Best alternative to Createspace?

Perrorist said:

Someone bought the IS copy of my novel from Amazon and received it three days later, so perhaps the estimated delivery time is an arse-covering measure.

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Clearly this is the case. Amazon owns CreateSpace so they will make sure POD books published through CS look better than those published through IS. I suspect there is no data that shows a typical delivery time of 2 weeks through IS.... but I can see how it would put off potential buyers.

Arpeggio said:

Have you used them?

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I went through their book creation process about half way when I realized that my book was too large for them to handle... They do offer a service for picture books that looks very good.

But no. I have not used them.

GIMP (which is a free opensource Photoshop clone) can be used to create the cover graphics which you can then import into Word and save into PDF the same way you did the interior. It also has some limited ability to export a PDF directly but I'm not sure if it would meet your needs as I'd never try doing it the way you plan to.

(That video is nonsense. The rep clearly knows nothing of the larger picture of "why" and is completely baited into making the supposedly damning statement by someone who is obviously partisan on the issue and fishing. Regardless, the politics might best be left at the AW front door...)

If Infowars is your only source, well, I'm not sure I can top that. Unless you count a media watchdog trying to contact Jeff Bezos. I've heard he's kind of big at Amazon.

http://truthinmedia.com/did-the-u-s...to-stop-selling-confederate-flag-merchandise/

And as far as staying out of the cloud with software, that's getting harder and harder to do.

Thewitt said:

I went through their book creation process about half way when I realized that my book was too large for them to handle... They do offer a service for picture books that looks very good.

But no. I have not used them.

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Thanks for informing me of their existence! They just got back to my enquiry, might use them for something.

Ingram Spark don't seem to be making much sense or be consistent. On their FAQ page (I linked below) there's a category for "Do I have to convert to IngramSpark if I already have a Lightning Source account?" but when you click on it, it goes to nothing.

Under "What are the differences between IngramSpark and Lightning Source?" it says "in IngramSpark, you can choose either 45% or 60%" (trade discount). Yet under "What percentage of the costs do I receive?" its says "Dependent upon wholesale discount, IngramSpark publishers receive 45 - 70%" (implying a trade discount of 30% - 55%). Their eBook % are contradictory as well, I won't go on.

https://www.ingramspark.com/Portal/FAQ

Regarding the flag debate, I tend towards not being surprised if the US government banned it, they do all kinds of ****, while corporations and US government are often a blurred line, both are often the same, why do you think they removed the solar panels from the white house? either way it seems dumb. Amazon did this a while ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html?_r=0

Recently backed out of Blurb due to their contract. Seemingly contradictory or hard to make sense of, and the initial contract is rather deep at the stage of merely signing up for an account, with upon termination: "Sections 8 through 26 of this Agreement will remain in effect." The Amazon part of the further distribution agreement appears to include giving transformation rights.

Have also been reading KDP's own TOS which include survival of sections 1, 3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 in spite of termination. 5.5 is irrevocable. If you read 5.5 you'll notice that it doesn't use possessive such as the word "your" until it talks about logo's and trademarks. If to be taken literally before that point, why should I have any say in them being able to sell eBooks on the whole: "You grant to each Amazon party, throughout the term of this Agreement, a nonexclusive, irrevocable, right and license to distribute Digital Books"....?

I have experience of LS contracts and contracts by other distributors (sorry I don't mention who they are) and I have found those much simpler, easier to understand, and have signed them.

I think from now on I'm not even going to bother checking out the website, but going straight to the small print.

dental school mouth did you find anything?

The best alternative to CreateSpace, at least for me, is Nook Press. (www.nookpress.com). As CreateSpace is owned by Amazon and allows authors to create both Kindle and paperback versions of their books, Nook Press is owned by Barnes & Noble, and allows authors to create hardcover, paperback and Nook versions of their books. The only noticeable difference between CS and NP is that Nook Press requires all uploads of interior text, and front/back book covers to be submitted in PDF format. Also, Nook Press does not have any internal cover creator on their website like CreateSpace has. You have to create your own cover, format it to PDF, and then upload it. They do, however have templates that can be used, and their directions on using the site are easy to understand. I have used both CreateSpace and Nook Press. And I do admit I like the look of Nook Press' paperbacks better than CreateSpace's. (Just my opinion--I'm sure some will like Createspace better!) Nook Press' hardcover books are easy to create. And the best part is that Nook Press does not charge anything up front, just like CreateSpace, even for hardcover books. This only cost at Nook Press is if you order personal copies of your books.

For covers, the software I use is GIMP. It's similar to Photo Shop and free to download. Not sure if you can get a disc version though. If you are not familiar with that type of tool, there is a steep learning curve. Create Space has a cover creator tool, but the options are limited.

Since I have only used Create Space, I don't know if the other POD services offer something similar.

Thewitt said:

Amazon will publish a POD listed elsewhere, but they show it out of stock with a 2 week estimated delivery date.

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This is an important point, and one that is impacting small presses across genres. Also, if you go with anyone but CreateSpace, they may play games with the buybox and allow 3rd party vendors to take the sale away from royalty-paying venues.

Amazon is not a completely ethical operation, in many ways, but there really is no way around it, at this time, without more clout than any of us have.

I would note, as well, that kindle sales will exceed most other avenues of self-publishing income most of the time, so it isn't really that big of a deal to use someone else unless you except to sell dozens of print copies a month. That's unrealistic for most.

There is also now the option of KDP Print, but there is not a lot to recommend it over Createspace right now.

badducky said:

Also, if you go with anyone but CreateSpace, they may play games with the buybox and allow 3rd party vendors to take the sale away from royalty-paying venues.

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This has nothing to do with who your print service is, and actually CreateSpace users with Expanded Distribution (EDC) are hit worse by this than those using IngramSpark. My IngramSpark books earn me the same revenue through Amazon for new sales no matter who "owns" the buy button. But my CreateSpace books with EDC will pay considerably less if a third-party reseller who sources through EDC owns the buy button than if the buyer bought directly from Amazon.

MacAttack said:

The best alternative to CreateSpace, at least for me, is Nook Press.

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It was my understanding that Nook Press only distributes through their own website, while CreateSpace can distribute through the Ingram catalogue (in addition to Amazon), which will get you worldwide exposure. Perhaps I'm wrong about Nook?