I want to share a story about expanded book distribution.  I publish tax textbooks though CreateSpace and in 2010, I used their expanded distribution channel, which means that the books became available through LSI, too. I do a new edition every year, and I went into my CreateSpace account on January 31st to retire the old editions. The new editions will be released on March 1st.

I've contacted CreateSpace support 4 times-- by e-mail and by phone, but apparently, the customer service department can't help stop expanded distribution, even though it would probably just take a call to LSI to permanently retire the titles. I've even called LSI, and I was transferred to a dozen different people before someone finally hung up on me. Compared to Createspace, LSI's customer service is even worse.

My big problem is that LSI is still printing and releasing copies of the old edition, and I am powerless to stop it. A few of the books are still available on Amazon as new (not just through third party sellers) which means that copies are still being produced, even though I canceled expanded distribution over two weeks ago.

When I contacted CreateSpace the last time, the operator was sympathetic, but she told me that it would probably take six weeks. That's just not good-- because that means that the old edition will still be selling while the new edition is active.

I'm afraid that customers will buy the old edition by mistake, and in fact it has already happened, because I was contacted by one of my own customers about this very issue.

I'll find out for sure what is happening at the end of the month when the sales from my "expanded distribution" are reported. I think my fears will be confirmed, and I expect to have sales reported for every single title that I have retired.
CreateSpace needs to find a way to manage the expanded distribution channel better.

Since I am the Copyright holder, and I have essentially stopped my permissions for these titles, then no one should be producing any more copies. It's not like they have offset copies lying around-- LSI has to actually produce one every time there's a new order.

This little fiasco has confirmed my fears and this year, I am going to try and use both LSI and CreateSpace-- that will give me better control over my best-selling product
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Question: If you use LSI with Amazon, you also have to pay a shipping cost that you don't pay with CreateSpace when a customer buys one of your books from them?


Answer: The authors that I know who use CreateSpace and LSI at the same time usually use CreateSpace for their Amazon sales, and they don't enable EDC. Then they use LSI for any sales that are outside Amazon. 


Now, CreateSpace has some benefits, and so does LSI. But both companies charge almost the same for wholesale author's copies, although CS seems to be a little bit cheaper (by pennies). The shipping charges on the authors copies seems to be about the same between both companies, with LSI being a little cheaper. 


LSI tends to have a reputation for better print quality. 


Now, I have mentioned before that I think that when authors link to their CreateSpace store, it's a mistake. The CS link is terrible, non-searchable, and buyers have to pay for shipping. As you probably know, anything that costs over 25 bucks on Amazon gets free shipping, and customers really like that. 

That's all for now. I hope that answers your question.

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I've posted about Joe Konrath before, but there's been a lot of news to share. Joe Konrath is testing his "Piracy Doesn't Affect Sales" theory. He's taken one of his moderate selling books and he has put the links up on his website, and ENCOURAGED people to pirate the book.

To tell you the truth, I'm fascinated by this.

I'm not sure what the outcome will be, and I hope Joe's right. If he is, and his sales stay steady, or if they INCREASE, it will be a fantastic win for him, and it may affect the way I promote some of my own books in the future.

And, another question about CreateSpace:

Comment: OK, I have a question. If you sell your book through CreateSpace are you not giving CS a percentage of your sales, based on their terms for percentages? If so, wouldn't that put CreateSpace in the "subsidy" category? I know that I do not have to give LSI any percentage of my sales. They simply print my book and send it through the distribution channels.

Well, the argument is that a "subsidy" publisher shouldn't be cheaper than LSI, right? But CreateSpace's printing costs are comprable, if not cheaper, than LSI.

KL Brady, bestselling author of The Bum Magnet, uses LSI and CreateSpace, and she says this:

"I use both Lightning Source and Creatspace. Lightning Source for book store sales, B&N, Booksamillion etc. and Createspace for Amazon sales. Createspace is not a subsidy publisher. To order author copies of my book, CS is roughly $1 cheaper per book. Your numbers in terms of royalties depend on what you set your wholesale discount. With an equal discount, CS provides a higher royalty because the printing costs are lower."

I only use CreateSpace, and I don't sell direct, so I don't order very many wholesale copies. So if you sell direct on your website, or at book shows, etc, CreateSpace is cheaper in many cases.

LSI offers better binding options, such as hardcover books, which CreateSpace does NOT offer.

As for the "subsidy" issue, I think that you are confusing what is considered a traditional "subsidy press" with CreateSpace. Subsidy publishers used to share printing costs (back when everyone used offset printing), and they would charge the author a portion.

Now, you can't really compare CreateSpace to subsidy publishing because an author's upfront costs are minimal-- basically the cost of a proof (less than $20) and the ISBN. CreateSpace even offers free ISBNs for authors who don't want to spend the money to buy their own.

By the way, Amazon has discounted my books almost 30% since two weeks after the release date, and that is the price they have stayed. I still make the SAME royalty percentage, so any money that CreateSpace might have earned is effectively "removed" by the insane discount that Amazon is offering on the books.
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