I first came across the writing of Linda Welch early in 2009 when I reviewed her first book in the Whisperings series, Along Came a Demon (review 70). I knew of Linda from the Lulu forums and that is one of the reasons I chose to review her book when it was posted on the Pick Me tab. I was very happy to have read the first book, and jumped at the chance to read and review the second book in the series, The Demon Hunters, as soon as Linda made it available to us (review 105). Since that time, Linda and I have become regular correspondents and critique partners for each other, and Linda has graciously reviewed a few books for LL Book review as well. I am very fortunate to call this talented woman my friend, and had the pleasure of meeting her this year on my vacation.

A few months ago, Linda’s Whisperings series took off in Kindle sales and her books were number 1 & 2 respectively in their category. I couldn’t have been more thrilled for her, or so I thought. The week following their rise to number 1, she received an email that she flipped to me to get my take on it. The email just happened to be from Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group (number one agency in sales since 2004 by Publisher’s Marketplace) enquiring whether she had representation for her Whispering novels and whether she would be interested in growing her business in the US and abroad. After I finished dancing on the ceiling on her behalf and doing a quick round of research, checking Publisher’s Marketplace, Preditors and Editors, and other sources looking for what the feedback was about Trident and Robert Gottlieb specifically, I sent back my response advising her to express interest. NOW!!

After discussing how Trident would be able to help Linda potentially increase her sales, Linda sent both of her current books, Along Came a Demon and The Demon Hunters to Robert, and he provided some inital editorial feedback. Over the past couple months, Linda and Robert have been working out the details of their agreement. Linda did seek out the assistance of a literary attorney to review the agency contract, which is always a good idea. A reputable agency will recommend you have someone look over the agreement, which Trident did. Once the minor changes to the contract were agreed upon and changed, Linda signed and with a few deep breaths, sent the contract back to the agency. So it is official, Linda Welch is now represented by Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.

As happy as I am for Linda, and I truly don’t know who has sounded more excited about this venture…I think it might be me, the more exciting aspect to garner from this is that one of the major New York agencies is actively looking for talent amidst the self-published pool based on sales. And if a respected CEO and agent like Robert Gottlieb is taking the time to watch the Amazon sales rankings to scoop up talent, then will it be long before more and more agencies are doing the same?

If you want to pick up a copy of the books which earned her the deal, you’d better check Amazon.com fast, as they will soon disappear for awhile. Oh, and the reason we don’t have a picture of the smiling author is that such a thing does not exist on the web. The closest we can get is a picture of Tiff Banks, her main character from the Whisperings series.

CONGRATULATIONS LINDA!!!

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

Here’s a bit from the article at Today at MSNBC:

And the price war is not the only challenge the publishing industry faces nowadays. E-books sold for the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader have eaten into profits of publishers and booksellers — and Grisham says the future looks bleak.

Regarding reading books electronically, he told Lauer: “If half of us are going to be doing it, then you’re going to wipe out tons of bookstores and publishers and we’re going to buy it all online.

“I’m probably going to be all right — but the aspiring writers are going to have a very hard time getting published,” he added.

I couldn’t agree more with Grisham.  While working in the wholesale book industry, I’ve heard personal testimony time and time again (and again just yesterday even) that Amazon.com is killing the brick and mortar bookstore. But guilty of it myself, I’m quick to avoid a trip to my local book chain – saving time, gas, and money, and not having to deal with unhelpful retail workers – by buying online at home instead.

Grisham’s most recent book lists for $24.00.  It’s 50% off at Amazon, making it just $11.99 to the consumer for the hardcover edition!  It should be noted that most indie bookstores buy their stock from Ingram Book Distributing and expect at least a 40 to 50% discount off the cover price, currently the same price their customers can get it for themselves online. Most chains and some indies discount new releases by at least 10 to 20%, if not more, making their profit margins even smaller, but by doing so they hope to pull in a larger customer base and rely on those customers hopefully buying at least one regular priced item from a large latte to a book light. The non-book items are where their real profit lies!

How does Amazon get away with it, you ask?  Well, it is possible that they probably receive a larger bulk discount thanks to lucrative contracts Jeff Bezos has probably worked out with distributors.  Even a 60% discount from the vendor would give Amazon a 10% margin at the current price for Grisham’s new release.  But that’s just hearsay.  Instead, it’s safer to assume that Amazon is just like the regular brick and mortar.  They can afford a loss on books as long as their customers are buying other non-book items.  And face it, you know they are!  With online shopping at its all time highest in popularity, Amazon is probably making a killing on CDs, DVDs, clothes, electronics, and more.  Although books were first to fill up Bezo’s pocketbook with millions when he got started, they are probably last on his priority list today.

