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CreateSpace Complaints & Reviews - Scammers

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CreateSpace

Posted:    Andresen

Scammers

Complaint Rating:  79 % with 159 votes
Contact information:
CreateSpace
United States
createspace.com
In August I entered into business with CreateSpace for the purpose of printing and selling books I wrote exclusively to the Amazon marketplace. I ordered 15 proofs in order to make sure that the quality and availability of the books were up to par with the market standards before posting them on the Amazon list. To date, I have only sold 3 books through them, and I have not been paid timely. Their site help page for payments had said "we pay you within 30 days after the end of the month in which the book has been sold, net of any adjustments or returns." I sold the books in August and September, and when I contacted them in November when I found that the money had not been deposited in my bank account, they suddenly turned around and said that I had to have an accumulation of $20 before I would be paid anything at all. When I went onto their community forums to investigate, I found out that they had changed the accumulation twice since I signed on, without any notice to anyone. Certainly not to me. CreateSpace is a subsidiary company of Amazon, which has grown so complex in its accounting practices that it stands to reason that many people will not get paid, ever. Some authors have complained that they never sold a single copy of a book through CreateSpace for over a year. After having already been scammed by LULU, another self-publishing company offering the same services, you can imagine my extreme anger at this betrayal of my trust. I am not the kind of person who goes into a venture blindfolded. But if I have micromanage every single thing that goes on at a company which is suppposed to know what it is doing, then I am better off not using them in the future. And neither should anyone else.


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 13th of Apr, 2010 by   Osiris32 +1 Votes
Lulu has the same 20.00 minimum, but with 1 difference: THEY OFTEN WILL NOT REPORT YOUR SALES TO YOU AT ALL!!! Even if you come up with proof that you sold 10 or 12 books, your "sales report" will show 1 copy sold. If you are an author DO NOT EVER USE LULU.COM!!!
 28th of Jul, 2010 by   angryvictim10 -3 Votes
With Wall Street stealing and conning the public, did you think Create Space would be different?

Anything Jews get into, money publishing movie industry becomes crooked because they are crooked by nature.

Time after time nation after nation generation after generation they are stealers.
 12th of Aug, 2010 by   Rosalyn A -2 Votes
I am a published author (29 novels published by royalty and advance paying publishers like St. Martin's Press, Harlequin, and Zebra) and have preached against these self-publishing companys all along.
I'm sure in the original contract there was some little something about them being able to make small changes without notice. They will have worded it to sound like it never happens, but it does. Don't expect big money. Customers are leery of these self-published books because there has been no editing, no screening process at all. Just because the author thinks he or she is te next Stephen King or Danielle Steele, doesn't mean the readers will agree, and usually these books are lacking substance. You have to get beyond that perception.
If you go the self publishing route you need to really market the thing. You need to get exerpts out there in hopes they attrack readers. You need to get someone of substance to do a review and get THAT out there. If I read a review by Joe Blow on a blog or website, I think, 'so what?' Why should I believe Joe Blow? Get someone who writes in your genre to read and review it. If you don't know what a genre is, you shouldn't be in the business part of publishing anyway. And that's what you've done, agreed to do the business part of the book as well as writing it. I seriously doubt you paid a professional editor to work on the book to make it better.
If you are in the book writing biz to make money, then let the professionals do it. Sell to a house that does the editing, marketing and distributing for you. Instead of selling three books, you are more likely to be selling 200, 000. 6% or 8% of 200, 000 is better than even 100% of three or four or ten or twelve or whatever.
Don't gripe because reality has hit. Just be smarter next time.
 6th of Sep, 2010 by   AnonymousOne2010 +1 Votes
I used to work at CreateSpace as a customer service representative and I can assure you that a lot of the clients struggled with understanding thoroughly that it is a subsidiary of Amazon, it is a "self" publishing company, and in order to be paid anything there is a minimum threshold of $20. CreateSpace doesn't advertise or market your title for you, but it does give you the opportunity to have your book sold through various distributing channels and a direct link for customers to purchase your title (CreateSpace eStore page). But unlike Lulu, you can moniter your sales through your member account. However, I can definitely understand the frustration that comes with understanding all of that information. I have dealt with A LOT of angry customers wanting their money in a timely manner and better service. Good luck to anyone that goes through with self-publishing their title. There is always a default to something that appears too easy and a good deal.
 15th of Sep, 2010 by   Wayne Hobbes +2 Votes
I have been very happy with CreateSpace (formerly BookSurge). You just need to read the fine print in your contract and also be realistic about what POD offers. They pay me every time my royalties add up to $25, which is most months. I like that -- as some companies only pay quarterly or even less often. And of course there's a delay -- they have to make sure books aren't returned or checks bounce, etc. In my online account there, I can look any time and see exactly how many books sold and on exactly what dates, and I have every reason to believe that it is accurate. And no, no one paid me to say this! (My book is "The Pharisee within Me, " listed on amazon.com and also on www.waynehobbes.com).
 24th of Nov, 2010 by   RealWritersWorkForIt +2 Votes
Publishing and promoting a book is work. Publishing and promoting a POD book is twice as much work because people will assume the book is no good (otherwise you would have gotten a "real" publishing contract), so you have to recognize that there's a stigma involved.

