Available at

www.booksbybyron.com or Amazon.com
 The
BEST BOOK
On:
Self-Publishing With
createspace
2010 Edition

by

Byron Mettler

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and

health to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

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Copyright 2010, by Byron Mettler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic,
electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping or by information storage
retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Bible quotes are from the KJV
CreateSpace is a trademark of Amazon Technologies Inc., Amazon, Kindle are trademarks of
Amazon. Microsoft Word is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. This book is not written,
published or endorsed by CreateSpace or Amazon affiliates.
While every effort has been made to be accurate, the author assumes no responsibility for errors
made in this book. Report errors to booksbybyron@gmail.com

Contact Byron at:

booksbybyron@gmail.com
www.booksbybyron.com

ISBN 978-0-9826-8582-2

a UNIKGIFTS publication

Byron’s other books:

Speed Kills! - 2008 winner of the Nancy Bayless Award
Out of Darkness
Sixteen Stories by John Howard Ladd:
Complied by Byron Mettler
Chandler
Things my Mother Taught Me
I Feel Like Writing Poetry
Oakcreek Adventure
52 Great Bible Object Lessons

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 The
BEST BOOK
On:
Self-Publishing With
Createspace
2010 Edition

If there's a book you really want to

read, but it hasn't been written yet,
then you must write it. ~Toni
Morrison

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Using CreateSpace, you can publish your first book in 30 days and spend as little
as $10. I know, because that’s how I did it.

I don’t work for CreateSpace. They pay me nothing except the royalties I earn by
selling books.

Feel free to use any self-publishing company you want and start by forking over
hundreds of dollars for the privilege of making their company rich.

Or, you can do some of the hard work and save yourself tons of money.

And thank yourself for buying this book.

The Best Book Series is a low cost topic focused alternative to other popular how-to
books with titles that accuse you of being stupid. The Best Book focuses primarily on
the topic you are interested in without extensive peripheral information that you don’t
want to read.

If you’re an author interested in writing a Best Book, please contact Byron at

booksbybyron@gmail.com

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Contents
1- Why Use CreateSpace……………………….………. 9
Cheap………………………………………………………. 9
Easy…………………………………………………………. 10
Available…………………………………………………. 11
It Works………………………………………………….. 13
2- Have you got What it Takes!…………………….. 15
Why Do You Write?……………………………… 17
No Rules!………………………………………………… 19
3- How Much Will You Earn
Big Bucks (maybe)…………..………………… 21
Examples on Cost…………………………………. 21
Pro Plan Discount…………………………………. 22
Your Royalty Return……………………………. 23
4- What You See Is
What You Get…………………………………… 29
You The Writer……………………………………… 30
Software Primer…………………………………… 34
Book Layout…………………………………………… 35
Word 2007 Tips………………………………….. 44
5- The Cover……………………………………………………… 47
Cover Software…………………………………….. 52
Layout-Page Size………………………………….. 54
The Cover………………………………………………. 57
6- Uploading……………………………………………………… 63
Create Your Account………………………….. 64
Title Information…………………………………… 66
Uploading………………………………………………. 70
Submit For Publishing…………………………. 74
Order a Proof Copy………………………………. 77
7- How I Did It……………………………………………………. 79
Sample Layout………………………………………. 80
8- Marketing- Now you got it –
Time to sell it…………………………………………………. 93
Webpage……………………………………………………………. 95
Platform……………………………………………………………… 97
9- More Help………………………………………………………………….. 99
10- Conclusion………………………………………………………………103

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 Don't tell me the moon is
shining; show me the glint
of light on broken glass.
~Anton Chekhov

How Much Will You Earn – Big

Bucks (maybe)

Examples on cost

CreateSpace offers two plans. A Standard Plan and a Pro Plan. The Standard Plan
has a low fixed price and will cost you nothing, zip, zero, nada for startup fees.
This is a great option if you want to get a book published and you don’t have a
future commercial interest in making money.

At CreateSpace, a 108-page book will cost you $3.66. This applies to all trim
sizes, black and white interior, full color cover, paperback, perfect-bound.
A 150-page book will cost you $4.50.
A 175-page book will cost you $5.00.
A 200-page book will cost you $5.50.

Here’s the formula. $1.50 fixed cost plus .02 per page

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Pro Plan Discount

If you choose to, you can pay $39 to opt for the Pro Plan, which will reduce the
cost of your book by about 40% and increase your royalty amount. You may
choose to bypass this option for a short run publication for limited distribution.

