss of her father and is ready to emerge on the other side of grief. What this book lacks in narrative tension, it makes up for in finely drawn details and sincerity. This one’s the winner in my book.”

As technology sponsor of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, CreateSpace would like to congratulate the 2010 Finalists! Out of an initial field of thousands, Amazon has narrowed the pool down to three entries each in the Young Adult Fiction and General Fiction categories. To find out more about the contest visit the CreateSpace ABNA contest page at www.createspace.com/abna. For more about the finalists, including an extended excerpt from each of their manuscripts, and reviews from the expert panel, visit the Amazon contest page at www.amazon.com/abna.

Voting is open until Tuesday, June 2nd at 11:59 PM EDT. Make sure to cast your vote for the Grand Prize winner in each of the two categories.

General Fiction:

Fortune Cookies by Jennifer Handford

Farishta by Patricia McArdle

Dove Season by Johnny Shaw

Young Adult Fiction:

Sign Language by Amy Ackley

Service of the Crown by Alex Airdale

Days Like this by Alison Stewart

Voting ends June 2nd.  Winners will be announced June 14th.

Under the new agreement, CreateSpace’s Books on-Demand platform will allow members to print and then distribute their titles to thousands of bookstores, libraries and online retailers. CreateSpace members will have access to this enhanced print and distribution option as part of the CreateSpace Pro Plan, a program which gives members access to lower print pricing for their own book orders and better royalties for sales on Amazon.com.

“With this expansion, CreateSpace members will not only be able to reach Amazon.com customers, but they can also reach the thousands of bookstores, libraries and online retailers that work with the Ingram Content Group, ” said Dana LoPiccolo-Giles, managing director, CreateSpace. “With Lightning Source and Ingram, our members can make their titles available to the larger book marketplace while remaining inventory-free with print on-demand.”

“At Ingram, we are passionate about books and the book industry,” said Philip Ollila, chief content officer, Ingram Content Group. “Our new relationship with CreateSpace is a continuation of Ingram’s long-term strategy to offer the broadest selection of books to our customers worldwide.”

For more information about CreateSpace, please visit www.createspace.com.

About CreateSpace
CreateSpace is a leader in manufacture on-demand services for independent content creators, publishers, film studios and music labels. CreateSpace provides inventory-free, physical distribution of Books, CDs and DVDs On-Demand, music downloads via Amazon MP3 and video downloads via Amazon Video On Demand. CreateSpace is a brand of On-Demand Publishing LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).

About Lightning Source
Lightning Source is the leading print-on-demand company in the world, offering the unique combination of quality one-off book manufacturing and access to the most comprehensive distribution solutions in the publishing industry. Lightning Source is an Ingram Content Group company. The Ingram Content Group of companies provide a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry, and immediate access to the largest selection of books and book-related products in the industry. For more information visit www.lightningsource.com

About Ingram
Ingram Content Group Inc. provides a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry. Ingram’s operating units are Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc., Ingram Digital, Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Tennessee Book Company LLC, Coutts Information Services, and Ingram Marketing Group Inc. For more information, visit www.ingramcontent.com

About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as books, movies, music & games, digital downloads, electronics & computers, home & garden, toys, kids & baby, grocery, apparel, shoes & jewelry, health & beauty, sports & outdoors, and tools, auto & industrial.

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca and www.amazon.cn.

As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

For Amazon.com
Amazon Media Hotline
206-266-7180

CreateSpace

Total Design Freedom Standard:

Includes:

• Unique Book Cover
• Custom Interior
• ISBN Assignment
• Price: $758.00

Total Design Freedom Essentials:

Includes:

• 1 Round of Basic Copy Editing
• Unique Book Cover
• Custom Interior
• ISBN Assignment
• Price: $1658.00

Total Design Freedom Advanced:

Includes:

• 1 Round of Basic Copy Editing
• Unique Book Cover
• Custom Interior
• Kirkus Discoveries Standard Review
• Press Release with Distribution
• ISBN Assignment
• Price: $2586.00

CreateSpace already offered all of these services individually, but authors stand to save a bit of money now that CS has packaged them together.  Here’s a price comparison chart:

However, please note the following:

• The Unique Book Cover is a single image front cover; text, author photo, and barcode on the back.
• If your book uses images on the inside, the Custom Interior only allows up to 10 images.
• The Basic Copyediting price is based on a 60,000 word book.  Additional fees may apply for larger books.
• The Kirkus Review takes 8 to 9 weeks.  For $150 more, you can get the Express Service which takes 4 to 5 weeks.
• The press release is supposedly distributed to a minimum of 1,000 regional and national media outlets, including Google and other search engines.

