Saturday, July 20, 2013

Self-Publishing With CreateSpace


 
Editing Services

Basic Copyediting: $160 up to 10,000 words. $0.016/word for 10,000+
Eg. 80,000 word book would cost $1,280 ($160 + 70,000 x 0.016).
Where Love Once Lived: $1,453 (CreateSpace editor – freelance magazine editor)
The Vengeance Squad: $1,162 (CreateSpace – same editor)
Love Lives On: $550 (I used a Christian writer friend who did more than copyedit.)

CreateSpace provides other editing services such as comprehensive editing, editorial evaluation, and multi-round editing. Read about all editing services here:
https://www.createspace.com/pub/services.home.do?tab=EDITING

Cover Design Services

CreateSpace provides a variety of services for cover design. For Where Love Once Lived, I chose the most expensive they had to offer, the Illustrated Cover, drawn specifically for my book. Cost: $1,199.

For my next book, The Vengeance Squad, I paid a friend $60 to do the layout and paid $25 for the photos. For Love Lives On and Job Seekers' Attitude Adjustment Guide, I did the layout myself and paid $10 for photos. Paid Bowker for ISBNs and UPCs.

You'll find links to all cover design services here:
https://www.createspace.com/pub/services.home.do?tab=LAYOUT

Interior Options

CreateSpace charges for assistance in getting your text ready to print. For my first book I paid $379 for this and another $100 when I wanted to change it. For the following books I did this all myself using the Microsoft Word templates CreateSpace provides free. See:
https://www.createspace.com/en/community/docs/DOC-1323?sitesearch_query=templates&sitesearch_type=SITE

Marketing/Publicity Services

CreateSpace provides marketing and publicity services such as book trailers, posters, press releases, reviews, business cards, bookmarks, etc., all priced higher than you can get elsewhere. I did of this for first book only.


Royalties

Royalties are based on costs and selling price. There is a formula for computing the cost. This should be done before deciding on a selling price. See:
https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/ and click oh Royalties tab. Input includes trim size (mine are 5 ¼ x 8 inches) and number of pages. You enter a selling price and the calculator will show the royalty for books sold on Amazon, eStore, and through expanded distribution for U.S. dollars, UK pounds, and euros. Expanded distribution is an option for bookstores, libraries, etc. If you want to set the price of your book as low as possible, pick a price where the expanded distribution royalty is just slightly above zero.

You can buy books and have them mailed to you for book signings and such. The unit price remains the same regardless of how many books you buy. The only variable is shipping cost. I find it is best to order 36 books at a time. Love Lives On costs me $5.40 each including sales tax and shipping. The list price is $12.95 for Amazon, but I can sell for $10.00 and make about the same profit.

E-Books

You can set a different price for Kindle editions. There is no cost. CreateSpace pays a 70% royalty for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. The royalty is 35% otherwise. CreateSpace will assist you with your ebook for a fee, but you can do it yourself here:
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin
You'll probably want to also set up on Barnes and Noble, iTunes, etc.

Bookstores

Bookstores can order books from Amazon as long as you've paid the $25 fee for expanded distribution. They won't order unless they've made a sale first since there is a no return policy.

Other Services

CreateSpace also provides some package plans with discounts for buying more. Costly $5,000+.

Pros and Cons

CreateSpace is an excellent way to get published quickly with as little or as much help as you need. I don't recommend it until you have exhausted possible traditional publishers.


 

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