Amazon is Merging Createspace Into KDP Print
Amazon has just taken the step that I am sure many saw coming. A new notice has been posted to Createspace user dashboards, informing them that CS is merging into KDP Print. Amazon has also launched a new page in the KDP help pages that explains how this merger will affect authors, and how they can move their titles from Createspace to KDP Print.
Acquired by Amazon in 2005, Createspace started life as a DVD and CD production service, but later added book POD services after it merged with Booksurge (which Amazon also bought in 2005). Judging by the website, Createspace has operated essentially unchanged since that merger, right up until Amazon started shutting it down earlier this year.
The author services dept was the first to go, and then in July Amazon announced Createspace’s DVD production had been merged into a new Amazon unit, and now book POD is getting swallowed by KDP Print.
Launched in July 2016, KDP Print is intended to give authors an easy to to manage both their print and digital books in a single location. In its early days access was quite limited, but the service opened for a public beta test early last year, and Amazon has been adding features ever since.
The newer platform doesn’t have as many features as Createspace. For example, KDP Print only offers expanded distribution in the US, while Createspace supported Australia, Japan, and Europe. Also, KDP Print charges authors full retail for author copies, while Createspace gave authors a wholesale discount.
Update: Amazon PR disputes the point about expanded distribution, insisting that KDP Print has the same reach as Createspace. That’s not what their last announcement said, however.
Unfortunately, we’re just going to have to live it, because Amazon has made it clear that soon there will be nothing more left of Createspace than there is of Lexcycle, Booksurge, Mobipocket, or the many other companies Amazon has consumed.
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