Angelina Kerner
Author
Publishing Paperback: Createspace versus KDP Select
So, as you guys know – I’m an author, a self-published one through Createspace and KDP Select. Usually, I do paperbacks through Createspace and ebooks through KDP Select and Kobo.
I wanted to create an unbiased experience of using KDp Select for paperbacks. And, boy did I get one.
Here’s the pluses of KDP Select Paperback:
- Once you set up the kindle, all info is transferred for the paperback
- You can get a free KDP Select isbn for your paperback
- You don’t have to toggle between signing in twice to work with the same book
- The customer service people are nice and do respond in detail. They get 5 stars
Here’s the minuses of KDP Select Paperback:
- It’s a fast set up, just like for kindles but that rush makes you miss things like that it doesn’t have a distribution set up to Barnes and Noble and to libraries like Createspace does.
- You can’t approve until you get the cover right. Even if you think the cutting of borders is good, until you get the right measurements, you’ll be trying again and again which can create a bad relationship with your illustrator.
- The cover will be DENIED if you have a review on it and a saying that you have another book under you belt. The file contains template text, PDF creation guides, or software references that should be removed. <-Confusing text right? I had to ask them for help because it was really confusing on what it meant. I thought that I had numbers on the cover or text that says – Place Cover title here. Well it means you can’t have a review on the cover. Why? Like seriously? Most authors add a short review. It’s part of the culture. While I was chatting with a helper, I sent in the cover again and this time it was approved and the book got published.What happened? At first, I was happy because it meant that I was done with the hell of publishing. Oh, while Createspace gives you templates for covers, you have to calculate the size of cover in KDP Select. That’s more time consuming and doesn’t actually work.
- You cannot buy author copies. If an author wants a copy, they have to buy it through Amazon. The perk of author copies is that you buy them cheap and can give them as gifts and send to reviewers. Plus, it saves the author money. I mean self published authors spend a lot of money on editors and illustrators and marketing. Saving on author’s copies is star sent.
So, my unbiased experiment worked. KDP Select is good for Kindle but not for paperbacks, at least not yet. I’m in the process of deleting the paperback and moving back to Createspace. *Sighs* You guys will just have to wait to get the paperback copy of Follow the Snowflakes.
Good luck with your publishing!
2 Comments on “Publishing Paperback: Createspace versus KDP Select”
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Angelina Kerner 
“The cover will be DENIED if you have a review on it and a saying that you have another book under you belt.”
That’s weird, since they don’t have a problem with ebook covers that mention previous books.
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Yep that’s what I thought. But, that was the reason provided for denying my cover. We only changed the size on the 4th try and it got published. So it’s either someone who’s not sure what they are doing or people don’t talk to each other about it.
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