Over the past few weeks CreateSpace have made two important changes: they have decreased their payment threshold from $20/£20/€20 to $10/£10/€10; and they have now added direct distribution to Amazon.co.uk (UK), Amazon.de (Germany), Amazon.fr (France), Amazon.es (Spain), and Amazon.it (Italy).
I hesitated to write about this immediately as I wanted to check first what the Amazon catalogue would list as the estimated delivery time for each site. Would it be as with Amazon.com where all CreateSpace titles would be listed as “In Stock” or would it be the same as those titles currently distributed via Expanded Distribution, with delivery dates anywhere from a week to months?
I queried CreateSpace and as usual got contradictory answers. Luckily, I have a client who just published his book via CreateSpace and who signed up for Euro distribution, and who also signed up for Expanded Distribution but too recently for the Ingram feed to make its way through the system, so I was able to test his book in isolation. As hoped, all Amazon European sites show his book, You Are NOT What You Eat: How Digestive Problems Might Be Making You Sick. And 7 Simple Solutions, as In Stock. Amazon.ca (Canada) and Amazon.jp (Japan), which are covered under Expanded Distribution, do not yet show his title.
It’s not clear with whom CreateSpace have contracted for European manufacturing, whether it is still Lightning Source UK or another company, but it would be good to know considering current issues with Lightning Source U.S.’s manufacturing of CreateSpace product. Regardless, however, the addition of direct distribution to these Amazon Euro sites is good news for authors since it means higher royalties for sales from these sites than those paid via Expanded Distribution.
Authors wishing to access Amazon.ca and Amazon.jp, as well as competitor sites such as B&N, Chapters, Waterstones, and so on will still need to sign up for Expanded Distribution or contract with another POD manufacturer such as Lightning Source.
Belinda: so sorry for the late reply: for some reason my WP admin page is not announcing all new comments…I just discovered this now, months later. Oy!
Anyhow, I got my book up with Kalahari.com in South Africa via Lightning Source and Ingram Digital. If you have a print book account with Lightning Source you can elect to also sign up for their ebook division, though it only serves small retailers worldwide. The ebook aggregator eBookIt also distributes via Ingram Digital if you do not have a Lightning Source account.
I just did a quick check on Kalahari and I found Out of Sync on there; CreateSpace’s Expanded Distribution is via Ingram, so Kalahari must have picked up your book from the Ingram feed.
And thanks for the mention on your blog. Will now go find it. Again, so sorry for the late reply. Have to figure out why I’m not getting notified.
Hi Michele, great information as always. I’ve just noticed that your The Global Indie Author is available on Kalahari.com in South Africa. Can you tell me how you managed this? My e-book has been available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble for a while, and my print book on Amazon via Create Space; I’ve just signed up for their expanded distribution with the hope of getting in into South African readers’ hands.
PS: I’ve mentioned you and your book in my latest blog post – check it out.
Thanks,
Belinda