KDP paperbacks

[Nick B]

So, it seems KDP are now going to be doing paperbacks. I'm reading thatp it is full of problems at the moment, so would reccomend no-one switches to it until those are sorted.
CS do a great job in my opinion, so it would take quite a large shift in quality and royalty rates to make me change right now.
Amazon in their usual way want you to switch to KDP and the process states this is irreversible once started.

Does anyone know more about this? Inside knowledge or experience?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've seen it suggested that Amazon are bringing Createspace into the fold under Amazon services as "Kindle Print".

However, it's expected this will take a while to launch because of the headache of getting both systems to properly integrate.

 

[Nick B]

Yeah, its quite hard finding details, apparently it has been in beta a few months and being rolled across users slowly. I won't be touching it untilit is thoroughly tested and proven to be as good quality as CS. We sell paperbacks regularly and I wouldn't want anyone disapointed with the quality.

 

[Peter V]

So, it seems KDP are now going to be doing paperbacks. I'm reading thatp it is full of problems at the moment, so would reccomend no-one switches to it until those are sorted.
CS do a great job in my opinion, so it would take quite a large shift in quality and royalty rates to make me change right now.
Amazon in their usual way want you to switch to KDP and the process states this is irreversible once started.

Does anyone know more about this? Inside knowledge or experience?

I am tempted to do this myself, if only to have the ability to have a few copies for personal use. There is a set up charge and then 1 cent per page. At 762 Kindle normalised pages the size of my novel makes it completely impractical to actually try and sell it in paperback as I would need to charge about $9.50 to show a small profit. In my opinion it is worth every cent (or penny for UK readers) but I cannot see many (if any) people investing nearly $10 in an unknown author.

If I can sort out a suitable cover I will do it for vanity reasons as there does not appear to be any minimum number required. If I do, I will let you know the quality.

Peter

 

[Brian G Turner]

At 762 Kindle normalised pages the size of my novel makes it completely impractical to actually try and sell it in paperback

Remember, you don't use Kindle pages for calculating book size with Createspace, but simply the page numbering of your Word document. The novel I just released through Amazon KDP has about 670 KENP, but in paperback with Createspace it's formatted to 371 pages, which I can sell for £8.99 with a 97p royalty, and no upfront costs.

 

[Nick B]

I am tempted to do this myself, if only to have the ability to have a few copies for personal use. There is a set up charge and then 1 cent per page. At 762 Kindle normalised pages the size of my novel makes it completely impractical to actually try and sell it in paperback as I would need to charge about $9.50 to show a small profit. In my opinion it is worth every cent (or penny for UK readers) but I cannot see many (if any) people investing nearly $10 in an unknown author.

If I can sort out a suitable cover I will do it for vanity reasons as there does not appear to be any minimum number required. If I do, I will let you know the quality.

Peter

I am (was) an unknown author, my book is 364 pages on Create Space, just 304 kindle normalised (however the work THAT out...) and sells at £8.99 uk, the US price is higher but I cant get it lower for some reason, and I sell quite a reasonable amount of them alongside e-books.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I jut saw this on my KDP page and thought - what the hey?! For years now CS has offered the chance to turn a paperback into a KDP edition - and the general advice has been not to do it. Certainly I haven't done it - for two reasons. FirstlyI always begin my publishing process by pubbing a kindle edition so it's already too late. And second because the editions are different. Ignore the fact that the page sizes are up the crapper and I'm publishing in PDF on CS and Word 2000 on Kindle - there are actual required changes. CS demands that you put the term "paperback edition" or something similar on the book (But under no circumstances call it a CS edition!). Kindle is happy if you call it a digital edition. So what the hey do you call the book now? Also what about your Tables of Contents? You pretty much need one in a kindle book, but absolutely don't want one in a paperback since unless the chapters have names you end up with a stupid looking list:

Chapter ten ..... ... Page 145
etc.

Obviously it looks stupid in kindle too, especially now that they'd required you to put the TOC in the front to stop upsetting their KENPC stats - but at least you had live links between the TOC and the actual chapter in the book.

Personally I'd stay away from this.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Peter V]

Remember, you don't use Kindle pages for calculating book size with Createspace, but simply the page numbering of your Word document. The novel I just released through Amazon KDP has about 670 KENP, but in paperback with Createspace it's formatted to 371 pages, which I can sell for £8.99 with a 97p royalty, and no upfront costs.

Thanks for the feedback. Please excuse my ignorance (I am completely new to this) but is the option through KDP for printing paperbacks the same as Createspace?

Looking at the other feedback, it is a simple task to create another versions sans contents etc and with page numbers added. With expectations very low I would simply like to do it so that I and a couple of close people could have a paperback copy. Pure vanity I suppose and any sales a bonus.

 

[Nick B]

Yep, create a pdf version but follow CS or KDPs formatting instructions for paperbacks. Its simple enough. Don't foqhet you need a full jacket, not just a front cover though.

 

[Brian G Turner]

KDP = Kindle Direct Publishing, which is Amazon's ebook publishing platform.
Createspace = Amazon's paperback publishing platform
Kindle Print = Amazon's attempt to integrate both services, but isn't widely available at this point as it's still going through beta testing AFAIK.

So, yes, you'd be able to submit a PDF of your Word document in Createspace to create a paperback copy of your novel, then friends and family could buy a copy, if they so wished, without it costing you anything in preparation.