With the Pro Plan, a 108-page book will cost you $2.15. This applies to all trim
sizes, black and white interior, full color cover, paperback, perfect-bound.

A 150-page book will cost you $2.65.

A 175-page book will cost you $2.95.
A 200-page book will cost you $3.25.

Here is the formula. $.85 fixed cost plus .012 per page.

The same cost applies if you buy one copy or if you buy a thousand books.
Shipping is extra. I recently purchased 75 books and paid $41 for shipping.
Shipping for one copy will be about $3.60.

How to make more money

Make sure you own your rights to:

Movies
Audio
Reprints
E-books
Using Create Space, you own ALL the rights.

CreateSpace allows YOU to set your royalty return.

You can receive a royalty of 0% to 100% or more of each book you publish.

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 CreateSpace tip
Books
You set the list price for your book, and
depending on what sales channels you
choose, CreateSpace and/or Amazon sets
the selling price of your title to customers.
For books sold to customers, your royalty
equals the list price you set in your
member account minus our share.
Our share is calculated by taking a
percentage of the list price, plus a fixed
charge, plus a charge per page.
The percentage varies depending on the
sales channels you choose for your book.

Here’s the key

My book, Chandler is a 262-page book and each book costs me $3.94. The
minimum retail price CreateSpace allows me to set for resale is $6.57 per book.

If a customer buys my book through my CreateSpace

e-store my profit is:

Selling cost at $6.57.

Less CreateSpace take of 20% ($1.32) less the cost of printing equals a royalty of
$1.31

$6.57 Selling price

-1.32 CreateSpace take
-3.94 Printing cost (The same as my cost)
$1.31 My royalty

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If a customer buys through Amazon my profit is:

Selling cost at $6.57. Less Amazon take of 40% ($2.63).

Less the cost of printing.
My royalty is $00
$6.57 Selling price
-2.63 Amazon take
-3.94 Printing cost
$00 My royalty

As you can see, Amazon charges 40% per book while CreateSpace only charges
20% per book. However, the minimum price is set up for the Amazon profit
structure so the list price can never fall below the minimum price.

The author can set any price above the minimum. CreateSpace gives me the
freedom to set the price for my books. I can change the price at any time and set
promotional discounts for bookstores, non-profit organizations, special sales or
friends.

CreateSpace has a book cost calculator so you can calculate the wholesale cost of
your book.
https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/
Click on “Pricing.”

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And, I can set varied discounts.

You can buy my books at a 30% discount by going to my book webpage at the
CreateSpace store and enter the following codes.

https://www.createspace.com/3394717 Chandler 30% discount

enter 4XRSCPGV

https://www.createspace.com/3393420
Out of Darkness 30% discount enter KYMWAJTZ

https://www.createspace.com/3392483
Sixteen Stories by John Howard Ladd 30% discount enter NW3PSEJV

I offer a 45% discount for non-profit organizations and bookstores that buy
multiple copies. When visiting schools I offer a 30% discount off the cover.

If you don’t want to use the 30% discount, you can purchase Out of Darkness at a
20% discount at:
www.createspace.com/3393420
enter code MKHTJXT4.

Instead of paying $11.99 you will pay $9.60. My royalty went from $6.70 to
$4.30. CreateSpace still makes 20% of the suggested list price plus the cost of
printing the book.

Selling at full price through CreateSpace

$11.99 Selling price

-2.40 CreateSpace take
-2.89 Printing cost
$6.70 My royalty

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Selling at full price through Amazon

$11.99 Selling price

-4.80 Amazon take
-2.89 Printing cost
$4.20 My royalty

I listed two examples to show you how easy it is to set varied discounts. As you
can see, selling through Amazon reduces the royalty amount, but it is still far
better than the 8% royalty offered to authors by traditional publishers.

Setting your price

It’s up to you to set the final sales price. And, you can change it at any time.

If your are selling a specialty book, technical books or have a guaranteed clientele,
you will have the freedom to set the price as high as the market will allow.

How to lose money

1. Write a terrible book.

2. Publish your book before it is complete.

3. Publish before the editing is complete.

4. Pay too much for the cover.

5. Pay too much for editing.

6. Pay too much to self-publish.

7. Hire a publicist who offers a service you are not ready for.

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