Satisfied or Disgruntled?
If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that I chose Createspace, a division of Amazon, to publish my book. I did this after months of research. If you want to know why I chose to self-publish, please read through the previous posts. The complete answer is fairly lengthy, but I’ll just say here that I believe self-publishing can turn a bigger profit, and I didn’t want to lose control of my work. Marketing is a fact of life on either side of the coin. Why not work for yourself with what you love and make a little more cash?
The reasons I chose Createspace is as follows:
1. Highest Royalties – (Note: When you self-publish, they are not considered royalties. You will see the word “earnings” more enough. However, the term “royalties” has become the standard when discussing payments for authors.)
2. Great Customer Service – Whether I called or emailed, I always received a quick response. If the person on the other end didn’t know the answer to a question I asked, they would follow through and find the answer. For me, sometimes this meant waiting on hold while they checked or waiting to get an email with the answer. Every one of my questions was answered promptly and thoroughly. They never tried to hide prices or tried to confuse cost with perplexing jargon.
3. Price of Books When I Order – Createspace had the lowest price for books when I order them. This was extremely important to me because I want to keep costs down for my customers. I can’t do that if the book is expensive for me to buy. The low price Createspace gives me means that I can pass the savings down to my readers. With this economy, I believe this is huge for success.
4. Their Web Page and Free Service – First of all, their web page is easy to use and understand. No rocket science there. Second, you don’t have to pay them money to get a book. They have a free service where you can use their templates and photos, or you can upload your own cover.
5. Their Package Deal – This is what sealed the deal for me. They offered for a time a package deal. For $800, I got front and back cover design, interior design, barcode and ISBN, and 20 free books. Keep in mind: all of this is with a 100% refund within sixty days of delivery. If I sold those free books for $15.00 each, that equals $300, bringing the package deal down to $500.00. Now, a graphic designer will probably charge around $75 an hour to do a book cover. Let’s say you are lucky, and the cover can be designed, made, and approved in three hours (which is basically impossible), that’s $225.
Was this a good decision?
While I know the value of e-books and am glad to offer my novel, Toxic, in electronic print, I know that having the physical book is equally important. Many people don’t have e-readers or want them. Some people want to give the book as a gift. Some want an autograph. Knowing this, I chose Createspace to get my book into print form. I chose to purchase a package with them that formatted the cover and the interior. But the question remains: If I knew now what I knew then, would I still make the same choice?
Yes.
I have only one problem with Createspace. Every little change takes 5-7 business days for them to complete. It’s understandable. They are a big company, and there are other authors as eager as I am to finish their book. Once you request a change, it’s placed into a queue. They are great at hitting this deadline. I don’t think I ever waited past 7 business days to receive the changes back. However, one letter, either a misprint of yours or theirs, takes a whopping 5-7 business days. It can be a long time to wait. It feels like forever when it’s your book.
Their customer service was great. They always tried to please and offered solutions to problems that made me quite happy. I never felt like I was treated differently once they received my money. I was always able to reach someone who knew my file, was able to do get what I needed, and answer my questions.
However, with my second book, I plan to use their free services. This means I’ll have to find a different way to get my cover done, but I feel like their free service will give me what I need. I’ll let you know how it goes once I know myself!
Have you used Createspace? What was your experience? Do you recommend another company?