Hi all, when comparing apples to oranges to limes, one must make color and texture adjustments for the differences in fruit. I have more experience with Createspace than with either Lulu or Lightning Source but have reviewed price specifications for print-on-demand contracts from Lightning Source, so I can tell you a bit about those costs. For the purpose of this discussion I will reference only print-on-demand services because I assume most people considering Lulu or Createspace are not planning on having thousands of books printed for warehousing purposes.

1. POD PER-BOOK COST. Createspace does small print runs via print-on-demand. They do not do offset printing for mass-market volume discounts. Lulu may offer discounts on volume, but I don’t know for sure. Lightning Source offers both POD and offset printing. For POD, the cost per book is virtually the same as the cost for producing the same book on CreateSpace under the PRO plan. Lightning Source does offer graduated discounts on bulk POD print runs, starting at 5% for 50 books. Last time I checked on Lulu three months ago, the per-book production price was consistently higher for the same product under any plan than the cost would be from either Createspace or Lightning Source.

2. TITLE SETUP. Createspace charges nothing for you to set up your title and provides an ISBN for free, but that ISBN marks them as the publisher, not you. With their PRO plan you can cut your per-book cost by about 1/3 by paying $39 upfront and annually thereafter to keep the book in print. Without the pro plan the book remains in print for free. You can provide your own ISBN under either plan with no extra charge and no discount. Lulu has a similar program and a distribution program that costs $99 or more the last time I checked. Lightning Source charges $37.50 for cover file setup and $37.50 for text (book interior) file setup, for a total setup fee of $75 for a book digitally uploaded for production. You provide your own ISBN. Also LS charges $12 annually to keep your book available. By far Createspace is the cheapest route to produce a book when considering startup cost.

3. PROOF & REVISION COST. Createspace charges the per-book production cost plus S&H to send a proof. Additional proofs after changes are the same cost. There are no revision or file replacement charges. Generally speaking a proof for a 300-page book would be around $12 or $13 including S&H. I don’t know what it would be on Lulu. On Lightning Source a proof copy is $30 including Express mailing cost. LS charges a whopping $40 per file upload, meaning if you make changes to your cover and upload a revised file, they’ll charge you $40. If you also make changes to the text and upload, that’s an additional $40.

4. SHIPPING CHARGES. Createspace since January has appeared to offer more options for shipping. The first proof I ordered was via UPS and cost over $6.00. By the time I had my second title ready for proof, USPS media rate was available at $3.85. I don’t know if those choices are now consistently available, but they were the last time I ordered a proof. I don’t know what Lulu charges for shipping. Via Lightning Source, they say they charge the ‘going rate’ for mailings of the book itself to you as the publisher or to distributors, plus you will be charged $1.50 handling fee per book. For a box of 50 books, that would include $75 handling fee above the shipping rate.

5. DISTRIBUTION. The one HUGE drawback to Createspace is that distribution is only on Amazon. Lulu and Lightning Source offer distribution on Amazon plus other channels. The biggy for LS is the Ingram catalog. Note Lulu charges a fee for distribution but then has some exclusions so that maybe foreign rights are not included. LS distribution for UK is included only if you choose that POD contract in addition to the US POD contract (you have several options you can mix and match).

So, let’s look at comparative costs to get ONE book done without any revisions. For comparative book cost between Lightning Source and Createspace, I will use Createspace PRO plan and no pro plan. Because I am not dealing with Lulu right now I will leave it out of the comparison. Their prices are available online, so you can check them out yourself. Just be sure you use the same page count for your book when making comparisons.

