CreateSpace
Sections: Home/Blog/Books Frida Saal Fanfiction POD Comparison Contact us!
Publishers
Virtual Bookworm

CreateSpace

Booklocker.com

WingSpan Press

AuthorHouse

Authors Online

Aventine Press

Bookstand Publishing

Equilibrium Books

Foremost Press

Infinity Publishing

Inkwater Press

iUniverse

Llumina Press

Lulu
Outskirts Press
Trafford

Universal Publishers
Winepress Publishing

Xlibris
Xulon Press
CreateSpace
Manuscript screening: No
Kind of contract: Non-Exclusive
2+2=5 They reserve the right to change the terms and conditions of the agreement whenever and however they see fit. It is your responsibility to keep track of those changes and you don't have a grace period in which you can opt out before those changes take effect. This means that, if you don't like those changes, your only recourse is to 'stop using their services'... of course, that is only if they haven't decide to take away your right to do just that (to be fair, I have to point out that I consider such a worst-case scenario power-grab to be extremely unlikely, but since they reserve the right to make any changes they see fit, it cannot be entirely ruled out).
Distribution: Their site, or their site and online retailers mostly if you opt for their Expanded Distribution Channels (it is worth noting that 'their site' is amazon.com)
Basic fees: Paperback publishing Basic paperback fee is $673.00 ($249.00 for the Author Advantage Book Interior, $399.00 for the Custom Cover, plus $25.00 for access to their Expanded Distribution Channel).
Hardcover publishing Not available
Combo publishing Not available
Color publishing Basic color publishing fee is $803.00 ($379.00 for the Total Design Freedom Children's Book Interior, $399.00 for the Custom Cover, plus $25.00 for access to their Expanded Distribution Channel).
eBook publishing This publisher belongs to amazon.com and the terms in that regard are the same any other author would encounter (free, non-exclusive and with royalties ranging from 35 to 70% of retail price). Distribution through other retailers must be arranged separately.
Royalties: Rather than as a fixed percentage, royalties are calculated as Retail Price minus a percentage of retail price (this figure ranges from 20% for eStore sales to 60% for external channels) minus printing costs but over all the results are extremely favorable to the author.
Author's discount: Authors can purchase copies of their books paying only their printing costs.
Break-even point: Less than 200 copies of an average length book (this figure is obtained using amazon.com as a reference. It would jump to 300-500 copies based on external sales).
Basic retail price: Set by the author but can be extremely competitive (you could set a $12.95 retail price for a 200 page book and still earn a competitive royalty on external sales)
Layout: You select a number of options and they will provide you with a basic layout (Author Advantage Book Interior).
Graphics: Available as an extra only.
Cover options: They will design a custom cover for you.
Trim size: You have a number of trim sizes to choose from.
Additional options: Distribution via external channels requires an additional payment of $25.00 (this fee is included in all of the above mentioned examples).

You can publish basically for free if you can supply your own layout and cover.

They offer one less expensive package ($248.00) where they help you design your own cover and layout. They also offer a number of more expensive options.
Pros*: *Good distribution.
*Reasonable setup fee (in fact you can realistically get published for free).
*Great royalties.
*You can buy copies of your book paying only your printing costs.
*Competitive retail price.
Cons*: *No hardcover option.
*There is a huge problem with their contract (as in you could wake up tomorrow to find that you are now bound by an exclusive contract you can no longer walk away from or even that they own all rights to your work. To be fair, these scenarios are unlikely, but under the terms of their current agreement they cannot be entirely ruled out).
Comments*:

While it is theoretically possible to publish using CreatSpace almost for free, in order to be able to put this company in a somewhat equal footing with the full-service providers that make up the bulk of those that are featured in the comparison I have added up the costs their least expensive layout and cover design options, plus their expanded distribution add-on, to come up with the fees and services that are listed above.

This is one of two publishers I have actually worked with, and my experience has been a fairly positive one. The other publisher I have worked with is Virtual Bookworm. For a more personal take on the reasons behind both choices and how my experiences with these companies compare to each other you may want to read the following blog post: Virtual Bookworm or CreateSpace?

This publisher is a subsidiary of amazon.com, a fact that gives it a significant advantage when it comes to distribution.

This publisher has renamed itself so many times it's not even funny any more (first it was Great Unpublished, then it became Global Book Publisher, then BookSurge Publishing and finally CreateSpace).

The Bottom Line*:

CreateSpace gets the second place in this comparison because, due to the fact that, being a subsidiary of amazon.com, it can offer a deal no other publisher can match when it comes to dollars and cents and the fact that authors who can supply their own ready to print layout and cover can theoretically publish for less than $100.00 doesn't hurt matters either.

On the downside their contract does include an extremely dangerous clause, one that may well be a deal-breaker.

Visit the publisher's site
Last updated: 03-30-2013

* These represent my personal opinion based on what I've seen in the publisher's site.

Sections: Home/Blog/Books Frida Saal Fanfiction POD Comparison Contact us!

Site content & design © Clea Saal, 2001-2013. All rights reserved.