I’m sure many of you will have received the email from CreateSpace (CS) that announces how their own eStore will cease to serve customers on October 31st. Instead, customers will be redirected to Amazon.
CreateSpace explains that the move was made because of requests that their eStore is redeveloped to include the ability to search across the site, an improved checkout process, better shipping options including Amazon Prime, order tracking notifications, and a familiar user interface.
What Does This Mean For You?
My usual source for all things Amazon, Chris McMullen, has compiled bulleted lists of pros and cons which you can read to see how this will affect you.
Royalties
The simple fact remains that CreateSpace currently offers a 20% higher royalty than Amazon. To ease the transition, it will adjust your Amazon royalty rates for six months effective November 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018, to reflect the average royalty rate you earned across all paperback sales of your title through both the CreateSpace eStore and Amazon sales channels (which includes Amazon.com and Amazon Europe) over the last year.
For example, if half of your sales for a paperback title were through the CreateSpace eStore, for which you earned an 80% royalty rate, and the other half was through Amazon sales channels, for which you earned a 60% royalty rate, your new royalty rate for sales of that title during this six-month period will be 70%. After April 30, 2018, your royalty rate will revert to the standard Amazon 60% rate.
However, the fact also remains that most authors sell very few books, if any, through their CreateSpace eStores. So, chances are you will be unaffected by this change. It’s telling that, out of my 16 titles, only one is affected; my Greek translation of the Tao Te Ching, since I send people to CS from my taoteching.gr website.
My KDP Print Worry
Since February, Amazon has been offering the choice of publishing the print edition of your book through KDP Print. Whenever you create or update a KDP title, you are reminded of this, ensuring that a lot of books will have been published through the new process by now. Amazon advertises the fact that KDP Print enables you to receive consolidated royalty payments for paperback and eBook sales. You can view combined reports and manage your print and eBook publishing from one website.
I see the two pieces of news as connected. KDP Print now seems poised to take off, leaving CS on the ground. As author Diane Tibert said in an April post, “I suspect that once KDP Print has enough users… authors will be forced to have their paperbacks in KDP Print and CreateSpace will be gone.” Her words now sound prescient.
However, there are several important CreateSpace perks missing from KDP Print:
- First, I love CreateSpace’s support about as much as I dread dealing with Amazon’s one. CS staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and a single phone call is usually all it takes to fix any problems.
- Second, I love the process of creating a print edition in CreateSpace and the control it gives you. KDP Print removes all the “pesky” choices you have to make. If an author publishes an eBook and then is offered the feature to publish a print copy, all they have to do is accept it. They don’t have to make a professional PDF to publish the paperback. KDP Print will attempt to make a presentable copy from the formatted eBook. So, you’re left with very little control overall.
- Related to the above, authors cannot order proofs of their books. The book goes on sale before you have had a chance to review the final product.
- Next, for some bizarre reason, books printed through KDP Print are not available for sale on amazon.ca–Amazon’s Canadian arm.
- Last and most important: CreateSpace allows you, the author, to order copies of your book at cost. These are particularly useful if you have a book signing or wish to organize a local event. KDP Print doesn’t offer this; you have to buy your books at the same price as everyone else.
In a Comparison Chart mentioned in Diane’s post, you can see a comparison between CreateSpace and KDP Print that shows which can do what. CreateSpace can do everything, but KDP can do only 3 of the 7.
So, when I heard the news, I immediately had to wonder: will how long before CreateSpace is absorbed into Amazon and stops offering its services altogether? Only time will tell.
Update: Chris McMullen’s Point Of View
Chris left me a kind comment, which I’m sharing here as I think it’s worth reading.
I’m not yet worried about CreateSpace and KDP print possible merging. Obviously, I have an action plan, just in case. But I don’t expect it to come too soon or to be a big problem.
For one, CreateSpace is still huge compared to KDP print. Millions of print books have been published through KDP. It will take KDP print much time to compare with that, and most of the top-selling print books are still at CreateSpace.
For another, if the transition does happen, Amazon will likely keep indie authors content. Look at changes that occurred over at KDP—including preorders, advertising on AMS, improved reporting, improved preview options, new publishing tools, revised structure for Kindle Unlimited (remember that famous 10% mark?)— through the years. This shows that Amazon does listen to authors’ requests. Amazon is customer service oriented.
I think that’s exactly what happened here. Customers and authors both complained about CreateSpace’s eStore. It’s an unknown site, unsearchable, doesn’t offer Prime, doesn’t help with Amazon sales ranks, etc. Amazon offered a simple solution. For 99.99% of authors, it’s better this way: Few were getting sales at their eStore, and for those who were linking to their eStore, customers were walking away because they had to sign up for a new account and pay for shipping. If instead authors had linked to Amazon, most would have closed more sales. For the few did earn significant eStore sales, they could publish a special edition with Lulu and sell copies from Lulu’s storefront, while keeping everything else through CreateSpace.