LS
$75 file uploads
$30 proof
$12 Ingram catalog annually
$40 cost of your ISBN if purchased in block of 10
TOTAL $157 for a small paperback
Cost per 360-page book ($0.90 + $0.013/pg) $5.58 direct to distributor (slightly higher if direct to you the publisher)

CS
$13 proof
TOTAL $12 for a 360 page book
Cost per 360-page book ($1.50 + $0.02/pg) $8.70

CS-Pro
$39 Pro fee
$9.57 proof
TOTAL $48.57
Cost per 360-page book ($0.85 + $0.012/pg) $5.72

Comparing the three pricing structures you can see that distribution via Ingram’s catalog you will pay about $110-135 showing you as the publisher. Add your ISBN to CS and that lowers the difference to $70-95. NOTE that just because you have the opportunity to reach additional distribution sources through Lightning Source, there is no guarantee that anyone will buy your book if they don’t know about it. So MARKETING is your number-one priority at this juncture. Note also that generally POD books are non-returnable, and if you opt with LS to have them returned to you, they will charge you a fee per book as someone else already pointed out.

Clear as mud?

-Penumbra Publishing

I shared this with fellow reviewer LK and she pointed out the issue some might also have as far as your ISBN is concerned: “CS has that one huge downside being linked ONLY to Amazon, which is why I went with Lulu for Misfit McCabe.  Plus, they also have the other downside of owning the ISBN instead of you.”

So when you are choosing a direction for your book, ask yourself these questions?

1. Do you want to own your ISBN?
2. Do you care about getting your book into bookstores?
3. Do you want your book available through other channels than Amazon?
4. How much money are you willing to invest in the project up front?

Notice the additional information for books in the square to the right. Even though in Step One of the creation process you were asked to enter a publisher or imprint name, if you are taking advantage of the free ISBN through CreateSpace, then CS will be listed as the publisher.

After finalizing, it appears to take 5 to 15 days for the book to become available at Amazon.  In speaking to a few authors, I’ve learned that can actually happen much quicker.  The page will load over time after about 5 business days with the Search Inside feature being the last function to load, taking the full 15 days to happen.

One of the unique tools CreateSpace offers is called Preview Gallery.  This is where you can upload a preview of your work for other CreateSpace members to read, rate, and review by answering a few questions about it.  The only thing that turned me off about looking at other previews in the Preview Gallery is that each preview contains a warning that says “For personal use only. Please use caution when downloading; files have not been scanned for malicious software.”

CreateSpace has a “Showcase” option where you can submit your own success story.  You can also read about other CreateSpace users whose products have been featured. I took a look at several of these, particularly those who have used CreateSpace to make DVDs, and found most of the write ups to be too hard of a sell.  Some even reminded me of those infomercials you see online for fad diets and exercise equipment.  They even read like a Billy Mays script for OxyClean or some other “act now and get a second one totally free” product.  Each shows a picture of the creator along with the product.

In searching through the Community Forums, I found several helpful topics.  I found the forums to be much more organized with Discussion Boards at the top for the different types of products you can create (Books have the most discussions), and the most recent posts can be found at the bottom.

The only thing I don’t like about CS so far has to be the lack of a bookstore.  Each of your projects comes with an “E-Store” link you can direct customers to, but there is no complete “bookstore” to shop at CreateSpace to view all of the products available.  There’s not even a search feature to help you locate other products while you are on the CS site. So it seems the only true selling outlet for your CS project is through Amazon, or at least it will lean toward being the more popular.

To close out my focus on Createspace, I promised we’d hear from a few other authors who have used CreateSpace for their own publishing ventures.  First, I checked in with Cheryl Anne Gardner, author of The Thin Wall.

Why did you choose CreateSpace?

I have my own imprint; I list my titles directly with Bowkers, and so I wanted a flexible low-cost printing and distribution solution. Amazon functions as my printer and my distributor, so the business model is efficient while still allowing for expansion.

What do you like best about CreateSpace?

•Free distribution with the number one online bookstore.
•Streamlined system designed for the advanced DIY Indie Publisher.
•Advanced Adobe distiller specs, allowing for cover files up to 40MB at 300dpi.
•Can use own ISBNs, but must list directly with Bowkers.
•The cost of proof copies is low, and the turn-around time from proof to listing is quite fast. The Createspace guidelines state 15 business days, but I found the product pages load in about 5, and while they may not be fully activated with the search inside feature, customers can purchase the product as soon as it goes online.
•Can offer promotional discount codes on purchases through the Createspace e-store.

What do you like least?

