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Paperbacks through KDP
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Hi Aislinn,Like you, I'm also looking at moving to print. I checked out KDP Print and it seems pretty much exactly the same as CreateSpace.
If I were to hazard a guess, I would say Amazon is going to phase out CreateSpace at some point. You've probably noticed that the CS UI is ancient. That tells me that Amazon isn't really investing in CS. Once KDP Print gets out of beta, I bet you'll see a push by Amazon to get people to move from CS to KDP Print.
Regarding the royalties, they appear to be the same for a 6x9 300-page book. ($1.54 for a $9.99 list price).
One thing I'm not sure about is the CS e-store that gets you higher royalties. I assume that's the same as the Amazon affiliate link that would have the same result.
There are two real advantages to KDP Print:
1. Your print version is in the same place as your e-book version
2. You know Amazon will continue to invest in KDP print and make it better.
Good luck!
I have published through Createspace. I don't know if kdp are competing with Createspace or co-operating with them, likely the latter. I love having a professional looking paperback of my book, but I hardly sell any paperback copies at all! So, I don't think that, for me, it matters much either way.
I have published through KDP print. I wouldn't do it, if I was you. It was a mistake. The royalties / costs are about same if you do not use the extended distribution channels on Createspace. But you can't get wholesale copies through KDP, no extended distribution, and if you need help at KDP, they simply don't know what is going on yet.
I had questions about distribution and called KDP about my book. The guy I talked to didn't even know they offered a print option yet.
So yeah, I'm not a fan. Yet.
Dylan wrote: "I have published through KDP print. I wouldn't do it, if I was you. It was a mistake. The royalties / costs are about same if you do not use the extended distribution channels on Createspace. But..."
Makes sense. The program is still in beta and I'm sure there are a lot of kinks to work out.
Thanks for the info!
Dylan wrote: "I have published through KDP print. I wouldn't do it, if I was you. It was a mistake. The royalties / costs are about same if you do not use the extended distribution channels on Createspace. But..."
Thanks, Dylan. I'm planning to move into print early next year, so hopefully they will have had time to work out the kinks by then! If not, I'll go with Createspace.
I've had good experience with Lulu.com. If Createspace and KDP paperbacks become a problem, my paperbacks are already on Lulu, and I can distribute my books through them instead of Createspace. The good thing about that setup, is that your paperbacks aren't exclusive to Amazon; you can distribute through any vendor who can print paperbacks. I've already seen my hardcovers from Lulu, and they do beautiful work. Have not ordered any of the paperbacks yet.
Createspace is not the same as KDP and likely, one will not replace the other. Createspace and KDP are both owned by Amazon, but they are separate services. More likely, KDP will be a bare bones printing option since at the moment, they are limited.I have not yet seen the KDP print option, so I'm assuming they selected a few candidates to push their new service to based on several factors. Likely, folks who publish through them will be asked to give feedback and the service will be tweaked often before it is rolled out as an option.
I decided to explore the paperback option for my new book. It's VERY similar to Createspace, but a little more streamlined. I actually liked it a lot more than Createspace. It's a little more user friendly. My only gripe about it is the cover creation process. Now I've never been skilled or knowledgeable enough to create a full wrap around cover for myself, so the Createspace template that allows you to upload the front and back cover with a pre-determined spine has always been my friend. However, I've always found it very difficult to work with as it's very clunky. KDP's cover template is soooooo much easier to work with. HOWEVER, they do not have a template that allows you to upload front AND back covers. Just the front cover with a plain back you can put text into. That might be okay for some people. It would work fine for me in certain instances. But with this new book, I ultimately decided to go with Createspace because I can't create a full wraparound cover and have a back cover image I wanted to use.Overall, as far as user friendliness goes, KDP is much better in my opinion. There are some things that need to be improved, but it's only in beta so those things are likely to get corrected in the future. But if you want a front and back custom image and can't do a wrap around yourself, Createspace is the way to go.
Dylan wrote: "I have published through KDP print. I wouldn't do it, if I was you. It was a mistake. The royalties / costs are about same if you do not use the extended distribution channels on Createspace. But..."
The wholesale copies are a big deal for me, because the VAST majority of my paperback sales come from books I sell in-person (either to friends or at a convention).
The paperback option shows up for me on the Bookshelf page, and I looked into the details a few minutes ago. From what I've read, coupled with what people have said here, I'll stick with Createspace for now.
Dylan - what was the print quality on KDP compared to CreateSpace (particularly the cover). I have a great custom cover that CreateSpace prints beautifully. If, at some point, they work out the other kinks, I wouldn't want to trade down for lower print quality. Thanks!
Sooo I don't see any option for KDP paperback (just Createspace). I guess they are playing favorites...*sobs*
Kidding. Does anyone else not see it? Or just me? Haha!
Oops. I'm an idiot. It's in beta-testing. Duh!
I only saw it as of this morning, so they are obviously pushing it out to people slowly!
David wrote: "Dylan - what was the print quality on KDP compared to CreateSpace (particularly the cover). I have a great custom cover that CreateSpace prints beautifully. If, at some point, they work out the oth..."The cover quality is comparable. Same with the general print quality. I can't see a difference.
