Independent book publishing can be a huge challenge, and can sometimes also be a financial nightmare for self published authors. Luckily, CreateSpace has made it easy for freelancers and self publishers to compete with the "big gun" publishers. And in the process, you:
- Pay no set-up or membership fee to join
- Have great flexibility in the choice of royalty models
- Can tap into an array of forums, and access some great resources to help you through the publication process
- Are not tied to exclusive publishing/distribution agreements
Read on to find out how to get the maximum out of CreateSpace.
TIPS FOR A FRUITFUL CREATESPACE EXPERIENCE
To make the most of your CreateSpace experience, you need to keep a few points in mind. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
1) PLANNING, PLANNING...PLANNING: As an independent writer, you probably don't have an endless bevy of support staff to help you. That's why you need to ensure your publishing project is well planned, right from the outset - even before you log into your CreateSpace account to submit your publication package:
- Is all the content finalized, edited and proofread?
- Have you decided on the size of your book?
- Are all the references, foot-notes and end-notes accounted for?
- Will you be getting your own ISBN? (CreateSpace offers FREE CreateSpace ISBN or UPC)
While many of these points may seem commonsense, you'll be surprised how many of them can be overlooked under pressure of a looming publishing deadline!
2) GO PREPARED: Since you have decided to self publish, you'll need to do a lot of the prep work yourself. Luckily, all of the information about your book must be provided online. However, many self published authors make the mistake of "doing it on the fly!"
Go prepared. Before you start entering the publication information into CreateSpace, pause for a bit and get all the information organized:
- What the title will be?
- Whether you will write under your own name or a pseudo name?
- A brief/concise note about the author
- Expected date of publication
- A summary of what the book, series of books or plot is all about?
- ISBN (optional if you use CreateSpace ISBN)
- Book Industry Standard and Communications Category (or BISAC) of your book
- Keywords for your CreateSpace listing
- Price (and currency)
A bit of forethought in getting these bits of information ready could save you immense heartache later.
3) FORMATTING: CreateSpace requires books to be formatted within specific, and usually very stringent, guidelines. Formatting within those guidelines can often take lots of time, and needs plenty of patience. It may be well worth the while outsourcing this task to professionals who are well versed with CreateSpace formatting guidelines.
4) IMAGES AND GRAPHICS: Often, great pieces of literary works are tarnished on publication because of lackluster graphics and images. Make sure, if your book/novel includes illustrations, that they are all accounted for, and that they are of publication quality/resolution.
5) TAMPER-PROOF YOU'RE SUBMISSION: Not that anyone at CreateSpace will "tamper" with your manuscript, but electronically transmitted documents, in 'open format' like Word, sometimes have a mind of their own. To prevent formatting and alignments from going awry, package your submission into a PDF form before sending it to CreateSpace.
6) PROOF BEFORE MASS ORDERING: Don't immediately make your very first order of the title a 10,000 copy run. Order a handful of copies first (minimum of 2), and take time to go through it yourself, and have close friends and family read a copy too. A second, or even third, pair of eyes scanning the final product is a good idea to catch any errors or omissions that you may have overlooked.
Following these few steps may not guarantee your title sells a million copies on first print, but they will definitely give you a more satisfying and stress free CreateSpace experience. And in the process, you'll also produce a higher-quality book, and that will certainly resonate with your audience.
DON'T FORGET THE FINER POINTS!
Self published authors are often a very busy bunch of people. And sometimes, especially with tight deadlines and looming commitments, something always seems to drop through the cracks. One of the most oft overlooked points is formatting. Unfortunately, what you may have overlooked in formatting could translate into whole scale rejection of your book by your audience.
Partnering with professional book formatting services like The Fast Fingers can help relieve you of the pains of formatting your books by yourself. Whether it's an eBook or a print version, they have years of experience, and know exactly what's needed to ensure a high quality publication.
