Editio Self-Publishing discussion

Hello : )

I am almost finished editing the text part of my poetry book, and will soon be ready to publish. I've looked at AuthorHouse, Blurb, CreateSpace, and Lulu, but I still can't decide which to choose. Based on publishing costs and royalties, I'd like to go with AuthorHouse or CreateSpace. I've been hearing a lot of negative things about AuthorHouse though, and I don't want to dive into their service and be left feeling disappointed. So, my question is, based on your experiences, who is the best self-publishing company and why?

Thanks in advance for all your responses.

A few of our members have written about AuthorHouse on another thread. Check it out http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

Justine wrote: "Hello : )

I am almost finished editing the text part of my poetry book, and will soon be ready to publish. I've looked at AuthorHouse, Blurb, CreateSpace, and Lulu, but I still can't decide whi..."

create space. do not get caught up with Author house

Thanks a lot Bookie and J., I've decided to go w/ CreateSpace, mostly because I feel Amazon is a more trustworthy company. I'm currently awaiting the arrival of my book proof :-) AH does seem to have a lot of bad feedback among the interwebs, plus I don't like the idea of having to purchase a publishing package up front along w/ their customer service.

AuthorHouse is a pure vanity press. They do not have a do it yourself service as Createspace does. I would suggest people use Createspace instead. If you need the services you can pay for them. But if you can do it yourself you are not forced to pay.

I"m on Lulu and they've been good to OK. I get a good vibe about Smashwords though so look into them.
POW

Smashwords is for ebooks--I got the impression that Justine was looking for paper publishing? However, I think any author who e-publishes without using Smashwords is leaving money on the table, since Smashwords feeds to so many venues (iBooks, Kobo, etc.).

I am interested in paper publishing, but it's good to know that Smashwords is an option in case I decide to publish an ebook outside of the Kindle format. Thanks!

Justine wrote: "I am interested in paper publishing, but it's good to know that Smashwords is an option in case I decide to publish an ebook outside of the Kindle format. Thanks!"

I strongly recommend publishing through Smashwords as well, as they will get your book into Barnes & Noble. The Nook is the second most popular e-reader and doesn't take mobi (Kindle) files. Publish via Smashwords and you open up a much wider range of readers and income sources for yourself and your work.

How finessed is the formatting on your poetry? 99 out of 100 times I'd say CreateSpace hands down, but if you've got formatting that's going to require some expertise to get laid on the page correctly, it's probably time to give Lulu a call.

I'll second (third, fourth) everyone else on AuthorHouse, run the hell away from them as fast as you can.

As for ebooks, once again, depending on how detailed your formatting is, go for an ebook on Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and DTP. Smashwords can be a bit tricky, especially with poetry, but if you follow their directions, and have a clean copy with them, it's almost certain you'll have a great base document to work with for DTP and PubIt.

I'm so glad all of you are taking time to give me such detailed info for my question. It's all helping me a lot! Thanks everyone : )

@Keryl: My formatting is simple, only text and no images. Hopefully I'll be able to convert it to an ebook easily; if not, I thank you for informing me on other options : )

Hi Justine,

By simple I mean, do you have a lot of precise indents? Are you doing a pretty basic blank verse, or is the white space also part of the composition?

Pretty much, if your line breaks have to be in precisely the right space, that'll make an ebook more difficult. The screens are all different sizes. If you've got greater flexibility, then you'll have an easier time making an ebook.

I have lots of space to work with.

I've published an ebook for Kindle, but it's a short story, so it wasn't complicated in the least.

Smashwords style guide is very precise and easy to follow.But if you copy it from their PDF the illustrations don't show up and they are helpful.It is better to just keep a copy of the PDF on the desktop while you fix your MS.Kindle was easy cuz they will take a PDF.Smashwords won't.But Kindle takes you offline for 24 hours if you go back and change or add a single tag.Will look into the others you mention. Thanks.

They way I deal with Smashwords and Kindle is to first work getting the DOC file formatted to work on Smashwords. Once I have that, then I just upload the same basic DOC file (with minor change for ISBN number) to Kindle.

Yeah. I was thinking Amazon would not be too happy with Smashword's ISBN. When you format using the Smashwords guide you have a beautiful doc. Plus it explained a lot of the stuff on Word I didn't understand like the red type.

Not Authorhouse for sure! I was thinking of trying Createspace for my next book. Authorhouse is horrible and the manager doesn't even return emails or phone calls! I have a friend in the same situation as well.

