[Publishing svcs] CreateSpace

Createspace

I have a documentary DVD listed with Createspace, but it's been there for several weeks now with status "Submitted to Amazon."

Presumably at some point, it will proceed to the next stage, but for now, it appears to just be sitting there, waiting for someone at Amazon to do something.

So far So good

I'm using Amazon for the paperback version of my new book (see enormous sig below). So far so good. I got a proof copy and it is nicely done. There are no charges up front and you can make the price yourself so you aren't stuck trying to flog a $20 fantasy adventure. Of course, it has all the usual drawbacks of self publishing. All publicity is on your shoulders and nobody respects you in the morning.

Susan

Anyone else have any experience with CreateSpace.com? I'm considering them as well.

Yes I was thinking of them too. I've been to their site, but I am more interested in user reviews to see how the author was treated and what they thought.
Last night I typed in "createspace vs BookSurge 2009" (I may try other ways today) to see the newest comments by users, and if both them being owned by Amazon is having any effect. I sifited through posts after googling and read some from December to February complianing about Amazon mixng things up. You may want to google some of this yourself. These are things other than the lawsuit thats going on over the rights, and complaints of them trying to force writers to use BookSurge.

Users stated:
They looked at their book on Amazon and rather than saying Publisher:CreateSpace it said Publisher: BookSurge - many phone calls on their part to straighten it out.
https://www.createspace.com/en/comm...3A35285236D23CC27901EBC544.clearspaceworker01
I saw a few like the one above.

Then there is this one:
"I went online and OK’d my proof at CreateSpace and as fast as you could say “Abracadabra” the Ingram/Lightning listing was gone from Amazon and replaced by the CreateSpace listing.

Poof, the listing was changed, although they left the review. They were a little overzealous with this change because they also bumped me off the site as the publisher and changed it to CreateSpace even though I was the publisher and owned the ISBN. While there is never any human contact with anyone at Amazon I complained, via email form letter on the CreateSpace website, and the publisher was corrected within a few days. "
http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2008/12/on-my-way-to-cr.html

Then there was another one on the authors books done on Createspace came shipped with the invoice on BookSurge letterhead. 1/26/09
https://www.createspace.com/en/comm...C13920A814E2CA1240C3BB87AC.clearspaceworker00

Think these are just glitches?

Hope I'm not being an annoying newbie

Although to be fair I see a lot of people are happy with them. It might be good enough for what I need them for.

Would you recommend using createspace for your very first novel(I prefer writing series). Or should I endure the rejection of an agent unless somehow by a miracle my work makes it.
I'm new at this, just an eighteen-year-old senior who's hoping to swim into the writer's lake.

Createspace for documentary video

I listed a documentary video with Createspace last fall. After an extended delay, they finally listed it, but I'm not sure if it was worth the effort.

The documentary video has sold fairly well from the Amazon site (even better through local retailers who also sell the related book), but I don't think we've seen any sales or rentals via Createspace.

Alvin123, in case you're still thinking about it -- don't. For a novel, it's not "getting published", it's jumping naked into a gigantic slushpile. It's not something you want to mention in a query or cover letter later on.

CreateSpace's fees seem to be $299 and up.

alvin123 said:

Or should I endure the rejection of an agent unless somehow by a miracle my work makes it.

Click to expand...

Rejection is Nature's way of telling you to write a better book.

Createspace has an (almost) free option, if you are able to create your own print-ready pdf cover and body. They don't make it easy to find, though. You're required to purchase a proof copy before they'll make it public, which is typically about $5. And you can use their cover creator applet to create a standard cover.

https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/

I think you can print a free proof copy with them if you "win" nanowrimo
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3286025

Poking around the site it says here that there are no set up charges. It also says so in the video overview. You do have to buy a proof copy though. So I think the $299 is an optional service.

self-publish

Hi, I just found out you can self-publish on Amazon.com. Never knew that. They also load them to the kendle or what ever amazon uses. Sounds cool.

bkwriter- don't use createspace to get onto the Kindle. Use the amazondtp site. Createspace charges for getting onto the Kindle, which is free through amazon dtp.

