CreateSpace: the next step

A few weeks ago I sent my wish list to CreateSpace of what kind of package I wanted for my upcoming novel (which is really more of a novella). This includes cover design services, formatting, some promotional odds and ends, etc.

It took them a while to get back to me, and since then, the email containing their suggestions and pricing has been sitting in my inbox. Taunting me.

The truth is, the price tag is pretty high, at least for someone like me. It'll be tough to recoup my entire investment, and I've been waffling back and forth, weighing the pros and cons.

Well, tonight I finally decided to go for it. 

To be honest, the reason is that I am really looking for a more turn-key operation, and I can't think of a better way to do it. All of the successful projects I've ever started have usually involved me hiring someone to take care of the parts that I know I just don't have the time, patience, and inclination to do myself.

Example: I wanted to start a Facebook app. I thought about it for a year. I bought a book about Facebook app programming. I made sketches. I tried to learn about design work. Finally, I just bit the bullet and hired someone to program and design it for me. I launched it. It didn't do too badly; but it wouldn't have even launched if I hadn't had somebody else program it for me. Once all I had left to do was the marketing, I actually enjoyed it. The same is true here. I could try to learn about cover design, how to do the artwork myself; I could mess with my manuscript software until I manage to successfully export a properly formatted document; I could find a way to outsource printing properly branded bookmarks, business cards, and other materials; I could agonize over promotional text for hours.

Or I could have some of those tasks done for me, and focus on the parts I like to do.

Granted, I understand I have lots of work ahead of me. But it's nice to know that at least some of these details can be taken care of by people with (hopefully) better taste and more experience than me.

So, I'll report back once I really get the ball rolling and let you know how everything goes. I believe my next step will just be selecting each option that I want as I go through the setup process on CreateSpace, but I may get a few extras for buying the package I want to buy, so it's worth speaking with the consultants to get suggestions and a few little perks here and there.

Maybe it's the holiday

Well, with my own multiple rounds of editing done on my novel, I don't have much to do at present while I await my fabulous volunteer editors to send me feedback. As such, I decided to try and make some progress on other areas of the self-publishing process, namely familiarizing myself with how exactly to publish an eBook, make a book available for print-on-demand (POD), cover art, a little publicity, etc.

Given my unpredictable work schedule and my lack of patience for technology when I can't seem to get it to work properly, I decided it might be a good idea to pay somebody to do some of this stuff for me. In particular, I'm pretty sure I have no idea what constitutes good cover art. I can barely dress myself in matching colors every morning, let alone design something visually pleasing for an entire demographic. So I looked around, but the easiest services seemed to be with CreateSpace, given that I'll be targeting Amazon mostly with my first go. I don't know how they compare price-wise and I haven't been able to find too many reviews on the quality of their work. I'm hoping to document some of my experiences just so other people navigating their services might benefit from knowing what to expect.

So, I went on the CreateSpace website, which was pretty easy to navigate, and I started looking at what they offer. They provide services in various categories from marketing to editing and other miscellaneous tidbits, so I compiled a list of what I was most interested in. A few areas indicated you can get favorable pricing if you bundle services, so I then hopped on over to their "contact us!" link and composed my inquiry. I explained a bit about my book (genre, small synopsis, etc) and listed the services I was interested in.

The next morning, I received an email from a CreateSpace Publishing Associate thanking me for my interest and attempting to put me in contact with a Publishing Consultant that would work with me to determine which package would be best for my needs. The Associate also left me a voicemail on the phone number I provided with pretty much the same information. This was Tuesday, the day before the 4th of July. I didn't get any contact from the Publishing Consultant that day, so on my day off on Wednesday, I sent her a quick email to see how we could coordinate a phone consultation (obviously not anticipating a same-day response due to the holiday).

Well, it's now Saturday. They work M-F 9-5 EST. I haven't heard anything back since that initial email. My guess is that the Consultant I was paired with is probably out for the week on vacation for the 4th of July holiday. It's just odd that for a big company like Amazon they wouldn't have to put up an email auto-responder if they are out of the office. My plan is to give it til this coming Tuesday before I get fussy (I can give it a day for someone to catch up on emails after being out of the office).

Sadly I don't really have anything else to report. Looking forward to getting the ball rolling. If CreateSpace doesn't pan out and anyone knows of anything comparable, at the very least for book cover & formatting services, please let me know!