Following my experience with Dog Ear Publishing I was discouraged, but after entering Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Contest I received an e-mail from Createspace offering a free proof of my second novel. I looked at their site and decided it was worth a try.
As this was a free proof, I didn't look into any of their service options, but read their guidelines and set up the file myself in a format for printing. If you're not familiar with word and headers/footers this might be a challenge. After converting the file to a PDF format using Adobe, and checking that the fonts were embedded (I used Garamond for the font), I looked at the cover template options. I used pictures that I had taken on the cover, which saved on fees. There are quite a few template choices and I was pleased with the way the cover turned out. See Storms & Secrets.
I received the proof within a few days and after making a few corrections and uploading the manuscript again, I purchased the second proof (the cost for the proof and postage was around $10). Sending it for POD publication was as simple as clicking on that option and within a few days my book was available on Amazon. The only cost to me was the price of the second proof and I also chose an upgrade for $39 which gives me a higher royalty per book. (I did get the manuscript copyrighted before printing and added that information to the first page - see copyright registration )
The ISBN was also included at no additional charge.
If you do choose to go with Create Space, make sure you select Direct Deposit for payment otherwise you will be charged an $8 check processing fee!
Self Publishing Part 1
Self Publishing Part 2
Self Publishing Part 3
Self Publishing Part 4
