Is Amazon & Create Space my best choice to sell the translations in German, French and Spanish??

nancyadams · Jan 27, 2012

I'm having my non-fiction book translated into those three languages.

I was thinking of having Create Space do the books and then have them put on the Amazon websites which represent those countries.

Is that my best choice??

I ask because I'm of the understanding that Amazon will take 60% of my profit as compared to 40% for the US version, and on top of what Create Space will charge me per book. I'm disgusted by that!! :rant:

Thanks for any feedback.

Nancy

Old Hack · Jan 28, 2012

Nancy, this is the second thread you've started today in which you claim that Amazon is blackmailing people.

Making angry allegations like that doesn't show you in a good light.

As far as the rest of your post: of course CreateSpace will charge you for your book. It's not going to start printing books and giving them away for free, is it? If you decide to not use Amazon for this, what are your alternatives? And most importantly, I do hope you're certain that the translations you've commissioned are going to be made with expertise and sensitivity. A bad translation can ruin a book.

The difference in Amazon charges depending on territory is something worth debating, I think: I read an excellent blog post about it a few weeks ago, but can't find it now. I'll keep looking.

shaldna · Jan 28, 2012

Look, no one is 'blackmailing' anyone. Nor are they holding a gun to your head. If you don;t like the service then don't use it.

nancyadams · Jan 29, 2012

(I have removed my use of the word blackmail to help those look past it. It was and is how it felt about what was happening for those of us who have a popular book and use LS; it was not a direct accusation of a crime.)

I have not removed how disgusting it makes me feel that if I if put the same book, translated, on the Amazon website, their cut goes from 40% to 60% if I use Create Space. And my disgust does NOT equate to thinking they should help me sell the book for free. lol.

My question remains the same, but I will reword it and hope someone can come on with a friendly suggestion: if I want to sell translations of my book, and would love to have them accessible to those in countries who speak the particular language of my book, are there more options than Amazon targeted to those countries? This is an area I do not understand as far as translations, and hope for experienced help on this. Thanks.

Dawn Schaefer · Jan 30, 2012

I don't believe this is specific to Amazon and Createspace. In fact, when an author sells foreign rights traditionally, the payout to the agent is about 5% higher because there are extra steps involved (getting co-agents in other regions, etc). I would assume there's some of that going on in this situation too and putting a translated book out isn't as simple as throwing up a new version. Why don't you find out what the additional fees include? Are they doing the translation for you? Does this take into consideration VAT? Etc.

Is Amazon & Create Space my best choice to sell the translations in German, French and Spanish??

nancyadams

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

nancyadams

Dawn Schaefer

practical experience, FTW