That distribution is limited to Amazon in the US. I would like to see Amazon UK and Canada added on as well.

What troubles (if any) did you experience during the publishing process?

I had one instance where the discounted author copies I ordered had a noticeable print defect. The odd page toner saturation was much darker than the even pages. I emailed the customer service center, and within 24 hours, I was asked to provide them with the barcode tracking number from each of the books so that they could identify the run. Subsequently, they sent me 6 new copies, which I received within 5 days. I didn’t have to return the damaged ones, either. This was the first incident I have had with defective books. I find Createspace’s print quality to be above par, with covers of higher quality than Lulu and even Lightning Source. Manufacturing errors occur and my situation was dealt with promptly and respectfully.

Would you recommend CreateSpace to someone who is considering self-publishing? If so, why?

I would only recommend them if the author has advanced knowledge in desktop publishing and has the software capability to distill their own PDF files. Your book is only as good as the writing and the files you upload. There are no help wizards.

I asked the same questions to RJ Keller, author of Waiting for Spring.

The first time I submitted my work, I did receive a reply within 24 hours which advised me to remove the title and my name from the spine.  My project was only around 120 pages and they suggested the words on the spine might bleed over onto the front or back cover at printing.  They also told me the cover art might appear blurry because of its pixel count.  While I didn’t change the cover art, I did take their advice and removed the words from the spine.

After making these changes to my book and redoing Step 2 of the publication process, I was allowed to order a PROOF copy which is Step 3.  Here you enter you billing and shipping information and your credit card number.  The cost of my book was $4.02 and $6.00 shipping.  Yes, the shipping was more than the book, but a price check at Lulu for a 6 x 9, 123 page paperback book was $6.96 for the book and $5.85 for media mail shipping.  For the first copy of my book plus shipping, CreateSpace had already beat Lulu by almost $3.00.

After ordering my proof copy, I received an automated email that states the following: “Thank you for ordering a proof copy. This is to notify you your order has been received and is currently being processed. Your proof copy will ship to you within five days. If you are completely satisfied with your proof copy when you receive it and are ready to make your book available for sale, log in to your CreateSpace member account and click the edit icon corresponding to your book. Review your books information for accuracy and click Approve Proof to make your book available for sale. If you are not completely satisfied with your proof copy when you receive it, you may make any necessary changes to your files, upload them again and order another proof after those files have been reviewed.”

Notice the email says it will ship within 5 days.  Online at CreateSpace it also gave a very broad estimate for delivery which was about three weeks away. I ordered the proof at about 7am in the morning.  When I got home that afternoon from work, there was an email in my box saying my proof copy had already shipped.  That’s right!  My proof copy was printed, bound, packed and shipped the exact same day I ordered it.  The book arrived at my house four days later.

I was immediately impressed with the overall quality of the book and the way it was packaged for shipping. I’d also like to point out that CreateSpace adds a blank page to the back of the book with the word PROOF printed across it. There’s also a tiny bar code and number on this page in the bottom left corner.  I’ve learned from other authors that this bar code helps CreateSpace identify which system and printer your book came from in case you report problems with it later.

While “proofing my own proof,” I received a review copy of another CS book which was also around 123 pages but the size of the book was 5 x 8.  I was so impressed with the smaller size, I decided to change my own CS project to this smaller size.  This required a full revamp of both the cover and the body of the work, and a few minor changes to the format information online at CreateSpace.

I had a bit of trouble “unlocking” the ability to change the size of my book.  I emailed CS for assistance and got a reply back from them about two days later.  While waiting for the reply, I almost thought about deleting the project and just starting over, but I discovered in their community forums that this is not possible without their assistance.  So, authors who enjoy the immediacy of Lulu’s systems will require a bit more patience when it comes to creating with CreateSpace.

After making the necessary adjustments and uploading new files, I received the email again saying they’d check my files and alert me within48 hours if everything was okay.  I received the email the following day telling me my files were good and that I could now order a new proof of my work. At this time, I started reading information about something CS calls Pro Plan. I had noticed it when I ordered my first proof, but I did not look into it at that time.