And we haven’t even scratched the service of the great E-Book debate.  Currently, none of Grisham’s books are available on Kindle.  But if they list for $9.00 to $10.00 on Kindle, after his agent and publishing company and whoever else get their share of the commission, Grisham stands to make only pennies from each Ebook sale which is probably what’s got him in a tizzy.

In the quote above, Grisham mentions aspiring writers having trouble getting published in the future.  I think this is just another reason why self-publishing will continue to grow, even in E-publishing.  Recently, LLBR opened it’s review gates to include all POD companies.  We immediately got queries from authors who are only published on Smashwords and Kindle.  That’s right!  No physical print book is even available of their work!  My most recent book, Stealing Wishes, sells for just $2.99 on the Kindle.  I earn $1.05 in commission from each sale, and have no agent or editor that I have to share that with, unlike Grisham.

So, while I agree with Grisham’s argument,  unlike him, I didn’t start my writing career before E-publishing was probably even heard of.  I don’t have millions in the bank thanks to mass market paperback sales and 23 bestselling novels. Grisham published his first book in 1989, almost a decade before Amazon.com or Jeff Bezos was even heard of. Technology (for readers and writers) has changed, and I believe that as a society we have to change with it – like it or not.  If Grisham self-published just one book all by himself on the Kindle, he’d still stand to make gobs of money, although the people depending on him for a paycheck might not like it.  So, I applaud him for embracing the demise of the bookstore, but like rotary dial telephones and wholesome comedic sitcoms, I’m afraid it’s still going to become a thing of the past and disappear whether authors like Grisham bow out or not.

With that, the Kindle with just U.S. capabilities has dropped in price to $259.

What does this mean for authors?  Hopefully, we can look forward to an increase in our e-sales and an increase in readership across the big pond!

Lulu.com
Copyright © 2009
214 Pages
$13.95 Softcover
$ 7.99 E-book
ISBN 977-0-578-01334-3

I can guarantee you’ve never read anything like The Sophisticated Savage. Part scholarly essay, part interview, and part soul-baring diary, Carla Seidl weaves a tale that is hard to put down. What you will likely discover is that you end up finding out much more about Seidl than you do about the title character. Whether you end up empathizing with her or shaking your head, you will be right inside her head during a fascinating time in her life.

While studying at Harvard, Seidl decided to take a sabbatical to teach English on the Galapagos islands. I had to hand it to her right there, at 19 I was nowhere near that adventurous so it was fun to live vicariously through someone who is. Quickly she meets Fredy, a transplant from the jungles of Ecuador. She is struck by his self assurance and he spins her away into his world when he pulls her onto the dance floor.

Fredy is many things. To the locals, he is known as Billabong because of the shirts he wears. To the tourists, he is a surfing instructor that always knows where the best waves are to be found. To Seidl he is an enigma, she finds herself both attracted to and repulsed by him. He spends much of his time putting the moves on her, feeding her lines, and she spends much of the book trying to determine what is real and what is fabrication.

The most thoroughly researched claim made by Fredy is that his Huorani ancestors were cannibals and as a child, he had tasted human flesh. Here is an example of Seidl researching the likelihood of this boast:

For my own purposes, trying to find mention of cannibalism among the Huorani, my hands came up empty. Blanco Villalta, for instance, in his 1970 book on cannibal rites in the Americas, describes cannibalistic traditions observed in Brazil, for example, among the Tupinambaes, the Tupiguaranies, and the Guaranies, and in North America, among the Algonquin, Athapascos, and Aztecs, but does not share any information about cannibalism in the region of Ecuador.

Much like Fredy both fascinates Seidl and drives her a little crazy, her book did the same for me. I chose this quote because it sums up both the good (the thorough research and documentation) and the bad (too many commas). After awhile you forget about the commas and enjoy Seidl’s book for what it is, a glimpse into a world most of us will find quite foreign while seeing behavior that is quite familiar. Here is another excerpt that is more typical of what you will find in the book:

Meanwhile, Fredy asks me to lend him a dollar so he can take a taxi to his surf spot, and then after dinner says he is going to buy a tabaco. I stop. How, I say, do you have money for cigarettes if you don’t have any for food? He says he has diez centavos, and I say, with that you can buy an egg, some bread, or a banana. He laughs, as though what I am saying is strange or funny.

Seidl goes so far as to ask Fredy to take her to his jungle home, to meet his tribe and spend time with his family. While they do trek back to the mainland and end up somewhere, they get only as far as meeting a cousin and seeing the town where Fredy lived before coming to the Galapagos. Eventually his claims of living in the jungle as a savage cannibal, the son of the king of the tribe starts to unravel and we see him for what he most likely is, a bit of a scam artist and womanizer from humble roots. And yet there is enough truth to his story that Seidl, and by extension we, can’t rule anything out completely.

