The Time Has Come - CreateSpace Dissolution

In case you haven't seen it yet, CreateSpace is officially transitioning to Amazon KDP. They're going in waves, so you may not have received notification yet (I haven't.) From what I've seen, people are getting an email when the transition has been enabled on their CreateSpace account. Some people are also getting notifications that their pricing will be changing, or that there is some other issue (for example, unsupported languages) that needs to be dealt with.

For the most part, the claim is that it will be an easy transition. The training video they have up shows three simple steps. Here's hoping!

If you haven't heard of this yet, here's their information on the topic: CreateSpace and KDP to Become One Service

When they started offering paperback services on Amazon then phased out author services on CreateSpace, most authors saw the writing on the wall. Those of us published in anthologies put out by small publishing houses had already been impacted by the beginning of the migration when we could no longer purchase author copies using a discount code on CreateSpace, sending the publishers scrambling to contact their contributors to let them know what alternative they might be offering. The fact that Amazon didn't have something in place to take over this mechanism doesn't bode well. Making the move easy on authors and small publishers, the very people who used the services CreateSpace offered, doesn't seem to have been a priority.

If you're like me, you've been quietly dreading the inevitable shutdown of CreateSpace. I've had great experiences with customer service at CreateSpace. On the other hand, there are always complaints about Amazon's author services, but perhaps that will improve with this growth. The claim is that they'll be printing the books in the same place, on the same machines, as CreateSpace printing. Though that raises the question of why certain printing services and types of books will be going up in price if it's the same machines and setup.

Bear in mind that if you're published with a small publishing house, magazines, etc., many of them will be impacted by this, too. CreateSpace is where many of them print up and distribute their books and magazines. They'll have to transition just like those of us who are independently published.

I've seen people saying they won't move their books over, and won't leave until they're forced to. Personally, I'm afraid if I don't do the migration myself, something will get messed up and there'll be nothing I can do about it. I'm also frustrated that we'll have to move to the Amazon pay structure, which means we get paid 60 days after the money comes in, rather than 30 days. This was my best month since right after the book launch, and now it looks like I probably won't see that money for two months. Add that to the fact that complaints have been made of Amazon payouts not matching reports, and it's looking a tad dismal. At least I could depend upon CreateSpace having trustworthy reports and payouts.

We, as authors, have had to weather quite a bit of change in recent years. This is just one more thing to adapt to. And we'll do it, like we always do. Hopefully, this change turns out to be a good one.

Now for some links. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Splickety Magazine is seeking stories with the theme Christmas Abroad for their December issue. Young adult. 300 to 1000 words. Pays $.02/word. Deadline September 21.

The Puritan is seeking literary fiction, essays, poetry, and interviews. Pays $20 to $100. Deadline September 25.

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores is seeking fantasy and science fiction short stories and poetry. 1000 words and up. Pays $.06/word. Open for submissions September 21 to 28.

Chicken Soup for the Soul has two topics closing for submissions on September 30: Grandparents and Mom Knows Best. Up to 1200 words. Pays $200.

World Weaver Press is seeking dieselpunk and decopunk combined with fairy tales for Grimm, Grit, & Gasoline. Up to 7500 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline September 30.

Nashville Review is seeking fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Up to 8000 words. Pays $25 to $100. Deadline September 30.

Voices of Tomorrow is seeking stories from kids age 13-18 years old. Speculative fiction. Up to 5000 words. Pays $20. Deadline September 30.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is seeking fiction and poetry about heroic fantasy. Up to 10,000 words. Pays $25 to $100. Submissions open for the month of September.

Augur is seeking fiction, graphic fiction, and poetry in the realm of literary speculative fiction. Up to 5000 words. Pays $.02/word. Submissions open for the month of September.

Less Than Three Press is seeking post-apocalyptic stories for Life After All. 8000 to 15,000 words. Pays $150. Deadline September 30.

What do you think about the move? Have you gotten your email yet? Will you be waiting until they force the move? Any of these links of interest?

*Blue Eyed Scared Face, by OCAL, clker.com
*Angry Eyes, by OCAL, clker.com