Anyone have experience with Lightning Source? A friend recommended them and I like the fact that they distribute through Ingram. Distribution seems key to me, as I want to push books out to indie bookstores, libraries, etc.

I won't consider CreateSpace because I don't believe in corporate monopolies and Amazon is not a fair player in the industry. Not to mention their proclivity to censor and suppress - I'm an artist and so that's kinda not okay with me. /rant

So, any knowledge, experience, or opinion on Lightning Source?

If you do your research Lighting Source is a pure Vanity House. Stay away from them. Use Createspace and save money. When you take a look at all of the fees they charge there is no reason to use them when you can do the same with Createspace for nothing (if you do all the work yourself) or for a smaller amount (if they do the work).

Lightning Source charges you for ISBN. You can get a free one via Createspace. They charge you an upfront fee to list your book and then a yearly fee to maintain the listing. Cratespace charges only a one shot $40 fee for the listing.

If you want hardbacks you can get them from other sources (Createspace only to the publisher, or Wordclay).

Hm. I'll consider - I do recall a $12 yearly fee. I don't find LSI's explicit statement about ISBN fees or lack thereof. I'd think it'd be foolish for them to charge when the competition doesn't.

How about quality? I have a createspace book in hand right now which is kinda chintzy. I want a matte cover and decent quality in the books that go out. This one createspace example I have is below my standards.

How is createspace Not a pure Vanity House? What's your distinction based on? Any hack can use any of these services, right? There's no editorial vetting at createspace, right?

Hobie wrote: "How about quality? I have a createspace book in hand right now which is kinda chintzy. I want a matte cover and decent quality in the books that go out. This one createspace example I have is below my standards."

I have been happy with the paperbacks from Createspace. While it is not a matte cover it is a glossy cover.

How is createspace Not a pure Vanity House? What's your distinction based on? Any hack can use any of these services, right? There's no editorial vetting at createspace, right?"

I would suggest you get the info package from Lighting Source and look at their fees. Even when you want to do the work yourself they charge a set-up fee. Createspace does not.

As for how I define a Vanity House, they charge upfront fees. Createspace only upfront fee (which you don't need unless you want to be able to other stories or library) is their one shot listing fee.

Everything else is based off of royalties.

Yes you could say because anyone who self-published is really using vanity publishing. And this would even be with using Craetespace. But if you don't sell any books you have no out of pocket expense (assuming you can do the work your self or you have friends who can edit, layout and do the graphics for you), using Lighting Source you do have out of pocket expenses.

I will always choose the one which cost me nothing up front.

So, Createspace's $40 fee isn't really a fee, but something else? I see where lightning source's $12/yr fee would exceed CreateSpace's fee after four years, but I also see where they charge less in distribution fees.

I've found secondary sources showing up front costs of about >$100 to get started then $12/yr thereafter. However, if the book quality exceeds this cruddy createspace book and I make more per sale, I should do better long-term. Plus, I won't have to feed more to monopolistic Amazon.

I've got a while before I go to press, so I'll continue to research this.

I'd like other opinions on this. The strident rhetoric I'm hearing here isn't helping.

Now, I haven't done a lot of research on LS, but I know people who like them. And unlike say, Author House or Outskirts Press I haven't heard any complaints.

I wouldn't call them a vanity service, to me the main mark of the vanity press is that you have to buy books. I don't think you have to with LS.

I respect Robin, and think she knows what she's talking about. She's done a great LS V CS blog post.

http://write2publish.blogspot.com/201...

However, if your goal is not to feed the monopolies, you need to know that LS prints more or less everything that CS doesn't. It's a massive player, producing absolute scads of books.

If you want a great price, you'll need to deal with a big player. That's just a matter of straight economy of scale.

True dat. I do see that we're dealing with necessary evils. My main beef with Amazon is their history of defacto censorship and lack of accountability. As an artist and conscientious citizen, I deplore much of their business practices.

Thanks for the link. I've been reading a few similar and I look forward to reading her analysis.

Cheers!

I published THE CHAKRA DIARIES using CreateSpace. I used my own editor and cover designer and just had them format the inside pages and print. If you get a good salesperson working on your book, you can get a lot of freebies like eBook formatting for Kindle, extra copies of your print books, etc. The design team is all freelancers, so you have to carefully check everything they do. And yes, they only print using the glossy covers, when we'd all prefer matte. But they are basically an arm of Amazon and get your print online for sale quickly. To me, Amazon is the best place to sell your book.

Not the proper venue for political statements.

