I’m sure most of you have heard the news by now, but if you haven’t, Amazon has announced some major changes to its KDP Print program. Only two days after I was telling people in this blog’s comments that I wouldn’t even consider moving to KDP Print from CreateSpace until Amazon addressed its two most glaring issues, the company announced it had. On top of that, it addressed my major problem with CreateSpace, thus making it a whole lot more likely that I will soon be moving over.
Problem #1: No Physical Proofs (Solved)
The first problem with KDP Print concerned its means of proofing your manuscript. Well, you can now order printed proofs from KDP. Proofs allow you to review a physical copy of your draft paperback prior to publication.
Note, however, that the process is a bit more cumbersome than the one CreateSpace uses. Specifically, here’s how you can order a proof:
- Go to your Bookshelf and find the paperback for which you would like to order a proof.
- If your paperback is in “Draft” status, the option to request a proof will be enabled in the ellipsis (“…”) menu.
- Click Request Proof Copies.
- Select the order quantity. You can order up to 5 copies at a time.
- Select the Amazon marketplace closest to your shipping destination. The cost will then be displayed. This cost doesn’t include shipping and applicable taxes.
- Click Submit Proof Request.
- Within 4 hours of submitting your request, you’ll receive an email with a link to complete your proof order. You must complete your purchase within 24 hours of receiving this email.
- Once you receive the email and click on the link to complete your order, you’ll be redirected to the Amazon Shopping Cart/Basket. You can use your existing payment information and delivery addresses or add new addresses to send proof copies to reviewers.
Proofs are eligible for all paid (standard and expedited) shipping options available to Amazon customers except Prime. You can ship proofs to multiple shipping addresses by placing separate orders for each destination.
You can find out more on Amazon’s website.
Problem #2: Author Copies (Solved)
When you order copies of your own book, you now pay just the printing costs plus shipping and applicable taxes. The author price is the printing cost for your selected marketplace times the number of copies. The trim size, interior type, page count determines this price and does not include shipping charges or taxes. On Amazon.com, any applicable sales tax will be applied at checkout. For European orders, local VAT will be applied at checkout. As this price is the lowest price Amazon can offer for your book, no additional discounts (e.g. for volume) are applicable.
Ordering is as easy as with CreateSpace. Specifically, to order your author copies:
- Go to your Bookshelf and select the paperback you would like to order.
- Click on the Order Author Copies link in the ellipsis (“…”) menu.
- Enter the order quantity and select the Amazon marketplace closest to your shipping destination from the drop-down menu.
- Click Proceed to Checkout. You’ll be redirected to the Amazon Shopping Cart/Basket of your chosen marketplace to complete your order.
- You can order as many author copies as you want with a maximum of 999 units per order. If you want to order more than 999 author copies at a time, you can place multiple separate orders. You’ll pay shipping charges for each order.
Author copies are eligible for all paid standard and expedited shipping options available to Amazon customers (excluding Prime). Manufacturing and delivery estimates are based on the quantity ordered and selected delivery speed. The most up-to-date delivery estimate will display during checkout.
You can find out more on Amazon’s website.
Problem #3: European Copies (Solved)
Not only has Amazon now addressed both my main concerns, it has also solved another problem I’ve been having for ages. Ordering author copies from CreateSpace and having them delivered to Greece had proven to be a nightmare, as CreateSpace prints the books in the US and not Europe.
I’ll never forget how I had ordered some $80 worth of books, only to have them stopped at the customs, thanks to the idiots over at DHL. Adding insult to injury, I had to pay DHL an extra $90 for screwing up plus another $120 for the Greek customs–plus lose a whole day trying to sort things out over at the airport! After that, I started ordering my copies at full price from Amazon UK. Never having to go through such an experience was worth the extra money, but it also meant I couldn’t afford to stock up on my books. And having to send someone an autographed copy proved ridiculously expensive.
With this new feature, however, KDP proof and author copies for the UK and the rest of Europe are printed and shipped from within Europe. Which means, no Greek customs for my books, which means I can finally stock up on my books. Woot!
Other Issues
For all my love of CreateSpace–especially its awesome support and ease of creating and publishing your book–its use also has some drawbacks. Specifically, when it came to royalties, as they’d need to be over $100 before they sent you your money. This is per marketplace, which means I receive monthly payments from the US, but with, say, Japan, I might never see any royalties. With KDP Print, you’ll receive monthly payments regardless of their size.
You will also need to check a single reporting platform (my daily routine starts with me checking out KDP sales, then CreateSpace ones), which will also save you some time. And CreateSpace’s reporting is inferior to KDP’s one, as it has no daily reporting or easy-to-read graphs.
So, will I be moving my books to KDP Print? I now believe so. It may not happen right away (I always prefer not to jump into a new platform until the unavoidable teething problems have been sorted out) but yes, I think I eventually will.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Also, you may wish to visit Chris McMullen’s blog for a detailed comparison of the various options available to Indies.
bridgittelesley said:
Reblogged this on 🦉Pizzazz Book Promotions.
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kimwrtr said:
Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Jacquie Biggar said:
This is fantastic news! Now, if they include shipping in Prime I’ll be a happy camper 🙂
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Deborah Jay said:
I’ve heard from a fellow author that it is included in Prime – grand news!
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Jacquie Biggar said:
Really? That’s great! Shipping is so expensive coming from the US to Canada, this will save a lot 🙂
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Deborah Jay said:
It’s what I’ve heard, though I’m in the UK, so I don’t know for sure how it will apply to Canada – Amazon seems to love to discriminate against you guys 😦
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Judy Penz Sheluk said:
you are right about that!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
It looks like they have been listening to author demands, so it can’t hurt to ask!
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marymichaelschmidt said:
Reblogged this on When Angels Fly.
