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KDP Print Now Offers Author Copies

Launched into a closed beta last summer, KDP Print is Amazon’s solution to all the indie authors that release ebooks but not print editions. It is a more limited version of Amazon’s POD service, Createspace, and it’s missing a lot of features.

Until today, one option it lacked was a way for authors to order copies of their POD books in wholesale volume. According to a number of reports on KBoards, Amazon has sent an email to authors announcing the new feature:

We have made updates to your account that allow you to order proofs and author (wholesale) copies of your paperbacks on KDP.

Proofs allow you to review a physical copy of your draft paperback prior to publication. Learn more here.
Author copies are copies of the live version of your paperback that you can order from Amazon. Learn more here.

When you order copies of your own book, you pay just the printing costs plus shipping and applicable taxes. Unlike CreateSpace, KDP proof and author copies for the UK and the rest of Europe are printed and shipped from within Europe.

By publishing a paperback on KDP, you can reach more readers through Amazon websites in the US and Europe, as well as manage your print and eBook publishing from one website. In addition, you can use the KDP website in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese or Dutch.

An order of around 50 copies costs an average of $3 or so per book. In comparison, Ingram Spark would charge you about the same, and Blurb would charge about 50% more for author copies.

The value of print copies is that authors can sell them directly to the public at events. While everyone is familiar with selling at book fairs and cons, I was at a writer’s club meeting in Richmond a few weeks back where I met an author who sold most of her books at craft fairs.

There was a market out there for print, and she found it.

image by innovate360

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Comments


Mark Williams – The New Publishing Standard November 18, 2017 um 4:18 pm

This is a step forward for those of in UK/Europe. With Createspace while we could buy author copies they were shipped from US, with trans-Atlantic delivery charges wiping out any benefits.


Carmen Webster Buxton November 19, 2017 um 12:25 pm

I’m guessing Amazon has a long term plan to replace CeateSpace with KDP. It might take them awhile to do it, but I can see it happening.


Steve Vernon November 20, 2017 um 4:59 am

I’m one of those authors who sells an awful lot of paperbacks at Craft Festivals. I’m definitely looking forward to this new development in eager anticipation.


Bacil Donovan Warren November 22, 2017 um 12:14 pm

This is still a Beta feature, and not all authors with paperbacks in KDP Print can use it yet.


Karen November 27, 2017 um 9:29 pm

How would you market your book ?


Print copies of my books … the NEW way! | Books: Publishing, Reading, Writing December 4, 2017 um 12:46 pm

[…] another article I discovered about this new service that ran on The Digital Reader […]


William Roy Pipes October 15, 2018 um 9:34 am

I AM UNABLE TO FIND the ellipsis ("…") menu

Carmen Webster Buxton October 15, 2018 um 11:44 am

William, it’s on the far right hand side of each entry on your KDP page, inside a little box. If your title is in print and on Kindle, the ebook version and the paperback version will each have their own menu. I describe it in this blog post, which has an example.

http://carmenspage.blogspot.com/2018/09/an-update-on-moving-books-to-kdp-print.html


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