How to publish a book with Amazon Create Space

How do you self publish a book?

I am asked this question quite often now, soI have decided to put my little experience in writing to help you out. Here is the link you want:

https://www.createspace.com/

I worked out lots of information after signing as much of the info only comes out after having a title etc and going through the whole process. For example the speed of the proof and the price are only found out in the very end of the order...

So, let's go in order.

To self publish a book you need to create an account with "Create space", which is the publishing arm of Amazon.

Then you choose a title, you are given a free ISBN number, and you upload your own cover and your contents in pdf file.

You can do this for free or you can you their (paid) services to create a cover and proof-read the book.

You can also use their free templates (useful for margins, headers and page breaks).

Usually people create the book in .doc and then upload it in .pdf. (pdf for the interior and jpg for the cover, max file size 400 megabytes)

Once the title is uploaded, it will go through an automated check for major mistakes (which you can visualise through a dedicated software).

This will not cover any duplicate words, duplicate paragraphs etc, but only any items falling outside of the bleed area etc, small spine and so on.

You can upload cover and contents several times until the result is exactly what you want.

Finally, you may order a book proof to see if what you have is what you thought it would be printed.

This takes 3 days to arrive from the US if you pay around $30, or 4 weeks or longer if you choose the cheap shipping option. :) (They are clever after all). So, be careful and plan ahead or you will be waiting for ages just to save $25.

After you accept the proof (you don't have to see a proof) you can say yes and Amazon will load the book for sale on Amazon.com

The book will be available in the US with the price chosen by yourself. Apparently, it's an American thing to have prices ending in .95 - so, keep in mind that when planning your price in UK£.

However, if you want to sell your book through online sellers, bookstores and wholesalers, it is convenient to sign up for ProPlan.

Fo about $30 dollars the first year and $5 each year after that, your book is advertised to an expanded range of services and it can be bought anywhere in the world.

My title took about 1 week to be offered by The Book Depository (well known UK seller) with a £ price and UK shipping prices.

It took 3 weeks from day one to appear also on Amazon.co.uk

So, with a bit of planning you can reach the UK. It takes a lot longer than you think to review and adjust the book layout to print, then to check the contents for any other issue.

Once done, just find out the book ID and send the direct link to potential customers.

Also, register for the free "Look inside" feature. 

The writers forum in Create Space is full of advice from fellow writers. Sometimes it's quite contradicting but usually very informative.

In the UK, Amazon does not have a POD service (print on demand). However, LULU and others do, but they are far more expensive than Amazon. I heard that Amazon is planning to start a POD for the UK but nobody knows when.

This means that royalties are paid, for the time being, only in US dollars and you will receive a US $ cheque - so a currency exchange fee will be paid on top of any charges. You can also open a US account abroad and have your money deposited there and taken out when you use US sellers.

Usually HSBC asks for $ 20.000 in your account in order for you to do transactions. Barclays is cheaper - just give them the US check, put it in your account, and they will charge nothing up to £40.00 worth of royalties. However you will lose the exchange rate value. 

In your Create Space account, you can check how many sales you have achieved, and how much money in royalties you have earned.

However, royalties are much higher if you enroll in the ProPlan.

You can ask questions to Create Space and the customer service guys will always reply within 24 hours. They are sometimes a bit narrow-thinking but usually helpful and kind.

If you don't want too much hassle, instead of planning a printed book, opt for the Kindle version. Prepare the file using your brilliant HTML skills, upload it in your account, and you are online immediately worldwide.

I hope this helps!

P.S.
Since posting this, the expanded range and other small things have changed. Do check create space for up-to-date information.