There would be wide-scale frustration if authors couldn’t order proofs or reasonably priced author copies. It seems unlikely that Amazon would take so much away. (Like I said, I always have an action plan, just in case. That doesn’t prevent me from remaining optimistic though.)
I’m still happy to recommend CreateSpace.
mypeacockbooks said:
This is terrible. Amazon keep swallowing up businesses in various markets. And the Canadian issue is insane, I don’t understand why that’s a problem. Unfortunately I do think it’s only a matter of time until KDP Print is all that’s available 😦
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m afraid you could be right. And even though I’m fond of Amazon, I’m also in favor of competition.
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The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Nicholas does a further analysis every author should read.
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wendyunsworth said:
I thought I saw something online that said proofs are now available through KDP but now I can’t find it? I am poised to convert two books for print and wonder if it is worth my time to go through Createspace if I will then need to move over to KDP.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I know what you mean. For the time being, I plan to stick with CS for my prints, as it’s easy enough to make the jump to KDP Print afterwards–and allows you to control the process.
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wendyunsworth said:
Thank you, good to know your plan as I know you keep up with all these things- I will probably do the same.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you! The speed with which things change in the publishing world remind me of my first days in Scotland. A welcoming local told me, “if you don’t like our weather, no worries, just wait 5 minutes and it will change” 😀
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Wanda Luthman said:
And so the migration to IngramSpark begins
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I have written a detailed comparison between Ingram Sparks and CS in the past. If CS does disappear, it will be a strong contender for Indie business.
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Wanda Luthman said:
Do you have the link to that post? I’d be interested in reading it
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Of course; it’s http://nicholasrossis.me/2016/12/12/create-vs-ingram-sparks-choosing-the-best-printer-service-for-your-books/
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Wanda Luthman said:
Thank you! You get $50 back when you order your first 50 books from IngramSpark so the initial investment isn’t quite what it seems.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks for sharing that, I had no idea.
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Wanda Luthman said:
You’re welcome! I didn’t either when I had first checked it out but then I had to use IngramSpark because that’s what my illustrator used. That’s when I discovered it.
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marymichaelschmidt said:
Reblogged this on When Angels Fly and commented:
An excellent and succinct article for all writers!
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Willow Croft said:
Oh no. (And, no, I didn’t get the “memo”.) I agree re: CreateSpace customer service…they are the best.
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Shana Gorian said:
Very troubling for authors who buy lots of books on CS for signings, school visits, festivals, etc! Yes looks like time to start moving to Ingram Spark!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I will be using CS until the very end, but after that will probably make the move myself 😦
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Loretta Livingstone said:
Most annoying. I don’t suppose KDP will ever offer anything like the help available on SC, I’m miffed we can’t buy our own books cheaply, and most annoyed that we can’t order proof copies. I may need to try out Pronoun’s services and see if they can offer anything better. And, I never got the email. Doubly miffed. Thanks for the advance warning, Nicholas.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m glad I could help, even though I wish I had better news.
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kimwrtr said:
Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Emily Gmitter said:
Can we say “monopoly”? Thanks for the great information, Nicolas, it’s not good, but it’s good to know.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
At least there are still solutions like Ingram Sparks, and I’ll keep using CreateSpace until the very end 🙂
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Zoe the Fabulous Feline said:
Reblogged this on The Life & Times of Zoe the Fabulous Feline and commented:
Important information for all self-published authors, from Nicholas Rossis.
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suzannenewnham said:
Thanks Nicholas, your article is timely as I am about to publish my next book, and this time as an indie instead of through assisted self-publishing. Any further updates on Createspace, KDP and other indie publishing groups will be most welcome.
Have shared to https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.newnham.77 https://www.facebook.com/suzannenewnhamwriter/ and https://www.facebook.com/EurobodallaWriters/
with best wishes Suzanne
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much for sharing! If I hear anything else, I’ll be sure to share 🙂
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Rachael Ritchey said:
Reblogged this on Fiction by Rachael Ritchey and commented:
For my author friends out there who haven’t seen the news yet…
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Helen Jones said:
Hi Nick, hope you and your family are well 🙂
This sounds like a reason to, sadly, not use Createspace for future books. I like their system as well and cannot imagine not being able to order a proof, or books at cost. I’ve been looking at Ingram anyway, so this may be the final catalyst to move across in the future.
Also, I forgot to comment on your post about your book titles – first of all, congratulations on your publishing moves and, second of all, I personally like the titles and wouldn’t change them, as it may confuse readers.
x Helen
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you for both comments, Helen! Personally, I’ll keep using CreateSpace until the very end, but will probably move to Ingram Sparks after that.
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V.M.Sang said:
I wanted to make a change on the cover of my novel. I went to Kindle and did it on that, then went to CreateSpace. Now, I think I must have used KDP to do the print version, because I found Create Space were telling me that my title was too big and was in the ‘bleed’ area and the resolution not high enough. Furthermore, when I went through the rest of the programme and did the proof, there were some serious problems.