So I have a question. What is making people choose Author House or Createspace when you can upload your book in a few minutes, directly to Amzon? I have not used either of these services, so I am wondering if there is something I have missed. I write my story, hire a freelance editor and then just upload my book in less than 5 minutes. So what am I missing?
Elle Lapraim

Are you talking about just Kindle or can you upload to Amazon and generate a paperback? I went the createspace route so I could have my book in paperback (It is also available on Kindle and Nook).



Elle wrote: "So I have a question. What is making people choose Author House or Createspace when you can upload your book in a few minutes, directly to Amzon? I have not used either of these services, so I am w..."

Ward wrote: "Are you talking about just Kindle or can you upload to Amazon and generate a paperback? I went the createspace route so I could have my book in paperback (It is also available on Kindle and Nook)...."

I was just talking about the Kindle. The paperback part makes sense.I have not done paperback yet. Do you find very many people buy paperback copies? I might try that.
Thank You

CreateSpace is the division of Amazon that makes actual physical books.

Have I sold a lot? No. Did I sell more than enough to recoup my investment? Yes. Will I keep selling them, at about one or two a month? Likely.

So, it's not big money, but that's still two more readers and six bucks in my pocket each month.

I am confused when you mention your investment. I have heard that Createspace takes their royalty when the book is sold. Do you have to buy a deal from them first? I have heard 'no up front cost'. David Gaughran (website which see) was wondering if someone would like to comment on his blog with a a Createspace walk through experience.

Virginia wrote: "I am confused when you mention your investment. I have heard that Createspace takes their royalty when the book is sold. Do you have to buy a deal from them first? I have heard 'no up front cost..."

This is true IF you do all of the work yourself. If you HIRE them to do the work then you have upfront fees for Createspace.

I was just talking about the Kindle. The paperback part makes sense.I have not done paperback yet. Do you find very many people buy paperback copies? I might try that.
Thank You


It was worth the $39 I spent on Createspace to create a paperback version.
Half my sales are in paperback. Also, having a paperback is a great prop when promoting your book. I have a friend who has published with Simon and Schuster [sp?] and she suggested that I come out with a paperback version if I possibly could. You can expand your market without a whole lot of costs.
I have to admit that it was cool to hold the paperback version of my book, much more gratifying than looking at a website.
Createspace will sell you copies at discount for you to sell direct. Mostly I have been selling to friends out of my trunk. I have another batch of 15 coming in next week. I have made sales on the bus and on airplanes. I also had some business cards printed up to hand out with the book blurb and my author website. My Amazon.com sales are starting to pick up and may soon rival my Kindle sales (Nook sales are pathetic).
There is more formatting required than for Kindle. Createspace has free templates that you can download to help you out for the various sizes and shapes of book that you might want to generate. I was a bit stumped on what to do for a back cover (I don’t do pictures and you can read my book page if you are curious why http://www.thetoadking.com "Author"). My back cover has my blurb and then I pulled reviews of the Kindle version off Amazon for the back. You can see the back of my book at Amazon if you are curious as to what that looks like.
I liked your article on self publishing stigma. Hand someone a paperback (mine is 6x9 and 422 pages) and that stigma goes right out the door.


The Toad King: A Soldier's Story

http://www.amazon.com/Toad-King-Soldi...

I mean the 39$ pro fee and the price of the proof copy and shipping. Call it 50$.

No, I wouldn't suggest buying any of their author services. You can get them for less elsewhere.

The only money I'm spending upfront on my novel is for cover art. I can't afford to pay for editing and I'll do the formatting myself. It will be interesting to see if I cover my costs. Time will tell!

I'm planning on using CreateSpace for my next book.

Does anyone have any experience with Friesen Press in Victoria, British Columbia?

Query: I'd love to hear from authors who have used one of the smaller print on demand companies for their books. Lots of people use CreateSpace and Lightning Source, but there are others that might be better suited to some kinds of books. I'm specifically interested in real print on demand: digital printing and fulfillment to retailers. Any ideas? Thanks!

Joel wrote: "Query: I'd love to hear from authors who have used one of the smaller print on demand companies for their books. Lots of people use CreateSpace and Lightning Source, but there are others that might..."

Don't know about retailers. I do know Lulu.com has a good rep for hardbound/picture books.

Thanks, Keryl. Lulu's been around longer than anyone else, too. The only problem I've heard with Lulu is the prices are often a bit high.

Joel wrote: "Thanks, Keryl. Lulu's been around longer than anyone else, too. The only problem I've heard with Lulu is the prices are often a bit high."

Which is why I wouldn't use them for anything other than a hardbound book. They can't compete with CS and LS on price.

