Self-publishing sites (Page 1 of 2)

CREATESPACE!

There is no contract when you publish on Amazon. There is a TOS you need to abide by while you publish there, but you can stop publishing any time you want. Amazon doesn't claim any rights over your work. The only self-renewing I can think of is if you sign up for KDP Select, where it automatically renews your participation every 90 days if you don't manually withdraw.

Createspace is your best bet for price and usability for paperbacks. Lulu is obscenely expensive, and I don't know why anyone still uses them. There are other places like Lightning Source, but they're such a headache to set up that unless you want to try and get your books in physical stores (pretty much a fruitless endeavor for a self-pub author) that it's not worth the effort.

I thought y'all might find this interesting: http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2013/05/ … s-for.html

CreateSpace is the best. I've checked out several, but for what you get, Amazon goes above and beyond. Normally when something is low cost or free, the quality is low. Not the case. I've published 5 books with them. Online sales are so-so, but I don't write amazing stuff like Susan Steck or Janet Taylor-Perry. Still, when I sell books at book fairs or readings, I do very well, actually averaging $200-$300, often times more, each setting. And I love the personal contact with my readers.

I have done workshops for teachers on how to use CreateSpace in the classroom and I can send you notes if you like. Of course many of the members in here know even more about the site than I do.

Write On!
MzP

Sorry if this isn't exactly the right thread for this question.  All of the answers I find online are different.  If I wrote a poem about stars, and I wanted to use Van Gogh's Starry Night as an illustration for it,  is that allowed?  I know there are tons of images on the internet which say they are protected by copyright, and you have to obtain permission,  but what about famous pieces of art such as that. You can't ask Van Gogh.  I published a poetry book just for myself,  not to sell,  and I wrote to the Vatican because I used one of their angel pictures.  They wrote back and said yes.  But if I wanted to publish to sell, I don't want the art police at my door.
Sorry if this is a stupid question,  but all of  the google sites give different answers.
Thanks,
Janet

Thanks a ton, Janet. It's been my dream for decades to do a conference. Do you talk about self publishing or your writing process? By the way, in my local writing group, one of the ladies works at Barns and Nobel and she got all excited when I told her you were on this site. She's read your books and ordered them for customers.

Write On

Janet, does this mean Createspace won't market/distribute your book to other vendors as long as you're a member of Kindle select?

Thanks
Dirk

Okay, now I'm really doing the happy dance!

I've discussed my writing journey, self-publishing, and coming up in November, I'm doing a reading and program at the local library on writing imagery.

Mylilyrose, also always check to see if whatever you're want to use is in the Public Domain. Don't have to have permission if it is.

Stay away from Lulu as if they were infected. I've read they are a huge scam for indie writers.  Create space is where you want to be.

Kiss,

Gacela

For print copies, I would agree with everyone else that Createspace is the way to go. However, don't use the images or templates from their cover creator. Find a cover designer that you like and is in your budget. The Createspace covers are easy to spot and scream self-published. They are basically your printer and distributor. Not every outlet will end up selling your work but the major ones (Amazon and B&N) will.
I've never had much luck selling print copies, but I like to give readers the option, and I love having print copies for myself. There are some self-published authors who do really well with selling their paperbacks, especially at conferences.