Here’s how Pro Plan works. For a $39.00 fee per project (and $5 renewal fee each year after), CreateSpace will lower the cost of your author copies and also increase the royalty you earn per sale.  So, basically this is kind of  like buying  a warranty.  If you look at it in comparison to Lulu’s sales figures, it’s a pretty good deal for them.  A few years ago, Lulu reported the average sale run of a book was 1.5.  That meant that outside of one or two copies sold to the author, no more copies ever sold.  If at least 2 out of every 10 of these Lulu authors signed up for Pro Plan if Lulu offered such a thing, Lulu stands to be quite profitable if those authors’ books don’t ever sell. But that’s Lulu.  For CreateSpace authors who do take advantage of Pro Plan, it means big savings.  Here’s how…

After signing up for Pro Plan, my second proof cost me just $2.41 and $3.58 shipping.  That’s a total of $5.99,  a savings of $6.82 over the cost at Lulu.  The second proof copy was ordered on June 1st, and also shipped that same day.  It arrived today, June 5th.  I love the pocket book size and think it is definitely perfect for work under 200 pages.  It arrived in a thick bubblewrap envelope with no damage.  The glue used in the spine looked a little thick at the top and bottom, but it may have swelled due to the heat while in transit.

In Part 3, I’ll wrap up my discussion about creating with CreateSpace by exploring the final step 4 (Print Ready) step which is basically finalizing my project.  I’ll also take a look at the CreateSpace Community Forums, the Showcase, and the Preview Gallery.  We’ll also hear from some other Createspace authors and learn about their creations.

The first major disadvantage I discovered is that CreateSpace books are only available through the CreateSpace website and through Amazon.com, but the more I thought about this, the more I thought about it not being so bad.  After all, self-published books are often frowned upon in chain bookstores because of their big price, small discount, and non-returnable stipulation.  For an author who doesn’t mind eliminating the capability for bookstores to be able to order your books through wholesale, it’s not such a bad thing.  I’ve noticed this limitation also keeps pricing low, but we’ll talk more about pricing later.  For now, just know that it allows your books to be affordable enough to invest in enough of your own stock to sell to indie bookshops, at conventions, book fairs, signings, etc. on your own.

CreateSpace allows creative individuals to make their own DVDs, CDs, videos, audio downloads, and of course, paperback books.  For the sake of the blog and being an author, I’ll be discussing the book option. After creating a free account, an author follows four simple steps to publication. The first step is Title Setup.

Title Setup is where you enter all the basic information about your book: title, subtitle, volume number, description, and imprint name.  Here, you can also enter your own ISBN number if you already have one or you can choose to have CreateSpace assign one to you.  There is no additional fee for their ISBN. You also choose what category you want your book listed under; you are only allowed to choose one so pick carefully. Next, you choose a reading level which starts with preschool and goes up to college graduate student.  I would have liked to have seen at least a few more levels beyond the graduate student range such as adult male, adult female, parent, single parent, senior citizen, etc.  Otherwise, college graduate student becomes quite broad.

There’s also a section where you choose where your book might have been previously published.  Although this is probably there just to help CreateSpace capture where their customers are coming from, it’s interesting to note that there are only four choices to pick from: Not Previously Published, LSI, Lulu, and Other. Publication date, country, language, keywords, authors and contributors, and an author biography are the final steps in Title Setup.

Step 2 is File Review where you will upload your book’s cover and your manuscript, both of which have to be in PDF format.  You’ll also choose what size your book will be.   There are 13 sizes to choose from ranging from basic 6 x 9 to magazine size 8 x 10. Learn more about Trim Sizes on the Get Started page.   I’d also like to point out the information on the Trim Sizes & Artwork tab which thoroughly explains how to create your own cover file.  From minimum cover width and height, safe zones, cover bleeds, spine width and variance, and ISBN barcodes there is a lot of information on this one page which can be applied to any DIY Publishing model where you would be responsible for your own book’s cover (including Lulu).

So, authors needing a good reference on this should definitely bookmark this page even if you aren’t using CreateSpace.  It contains very valuable information! For those authors who might want some easy and free assistance with creating a book cover, CreateSpace offers that too. Just click on Create a Cover when you are on the Upload File page. Now, be warned there is a lot of free artwork available here, so someone else’s book having a similar cover to yours is bound to happen.

In Part 2 of this article, I’ll be discussing Step 3 of the publication process, pricing, CreateSpace’s Pro Plan, shipping, and more.