I righted these things, but if KDP are putting out print versions like this, then it’s very poor. They should, at the very least, enable you to proof your book before it goes live.
I can’t actually remember putting the print version in the hands of KDP, but then, I would have got these errors flagged by CreatSpace if I’d used them. Also, they emailed me to be sure I had the copyright, presumably because it had been published by KDP.
And I didn’t get the message about this, either.
Thanks for letting us know.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m shocked at how few people have received CS’s email. Weird. And I agree completely with you; I can even imagine publishing a book that hasn’t been properly proofed (is that a word?).
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Cynthia Reyes said:
Thanks, Nicholas. This is important information. Worrying, too.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I agree–and you’re welcome 🙂
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Dracul Van Helsing said:
I’ve yet to get this email from CreateSpace.
I didn’t know that CreateSpace had an eStore of their own though.
And it’s a pain in the ass that KDP Print books aren’t available for sale through Amazon.ca since I am Canadian.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I am amazed at how many people haven’t received the email!
How’s your Sabbatical treating you? 🙂
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Dracul Van Helsing said:
I just began it.
I never realized how much mental capacity it actually took to write and how exhausting it can be.
I feel like I’m on a glorious holiday right now.
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Matthew Wright said:
I agree. CreateSpace is an Amazon company and it looks like they are consolidating. Hopefully they will transfer the features over including the order-at-cost feature, which is one of the key reasons why I use CreateSpace – my focus isn’t so much on having the titles I’ve got there available online, as being able to order copies I can sell and distribute locally. I did a costing exercise and found it was cheaper to do this through CreateSpace, with similar quality of output, as via a local POD supplier here in New Zealand.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I sure do hope so. Maybe in the near future, if enough of us request it.
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chrismcmullen said:
Great post, and thank you for the mention.
I’m not yet worried about CreateSpace and KDP print possible merging. Obviously, I have an action plan, just in case. But I don’t expect it to come too soon or to be a big problem.
For one, CreateSpace is still huge compared to KDP print. Millions of print books have been published through KDP. It will take KDP print much time to compare with that, and most of the top selling print books are still at CreateSpace.
For another, if the transition does happen, Amazon will likely keep indie authors content. Look at changes that occurred over at KDP—including preorders, advertising on AMS, improved reporting, improved preview options, new publishing tools, revised structure for Kindle Unlimited (remember that famous 10% mark?)— through the years. This shows that Amazon does listen to authors’ requests. Amazon is customer service oriented.
I think that’s exactly what happened here. Customers and authors both complained about CreateSpace’s estore. It’s an unknown site, unsearchable, doesn’t offer Prime, doesn’t help with Amazon sales ranks, etc. Amazon offered a simple solution. For 99.99% of authors, it’s better this way: Few were getting sales at their estore, and for those who were linking to their estore, customers were walking away because they had to sign up for a new account and pay for shipping. If instead authors had linked to Amazon, most would have closed more sales. For the few did earn significant estore sales, they could publish a special edition with Lulu and sell copies from Lulu’s storefront, while keeping everything else through CreateSpace.
There would be wide-scale frustration if authors couldn’t order proofs or reasonably priced author copies. It seems unlikely that Amazon would take so much away. (Like I said, I always have an action plan, just in case. That doesn’t prevent me from remaining optimistic though.)
I’m still happy to recommend CreateSpace.
Kindly,
Chris
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Chris! I’ll copy the comment into the post’s body, if you don’t mind, as I think everyone should read it.
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E.E. Rawls said:
This is troubling news. Though, like Chris said, Amazon will want to keep authors content, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to suddenly take away so much.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I sure do hope so!
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cagedunn said:
Another author who didn’t get the notification, and I’ll share the news of royalties, shall I?
“Even though all sales are now through Amazon, CreateSpace will be the ones to make payment.”
That’s from a CS email (very recent).
I like using CS for a lot of reasons, but if the sale is through Amazon, why are they doing this with the payments?
There’s more (in the same email).
“Please note that since the eStore has been removed, no new titles are being added to it. For this reason, your newest title will not show in the search results on the CreateSpace site. I therefore, recommend that you update the links on your website to the corresponding Amazon detail pages” AND
“you may want to consider migrating your paperback books over to them as well. This way, you’ll have all your titles under the same account, and be able to get your royalties paid by wire for paperback and Kindle. To learn more about migrating your paperback books over, please visit the following link”
Of course the link was a ‘general’ page, and had nothing about migrating books from CS.
The worst message I got from this is that CS is being closed out, but for author’s who make small sales on CS, they have no choice but to wait til they hit the min sales (anyone who doesn’t live in US or Europe, that is).
I like CS, I like the responses you get to queries, I like the help I got. I’d like CS to stay.
And I, like so many others now, have a back-up plan – which will not ever involve creating paperbacks through Amazon because I like to verify and validate my product before it goes on sale.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Well, I will keep on publishing my books through CS, and not care if their eshop has closed down. I consider the payment issue a mere inconvenience compared to the real pain of being unable to properly proofread my book!
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