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Yecheilyah said:
Reblogged this on The PBS Blog and commented:
Nicholas gives us the scoop on some hot new upgrades to KDP for Print.
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The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
More information about KDP Print 😎
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willmacmillanjones said:
In practical terms, I think that this spells the end of Createspace as a separate entity or distributor.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I think they’ll gradually trim the company until nothing much remains, and close it down in the end.
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Judy Penz Sheluk said:
Thanks. I’m considering self publishing my next book and am looking at KDP, so this comes at a good time.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yay! I’m so glad you found it useful 🙂
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dernhelm6 said:
Reblogged this on Indie Lifer.
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Judy Penz Sheluk said:
One question — if you create paperbacks with KDP can the paperbacks be sold outside of Amazon (beyond author copies).
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
If you mean outside of Amazon US (e.g. Amazon UK), then yes. If you mean through bookstores, then, I don’t think so. You’d have to buy author copies and distribute them yourself. Chris’s post has some more details on Expanded Distribution.
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Monique Desir said:
Reblogged this on adaratrosclair and commented:
Interesting news for KDP and Indie Authors.
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Deborah Jay said:
Thanks for sharing this news, Nicholas. I do think this is the death knell for Createspace, and I for one, will now be moving over to KDP, not least because as I understand it from a fellow author who is already there, postage of books is free for those of us in Prime, which is a huge saving over shipping from the States and the length of time taken for books to arrive 😀
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Judy Penz Sheluk said:
Free shipping with Prime — even to Canada? That would be a HUGE benefit.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Oh, that news should be shared! Thanks for letting me know!
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lyndafiller said:
So interesting as this is the exact discussion we were having! haha, we’re so smart. I might test on my next book. Personally, I live in Mexico and I liked that my books were printed and shipped from the US with CS; not sure I want the ‘local marketplace’ handling my order.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Wouldn’t you still get your books from Amazon US, though?
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lyndafiller said:
Yes, that would be my intention. But Amazon loves to try to switch me to Pesos/Mexico whereas CS had no choice. So I have #15 coming up, a short prequel and I think I’ll give it a shot. Thanks for the response!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
🙂
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Matthew Wright said:
It’s a significant change which I’ll also be looking into – though, like you, not in a hurry. I can’t help thinking that Amazon, as the parent company of both, is re-rigging its business around Kindle and will close down CreateSpace in due course – I see that this Kindle print announcement comes just a week or so after CreateSpace closed down its assistance programme by which you could buy professional input into cover designs and so forth.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I suspect you’re spot-on.
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K. D. Dowdall said:
This is great! Thank you. I have now used Amazon formatting and publishing for my print version and my Kindle, of course.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Oh, brilliant! How has that turned out?
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K. D. Dowdall said:
Hi, NIcholas! I always love your blogs! Well, it turned out perfectly and I loved doing it. I also did the Kindle that way too. Next, I will learn to do my own book cover, that I now know how to do. I am a bit of a control freak!! Karen 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
You’re the best! Thank you for sharing 🙂
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Tom Gould said:
Where do e-published authors stand on this?. I don’t use Createspace and in light of this been the case I am relieved that I don’t. The way I look at it is if most authors long term objective is to get the book into print which mine is. How significant a difference will this make?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
This doesn’t really impact e-book published authors at all. It’s when you start selling print copies and need to choose who will print your book that you need to worry about it. My personal sales are one print sale for every two e-book ones, but that varies greatly among authors and genres. For example, if you take only my children’s books, then the ratio is 10 print copies for every e-book one!
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Tom Gould said:
Cool thanks Nicholas
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Anna Dobritt said:
Reblogged this on Anna Dobritt — Author.
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Writing your first novel-Some things you should know said:
Thanks for sharing. I am seriously considering self-publishing and reading everything I see on the subject 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m glad to have helped! Best of luck with your book 🙂
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Don Massenzio said:
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this informative post from Nicholas Rossis blog on the significant improvements made to KDP Print.
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Carl D'Agostino said:
valuable, considering 500 illustration cartoon book end of year – book marked this page.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Woot-best of luck with the launch!
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OIKOS™-Redaktion said:
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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linesoflisteningblog.wordpress.com said:
Nicholas,I like this article. I have one question. I someone has previously published through Createspace with Amazon and wants to order additional copies of their book. How does that process work? How would an author order additional copies of their book for their own use? Thanks, Joyce
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I assume you still have your book on Createspace? If so, you’d simply do so through Createspace. Log into your Dashboard, click on the book title and order your author copy.
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rijanjks said:
Thanks for this info, Nicholas. I am willing to give KDP Print a try.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I hope it works out for you! I’d love to hear how it goes. A guest post, perhaps?
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Tracy Campbell said:
Chris, your posts are always chocked full of great information.
I’ve heard Canadians (I’m one) can’t order proof copies. Have you any advice or further information? Thanks.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Tracy! How did you know my middle name is Chris (it’s why I sign as Nicholas C. Rossis)? 😀
I’m preparing a post that explains all that, which I hope you’ll find helpful 🙂
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Tracy Campbell said:
I knew your middle name was Chris. No, actually, I didn’t. But let’s go with that.
I look forward to reading your upcoming post that will “explain it all”.
Thanks, Chris, er, I mean, Nicholas. Grin.
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Tracy Campbell said:
PS. I meant to say Nicholas. My apologies. I need more coffee.
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aurorajeanalexander said:
Reblogged this on Writer's Treasure Chest and commented:
Nicholas C. Rossis writes about KDP Print. Thank you for the information Nicholas!
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jenanita01 said:
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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GJ Stevens said:
Thanks the post. I’m new to self publishing and I’m trying to decide which of the two to use. Leaning to KDP now
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I think that’s the best choice at the moment, at least if you’re in Europe.
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