Following our Amazon theme this month, I’m talking with critique partner John J. Rust about his experiences publishing with CreateSpace. Welcome to the Blood Red Pencil, John. When you were first ready to publish a book, did you explore other avenues before you came to CreateSpace? (If so, why did you veer away from those choices?) I did go to an ebook self-publishing site for my alien invasion novel Dark Wings . I’ve heard other people have had success with it. The publishing process was not very difficult, but I found I wasn’t making the sort of sales I expected. From that point on, all my ebooks have been done on the Createspace site via the link to Kindle. Was there a substantial learning curve the first time you published? Is this something the average writer can do or does it take some knowledge of layout and formatting? What about cover design? Oh yes, there was a learning curve for the first couple of novels. A lot of it is due to the formatting of the interior, mai...

My proof copy of Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin A question came up recently in a Facebook group about submitting a cover to CreateSpace in the correct proportions. I, myself, ran into a few minor glitches during the process, so I thought I’d share the solutions (and tips) I discovered in case others are similarly perplexed. 1. Use the CreateSpace Template It might be confusing at first, because it looks like this: CreateSpace cover templates are calculated and generated according to your specifications ...but that extraneous white space is actually useful for having somewhere to move stuff while you’re working on various aspects of your cover. The biggest benefit of the template is that the spine width is calculated perfectly for you based on the number of pages in your interior file. Which leads me to tip 2: 2. Make sure your interior file is finalised before you begin working on your cover. Or, at the very least, don’t change the page count. 3. Work directly...

Thanks for hosting me today, Dani. I'd like to share with you today my FREE day results over the past year, but first here's how I got there: Wrote some books, self-published them, got picked up by a small publishing house, then decided to go indie. Simple, huh? Not so much. Back before Kindle Direct Publishing and Createspace , self-pubbing wasn't all that easy. Sure you ended up with a book to show off, but without good distribution and a publisher to help successfully hawk your wares (thus the split with my publisher) all you end up with is a closet full of books you lug around to book signings. But then a miracle occurred: Kindle Direct Publishing Select, and with it a chance to get your books out there. Of course by now I had re-re-re-edited my books into what many consider a good read, so that helps. No matter how much you spend on publicity, or how much social media you ascribe to, if you don't have a well-written and edited book to offer your read...

Thank you to Dani for inviting me to talk about my self-publishing experience. Going the self-pub route had not been my original choice. I had what I thought was an awesome idea for a young adult novel—two kids realize they’ve been living inside To Kill a Mockingbird for the past five years, and they undertake an adventure through great literature to find their real home and parents—and I wrote it. My agent loved it, I mean dropped the “F” bomb on the phone with me she loved it so much, but she couldn’t find a home for it. Publishers gave us positive feedback but said that ultimately, they couldn’t sell teenagers on classic literature. Now, I’ve traditionally published seven mysteries, with the eighth coming out in October. I also serve on the national board of the Mystery Writers of America. I’ve got some hard-earned publishing knowledge, and I’d been hearing the same buzz as everyone else: self-publishing is big. It’s huge. It’s the future. You can write a book and quit your job c...

If you're thinking of self-publishing not only in electronic form, but also in print, a huge consideration is your goal. Do you wish to be considered a publisher in your own right? If so, I recommend Lightning Source as your printer. If not,  CreateSpace will work fine. With Lightning Source as your printer, you'll need to set up your own publishing company, which will establish you as a separate entity in the publishing world. This applies whether you're having your own books published or if you're widening the field as a small publisher and offering your services to others. Relatively speaking, it's not horribly expensive to set up a company, but there's some bother involved. You'll need to decide on a unique name for your company. You'll probably want to purchase a post office box, unless you wish the company's address to be your home's; then you'll register the company and send out notices. You might also consider a special log...

I recently received a Kindle as a gift from my husband, which was a lovely gesture. But my first thoughts went directly to the two large boxes of books “To Be Read” under my bed. I do like the Kindle for portability and it will be wonderful when I travel. Also, the success of the Kindle and the Nook and all the e-books that are hitting the market right now can’t be ignored. But I still find myself drawn to my paper books. I attended the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference this past weekend and went to a CreateSpace Workshop. Tom Kephart gave a presentation on how easy it is to use this program and the benefits that Amazon provides its “indie” authors, including a new application that is supposed to easily convert your book into Kindle format. I recently did a book layout and helped an editing client publish her memoir about being one of the first women engineers to work on the Alaska Highway, Engineer in High Heels . I used CreateSpace and I found what people had ...

This month's topic is printed books . As usual, I have some questions, which I'll answer and then it's your turn. Choose one or more of them and share your opinion. If you're only answering one, please expand. If more, please shorten. Also, only include one website URL or blog link. Questions: Are printed books obsolete? The new wave appears to be e-books, yet I have tons of friends and relatives who still prefer sitting down and turning the pages on what they call "real" books. I must admit being drawn to the covers of printed books when I'm shopping at Wal-Mart or even Osco. Some are so pretty I'm almost tempted to buy them, but I refrain. I can get a much better bargain buying a Kindle book. Also, my Kindle 3 and Kindle Touch are easier on the eyes. Do you buy paperbacks, hardcovers, both, or none printed? I usually buy paperbacks, either trade or smaller sized when they're written and autographed by close author friends. Otherwise, I g...

 Bob Sanchez  Bob Sanchez is here today to inform us about a hot new trend. Self-Publishing with CreateSpace by Bob Sanchez Several people have asked about self-publishing using Amazon’s CreateSpace, so I’d like to share my experiences. At first I’d thought to walk through the entire process, but there’s little point. You can follow their instructions as easily as mine. So this post will provide essential highlights. I’ve used it five times—for one novel, three writers’ group chapbooks, and a friend’s memoir. The process is straightforward, and the physical book is fine. The quality of the formatting and content is up to you, although you can hire CreateSpace (or me) to do anything you prefer not to try. The website is createspace.com . You’ll need to sign up (it’s free) or sign in. Once you sign in, click on the Books tab and read about Publishing a Trade Paperback. There is plenty of good, clear information. In the Overview, notice in particular the calculators that giv...

CreateSpace, Amazon’s print on demand service, is one of the Internet’s best-kept secrets. It provides quality, cost-competitive printing, for audiences as small as one. I know this is true because I helped my thirteen-year-old son create a book for his Social Studies class last year. It cost about fifteen dollars—arguably less than I would have paid to get color prints and a binder cover for a standard report. CreateSpace also provides templates for live areas and margins, which makes page-setup a simple process. The CreateSpace site lists an impressive array of services, from CD and DVD production to book production to Kindle conversions to editing, design, and marketing.The site's basic premise makes it an excellent option for book production services that can be automated—things like printing, distribution, kindle conversions, and disk duplication are absolutely invaluable. However, for services that are less amenable to the turnkey approach—text editing, book design, and mar...