Has anyone published strictly in e-book format? If you have which distributor did you use? I'm planning on going with Smashwords. If anyone has uploaded through them would you mind quickly summarizing how you went through the process and how satisfied you are with the service? Thanks!

Laekan wrote: "Has anyone published strictly in e-book format? If you have which distributor did you use? I'm planning on going with Smashwords. If anyone has uploaded through them would you mind quickly summa..."

Hi, I've used Smashwords many times. They do provide a lot of guidance on their site, including a free 'how to format' ebook.

In summary

You produce a Microsoft Word .doc file of your manuscript and upload it to Smashwords (along with an image file for your cover)

Smashwords converts your manuscript into a variety of formats.

Unless the converter found problems, people can now buy your book from Smashwords.

There's then a wait of about 10 days where Smashwords will inspect your book. If it passes a series of checks then Smashwords will pass your book onto 3rd party retailers such as Apple and Barnes & Noble.

I find the system works well, although getting the book formatted so it passes all the checks can be a bit tricky.

The most important thing to consider is that Smashwords do not yet distribute to Amazon. If you want your book to sell as many copies as possible, you will need to sell through Amazon.

I’ve used both Lulu and CreateSpace and have been very happy with both. Lulu dose have higher prices on ordering prints of your books, but they have awesome discounts all the time. I make my own covers and download them, and I like that Lulu lets me see what I’m doing, whereas Creatspace just takes my PDF file and I have to get the actual book before I know it how it turned out.
I do think CreateSpace provides better marketing options at a lower price, which is why I strayed from my love affaire with lulu in the first place.

As I understand it, Createspace is a US only gig. Being a Brit, it seems Lulu is my only bet unless I want to use a smaller service which charges upfront fees but seems to offer paperbacks at a decent price through Amazon. Can anyone who has used Lulu advise how much they generally charge for paper/hardbacks and if the royalties are any good?

I am looking into publishing with createspace, but my problem is that in order for me to get a higher royalty I have to sell my book through createspace. On Amazon, my royalty is way too little. The problem is that most people will find me through Amazon or search me through Amazon, and from there I make almost nothing.
Any encounter this dilemma?
Also, in createspace there are no place for reviews or tags. All that has to be done on Amazon. SO again, if I want to promote reviews for my book I have to drive everyone to Amazon where I make no money.

Dahlia wrote: "I am looking into publishing with createspace, but my problem is that in order for me to get a higher royalty I have to sell my book through createspace. On Amazon, my royalty is way too little. Th..."

Dahlia, you should try lulu.com. They listed my books on Amazon for me and I make the same amount of money as if someone bought directly from lulu. Lulu also has places for reviews and a place that you can set up your own store front. It’s very user friendly, as well. I’ve really loved using lulu, however, I will admit, their price to print books is higher than Createspace, (which forces you to charge the buyer more) They do give out lots of codes for discounts, though.
If you have your heart set on Createspace, try their “pro-plan.” It costs around $40, but it gives you a higher royalty on Amazon, and lowers the cost of prints.
Good luck to you!!

James T wrote: "As I understand it, Createspace is a US only gig. Being a Brit, it seems Lulu is my only bet unless I want to use a smaller service which charges upfront fees but seems to offer paperbacks at a dec..."

I've just started looking into this. I think Createspace isn't entirely a US-only gig, but Createspace is not a good option for selling outside of the US. That applies equally to US authors as UK ones. Here's what I've gleaned so far. Anyone can set up a Createspace account, but the books are printed in the US. So even though a potential reader will see the Createspace book on amazon.co.uk, the shipping cost will be so high that it will seem extremely expensive. You can get around this by ordering the books yourself and shipping to Amazon. But at that point, Createspace has lost all its benefits as far as I can see. Lulu prints in the UK and so is a better bet for postage but printing prices are higher.

People who probably know far more about this than me are posting on the Createspace forum here https://www.createspace.com/en/commun...

I used lulu for my print edition. The book does look very good (the finish on the front cover looks very professional) and they do pay on time, but it's been 8 weeks and they still haven't listed it on amazon.

Teresa wrote: "I used lulu for my print edition. The book does look very good (the finish on the front cover looks very professional) and they do pay on time, but it's been 8 weeks and they still haven't listed ..."

Wow! Eight weeks is an age. Publishing eBooks, as I do, you get spoiled by the speed with which it can all happen. I might be publishing print editions next year. Looks like I'll plan for things to go s-l-o-w-l-y.

I hope things get moving for you soon.