It might be important to note as well that at one point I had tried to upload a book to KDP and the system wasn't working. There was no indication as to why that was. The same copy was submitted to Createspace without any issues.
I have to say though, I've just started using IngramSpark and I am very impressed with everything about them, so far. A much better option for wide distribution, by the looks of it.
Annie wrote: "Sooo I don't see any option for KDP paperback (just Createspace). I guess they are playing favorites...*sobs*
Kidding. Does anyone else not see it? Or just me? Haha!"
Don't worry, I wasn't the chosen one either. X)
It's apparently random. I can't think of any other reason why I would be "chosen."
Considering how different the formatting is for print compared to ebook, I don't think creating print from an ebook file would look all that great.
They allow you to upload another file for the paperback, including any that you used on Createspace.
Through everything I've read in my research, I would not use KDP Print/Createspace. (I'm only now moving my debut novel to print, however.) I've read that often, while KDP Print/Createspace are easier platforms to work with than others, Lulu gives you the most options, and (eventually) does also get listed on Amazon for sale. That process has taken up to three months with some Lulu users. It gives you better control of your novel, and their prints are comparable quality.
Angela - you are correct. I would not use the ebook file to make a print book. I created two separate master files - Word for my ebook, which was then used to create the mobi file, and InDesign for the paperback. It takes more effort to do it this way, especially when keeping up with final edits, but ultimately, you get a much more satisfying product.I would also add this caveat: I put a lot more time & effort into building the paperback file, knowing that I would never sell many copies. I wanted to be able to have something tangible in my hands that I could be proud of when talking with others about my work. The paperback was never about sales, but rather about presenting myself as a quality author.
I have to agree with you there David, when I was published before I never expected to sell many paperback copies but I did like to have a physical copy for myself, it gave me a better sense of accomplishment.
Anybody know what this means? "Paperback royalty rates are 60% of your list price minus printing costs, applicable taxes and withholding."Is that
(60% of my list price) - printing costs
or
60% of (my list price - printing costs)
?
So if a book costs $10, and printing costs are $5, what do I end up with getting? $1 or $3?
Huh. That's a good question. I assumed it meant the former, but now I'm not so sure.
Attila wrote: "Anybody know what this means? "Paperback royalty rates are 60% of your list price minus printing costs, applicable taxes and withholding."..."
According to the folks on the KDP forum: 1) Take list price and subtract printing costs. 2) Then apply 60% to that number, which will give you your royalty.
Considering all the problems with this service and the serious drawbacks (no author copies, no expanded distribution), I would suggest just sticking with Createspace, at least until the dust settles.
Thank you, Ken! That's pretty good then. So in the "listprice $10, printing cost $5" example that means I get $3, which is the bigger amount of the two possibilities.For us here in the EU that could mean lowering the listprice to around printing cost, ordering books, raising the prices back up. That gives us author copies with a lot faster postal delivery. CreateSpace's 1 month+ is just waaaaay too long to wait. :(
It looks to me that so far this change is useful for anyone in the EU, not so much yet in the US.
Mod
I have novelettes I want to make, but those would also be to order for myself to sell.
I wish I could give my beta to someone that wanted to try it!
I haven't crunched any numbers because (as mentioned) the KDP service says it is in beta. That right there is reason enough for us to not use it, as we've had excellent service from Createspace. It's possible that KDP may someday provide a service of comparable quality and ease of use, but they don't appear to be there yet.
Unfortunately, royalty = (listprice * 60%) - printing cost
Angela wrote: "Considering how different the formatting is for print compared to ebook, I don't think creating print from an ebook file would look all that great."I understand that a new file must be uploaded. They will not print the ebook. You have to upload file and cover yourself. I haven't seen a physical book yet but I was thinking to buy one and check. My publisher asked me if I wanted to have the print through Create Space or through KDP and I didn't know what to say.
Lillian,I would recommend Createspace for now. You won't be able to get physical proofs or wholesale copies for who knows how long from KDP. Your publisher really should be using IngramSpark, though... it's a far better option for publishers, IMO.
Atilla: Createspace always shows long wait times for books but I've always received items weeks before they say it will show up. They have print services in the EU, so I don't see why it would be any different for you. (I am in Canada, so CS copies are sent from the US).
PS - In calculating the KDP royalty vs the Createspace royalty, while they are calculated differently, the royalty amounts are pretty close to being the same for a book with the same price.
Dylan wrote: "Lillian,I would recommend Createspace for now. You won't be able to get physical proofs or wholesale copies for who knows how long from KDP. Your publisher really should be using IngramSpark, tho..."
Thanks for letting me know.
I think I will take your advice
Dylan wrote: "They have print services in the EU"They send the proofs and author copies from the US. :(
The proofs DID arrive a lot sooner than what they predicted though. It was 12 days, so it's not that bad.
I'm assuming that everyone else has this new option of getting paperbacks on their KDP dashboards. What do you guys think? It looks like the royalties are better than Createspace but the "minus the printing costs" makes me nervous. My books would end up costing about $3.25 per book to print. Seems like that would be a big chunk of that 60% royalty unless I priced the books really high. So maybe it will end up being the same as Createspace? With less distrubution options.
Has anyone done more research or crunched the numbers? Maths is not my strong suit. ;)
I am thinking of moving into print soon, but I'm not sure which would have the best options.