Createspace is a
division of Amazon and offers artists and authors the opportunity to self
publish and sell their work. A revelation!
It is an amazing leap
in technology and has helped many creatives start and grow independent
businesses.
One large perk is that
your books can be sold through Amazon and are eligible for Prime and
international shipping.
There are countless
ebooks and articles online on how to use Createspace but I just sort of learned as I
went. It's pretty user friendly and walks you through the steps needed.
It was an exciting day
when I received my first proofs in the mail!
8 Tips
Here are some random
tips I can share from my experiences related to publishing my collection of coloring books
and journals.
1. Have all of your
content ready and photos formatted before you start working on the site.
2. Take advantage of
their free formatted interior templates when you are building your book.
3. Get a sample of each
cover finish. I read a lot of reviews where people didn't care for the matte
covers and I ended up loving them. My customers have commented positively on
them as well.
4. Utilize the footers in
the formatted templates to easily feature your website or other contact
information. In my first few books I didn't know what to do with them and deleted
them all. Agh!
5. Have at least one
other person (preferably more than one) proof everything for you. Proof it yourself multiple times...and then one more
time!
6. Plan your cover with
the thought that your books might be displayed in a holder. For example, don't
place important copy at the bottom.
7. I use cover templates
provided by a site called Bookow. You enter your book size and number of pages
and they email you a template that is the correct size. I open it in Photoshop
and build my cover design in layers right on top. All of the margins and
measurements are provided for you. As of this writing, the templates are free,
with a request for a small donation via Paypal toward the running of their
site.
8. You can create your
book in many different sizes but there are only certain standard sizes that can
be sold through all of their sales channels. They have them listed on their
site.
For me, this has been
a wonderful outlet for my art. I have loved creating every book and have
learned so much about all stages of publishing. You can see my collection of coloring books and journals on my Amazon Author page by CLICKING HERE and see detail of the interiors on my website by
CLICKING HERE.
Have you self
published a book? Did you use Createspace? Do you have additional tips that
could help other artists and authors?
Until next week,
Pam
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