Some of the smaller publishers use it. I have to wonder, why sign up with them when you can do it yourself? Maybe they can do more with it than the author can but not by much.
I have a few short stories with Amazon dtp. Cant say I'm doing very well but it's still early.

Classic novels published by CreateSpace?

I apologize if this is a dumb question, but my curiosity is getting the best of me.

I recently came across a record of an edition of Wuthering Heights that appears to be published by CreateSpace. I found this odd because my understanding was that CreateSpace only deals in self-publishing. Do they also publish classics? Otherwise, who would be publishing a classic novel through them?

Anyone can publish a book that's in the public domain. People do it all the time.

Agent for CreateSpace - Is this a scam?

I was recently involved in a forum discussion with the author of a CreateSpace book. By pure coincidence I came across the Lanaia "Of Atlantis" Lee saga, so the following comment set alarm bells ringing:

The agent I am working with had promised to revise it before publication, which wasn't done, so indeed I apologise for some errors in it which were not seen under my own revision and actually derived from the final Window's "grammar and spell check" I made.

Click to expand...

Why on earth would anyone need an agent to publish through CreateSpace, and isn't revision an editor's job rather than an agent's?

I suspect that the "agent" was one of the many amateur or disreputable agents who prey on writers.

Google Lanaia Lee and "Of Atlantis." You'll get an eyeful.

- Victoria

This is very interesting. I just posted a question on a similar subject(almost the same), brought about by seeing a 'Borders' ad for their 'Book-Brewer.'

Victoria, thanks for your response (and yes, I also contacted you via Writer Beware). The fact that this "agent" didn't even do any revision suggests to me that the author has been scammed. I'll get in touch with him and ask if any money has changed hands.

I actually used Createspace for a gift book I did for friends. It was a story written just for four other people as a gift, never meant for submission etc, and I used create space to get physical copies of them. It was free, all I had to by were proof copies, which amounted to a couple of pounds.

The actual books were of decent quality, exactly what I wanted.

The only issue I had was with thier pdf upload idea, because I don't use word and I don't have the option on my word processor to save in pdf. Also, while they had templates for the covers, there weren't any for the inside, which would have been useful.

So, in short, for me they did exactly what they said they did.

alvin123 said:

Would you recommend using createspace for your very first novel(I prefer writing series). Or should I endure the rejection of an agent unless somehow by a miracle my work makes it.
I'm new at this, just an eighteen-year-old senior who's hoping to swim into the writer's lake.

Click to expand...

If your work makes it, it won't be by a miracle, but through hard work, practice, a modicum at least of talent, and a healthy dose of obsessiveness. Getting an agent isn't like hitting the lottery; they respond positively to work they think they can sell, and if the work's on that level, it's quite possible to get offers from more than one agent.

Self-publishing is not a good idea, IMO, for anyone with a shot at finding a real, commercial publisher (i.e. the kind that pays you instead of you paying them.) It won't help you eventually get published; in fact it will be held against you, because publishers regard self-publication as a sure sign that no one in the industry wanted to publish you. With very rare exceptions, the only sales you could expect would be to family and friends; the book wouldn't be reviewed or distributed to brick-and-mortar books stores (though a listing might appear on some online stores.)

Waste of time and money, IMO, though no doubt there are plenty here who will disagree.

victoriastrauss said:

I suspect that the "agent" was one of the many amateur or disreputable agents who prey on writers.

Google Lanaia Lee and "Of Atlantis." You'll get an eyeful.

- Victoria

Click to expand...

I did just that and look what I found! I'm posting the link because it was buried on pg. 2 of google results.

The blogger's No. 1 tip for plagiarists: 1. " Don’t publish it, particularly as a POD option since it doesn’t really make sense to pay for your own stealing. It kind of defeats the purpose of stealing in the first place."

She also posts the opening paragraphs from Lee's book and the one she apparently stole from. Nothing accidental there.

In all fairness, the actual stealing was done by the notorious fake agent/ghostwriter Christopher Hill - but Lee posted that plagiarized prologue on seven websites and claimed it was her own work.

Before we go OT, does anyone know if CreateSpace books are printed in the UK or do they have to be imported from the USA?