A Follow Up Chat with CreateSpace

I had another conversation with my namesake at CreateSpace. He is a rather nice fellow, and I enjoy speaking with him. My first assessment of them as being pushy was merely a bi-product of assumption and my first impression of them. It seems as if they really want what is best for both parties involved.

I told him about my current situation and that I was looking to split the first book into two, and thereby, cutting down the word count. I made this decision because of the amount of investment on my part into the editorial process needed. Four hundred pages was going to cost me roughly three thousand dollars alone in editing.

He seemed to understand that I was truly interested in publishing my book right the first time, and that was going to take additional funds. I informed him that I was currently looking into other ways to bring home some income, and that it would probably closer to the beginning of next year before I would actually go forward with publishing the work. However, that does not mean I will be sitting here on my duff in the meantime.

I am investing in a hosting company and learning how to make a website so that I can start up my Self-Published Reviews business. I am also looking into business loans, grants, and other ways I can suppliment my income in order to get this published as soon as possible.

He was very understanding of this, and seemed impressed that I was this committed to my work.

I am still speaking with artists about commissioning them for coverart. I have not had too many respondants, but that makes things a little easier. I am looking for artists who can draw well, and do not mind having their art used as coverart for a book. There are some artists I am looking at right now who I am really impressed with.

For now, I am editing the book into two, starting up Self-Published Reviews, starting a new job, trying to get over a cold/flu/cyberjunk, getting ready to move, get married, and start a family. Oh, and they are coming to fix the floors next week instead of this one, and our A/C unit is almost dead after only a decade of use....so busy is an understatement.

Feel free to write me though! My current email is ColdHaven@bellsouth.net

Conversation with CreateSpace

Well the conversation was definitely enlightening, to say the least, and it helped me get an idea of what they are wanting. Mostly my money, and I understand that. They are a business afterall, and the guy on the phone was a salesman. He kept trying to push me into buying a package there on the phone. I didn't like that. I don't like pushy people. He was just doing his job, and I admit, doing it well.

Here is the down and dirty. If I keep the word count at around 175,000 and 410 pages then the editorial fee is going to be around 3,000 dollars. Thats quite a bit. I told the fellow that was above what I was looking to invest in, and that I might have to look elsewhere. CreateSpace does have some pretty attractive offers until you get down to the editing price.

That leaves me a couple of options. I can look for grants that might help me pay for these fees. A friend of mine, Ross, suggested that I look towards the English department at a local college to see if one of those grads there might do the editing for me for a lesser price and near the same quality. I could also try to see if I could reduce word count, and that means more self editing. Either way, this fellow is going to have to hold on for a bit.

I am not going to place my money in a basket that I can't get back out again. He tried to say that there was a 100 dollar discount for the rest of the month. Yeah a few days. Nice. Also he said that I could have a free Kindle ebook instead of paying 299 for it. There is no cost involved in taking a PDF file and making it an ebook. That is ridiculous and isn't any real kind of savings.

In the meantime I am going to hunt down solutions to my obstacles. I am currently speaking with an artist on commissioning artwork for the cover. We will see how that turns out.