There is much more to this book and I encourage you to discover it for yourself. It’s a travelogue, a look into tribal Ecuador, and a coming of age story rolled into one. You probably knew people like Fredy from your own past, people who were so fascinating that you always thought you’d like to write a book about them. To Carla Seidl’s credit, she did exactly that. She shares her adventure with us as she goes from Harvard undergrad to world wanderer. On the way she matures and discovers both passion and loss. When it is all said and done, we are left to wonder if the Sophisticated Savage is Fredy, or Seidl herself.

Let’s get down to the more nitty gritty aspects of the differences. For those who prefer a touch screen to pressing buttons, the inclusion of a touch screen is huge. It also has a graphical interface which is becoming more and more the interface of choice. The usual graphical keyboard is present and the stylus can be used to take freehand notes. **Note** The reason I use a keyboard is my handwriting deteriorates as I write so by the time I’m finished it is completely illegible and I have lost the thoughts I meant to preserve. So I would continue to type my notes.

Here is a brief comparison between the two products. For further details, such as formats, etc, check out their respective websites: 

One of the discussions I found most interesting was that Sony is promoting the ability to download library books (both e-books and audio books) using your library card from your local library which then expire at the end of the check out period. I think this is a very cool feature because now there is no waiting for someone else to finish reading the library book and returning it – you simply download it and it is no longer available once it has expired. You don’t even have to remember to return it to the library. Why wasn’t that included in the comparison above? Well, it seems that there is also the ability to do this with the Kindle 2, but it is not an advertized feature and the instructions are somewhat buried. If you would like to read more about obtaining library books on the K2, read this forum thread on the Kindle Boards. Also, there is a great thread on some hacks for the K2 at MobileRead including what they call the Visual Kindle Guide which is well worth your time to check out.

Of the things Sony has done with the e-book reader, one of the items I question was why the small storage? Sony had full advantage of knowing what Amazon had out on the market and instead of matching or besting it to make their product more attractive, they fell woefully short. Of course, they might argue that they returned the expansion slot to us, so have made the capacity once again unlimited (and easy to carry with), but really, 512MB as opposed to 1.4GB? You’ve got to be kidding me. It makes the expansion slots a necessity instead of the luxury it should be. By the way Amazon, this should be an indication to you how much we miss the expansion slot. Please put it back where it belongs.

Sony has hit a hot smash in Amazon’s direction. The ball’s in your court Bezos, the question is what will you do with it? I can’t wait to find out.

I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you about this.

Thank you for contacting us. Author blogs that previously showed up on book detail pages have been moved to Author Pages, which we believe are the best place for customers to read author posts.

The blogging feature is now available exclusively through Author Central (https://authorcentral.amazon.com), a new destination that offers one central location for you to claim and verify your titles, update RSS feeds, and revise your bibliography, in addition to managing your blog.

All of your blog content will now post directly to the Author Page, and we’ve automatically transferred all of your account information so you can log into Author Central with the same user name and password you set up for Amazon Connect.

Customers can find Author Pages by searching on an author’s name. In our search results, if more than one author has the same name, we display the author with the most sales first.

Author Pages are a brand new part of our store, and we appreciate your feedback as we continue to invent new ways to help customers discover authors and their work.

If you have any additional questions or comments, please send us an e-mail at ac-general@amazon.com

Thank you for contacting Author Central.

So the blog has been moved to the Author Central page.  And it seems the only way readers will now find your Author page and your blog is if they search for your name. Once again, Amazon has a great idea but they bury it in the shopping trenches rather than giving it proper exposure and easier access for everyone to find.  How disappointing!

Still haven’t signed up for Author Central and updated your own page?  Click here.

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.

One of the first things I’m going to do, after holding it and gloating for awhile, is download my Smashwords Kindlized version and see how it looks on the K2. I’ve already queued several books up to download as soon as I have enough battery power to complete the task. The good thing is that now I will have two Kindles under my Amazon account, since my mom doesn’t have an account herself and has no desire to have one. This means since my mom and I have similar tastes in books, the purchase of one book can be sent to either device or both, which is nice.

Also, once it arrives, I will be able to convert PDF’s I have received for review and read them on the Kindle. I’m actually quite excited about that possibility. I am a reviewer who does actually prefer to read the books I am reviewing in electronic format, so to be able to transfer the books to an e-book reader will be wonderful (I’m very hopeful). To read some of the other reason why I’m excited about the Kindle, hop on over to my blog. I have already received a comment on my post from someone who has a site dedicated to information and discussions surrounding the various Kindle versions. So for all sort of information about Kindles, visit IReaderReview.com. The blog author is anxiously awaiting the delivery of a Kindle DX, but already has a K2. I’m a little jealous of the multi-Kindle owners out there. It would be fantastic to have one to keep at home (Kindle DX all the way) and one to travel with (K2 without a doubt). But, I mustn’t be greedy.