POD can work. You have to be creative, you have to be talented and you have to be a good writer. But it CAN work FOR SOME PEOPLE. It doesn't work if you expect to just click "submit" on your files and then sit back and become the next Stephenie Meyer while someone else does all the hard work. If that's your attitude, I'm not surprised you failed.
 22nd of Jan, 2011 by   Angkor 0 Votes
I self-published two books through Lulu four years ago after getting nowhere with two agents. I did so with eyes wide-open. My expectations were minimal. I just wanted to get these books out there and get on with the next project. My expectations have been surpassed. At a very affordable price, Lulu got my books into multiple channels ranging from Amazon to Alibris to B&N. The problem, of course, is that the books are overpriced; also, brick & mortar stores won't take them. I did a full-blown promotional effort and got a NYT bestselling author to give me a blurb. Fast-forward to 2010-11: the Kindle editions have taken off with no push on my part. Suddenly, these books are affordable and people are buying them. I've heard mostly good things about CreateSpace. If I self-publish again, I'll probably go with them or LSI. But Amazon has been wonderful to me as an author and I'm finally making some money because of Kindle.
 25th of Jan, 2011 by   akmom6 +1 Votes
thank you : ) i am desperately searching for something legitimate to help me get my book out, my family and i can do our own promotions, hopefully someone will notice me and help but in the mean time, thank you for your review, i think i am going to go with create space!! God Bless!!
 25th of Jan, 2011 by   Scianna -3 Votes
Clearly a scam. What they did to me was just plain not right. I wrote a book that I wasn't sure would pass their inspection process. But when it did, I was glad and proceeded to pay the $39. Later, a few weeks they contact me and say they are putting that book on hold because of copyright issues. I was devastated! For them to do that to me clearly shows their self lack of well being towards the authors who are making them a bundle. Not to mention they are a rip off! We hardly get any royalties as it is and they are just in it for themselves. I found another site called Blurb. It is wonderful and you can download the software to use to create your book for free and they let you keep all the profits! I've left createspace forever. I hope they rot or get sued someday!
 22nd of Apr, 2011 by   rsmiraldi3 0 Votes
John Grisham self published because no agent would take him. He peddled his books out of his trunk. Let that be an inspiration to us all!
 1st of May, 2011 by   DimitraEkmektsis -3 Votes
I totally agree! Createspace are a scam! Authors beware, and never use them... Go to Outskirts Press instead. They actually will sell your book, and also treat you in a professional manner. I hope Createspace gets enough complaints so that they go out of business!
 1st of May, 2011 by   DimitraEkmektsis -2 Votes
I'd like to add that after I un-published my book from Create Space, John Rizzo, my so-called sales rep went on the Kindle store and he wrote a negative review of my book, which is still visible, even if your book isn't available anymore. He even signed his name.

That's the type of sleaze you will deal with when you deal with Create Space, honestlty. If you don't believe me, go to the Kindle store and look for "Secret Confessions Of A High-Priced Call Girl"...

I now have a "real" publisher, Andrews UK (http://andrewsuk.com) and they have sold over 1000 of my e-books since I signed with them in August of 2010. Review THAT, Create Space and John Rizzo!! It looks like I'm having the last laugh. But be careful, others might not be so lucky, and that is why I wrote this complaint.

P.S.: I will continue to write complaints against Create Space, until they go out of business!;)


Dimitra Ekmektsis


 27th of Jun, 2011 by   gorgorgo 0 Votes
$20 is really not a big enough amount of money for you to be needing it right away. most web based businesses have some like that anyways. if you can't sell more than three copies then either you suck at marketing or your product isn't good enough. i came here to find out if there is a problem with createspace that i should know about, but these kinds of posts are NOT informative at all!
 19th of Aug, 2011 by   Elaine J Campbell 0 Votes
I guess I was lucky after reading all these horror stories. I self published with WingSpan Press my book My Friend Nick the Greek: Life in Las Vegas in the '50s and had a very good experience. I was seriously contemplating, however, to save money going with Createspace this time for my new book on adopting senior pets, but having read the extensive complaints on the internet, I'm going to stick with WingSpan Press. They are very honest and I didn't have any problems at all.
 23rd of Aug, 2011 by   Dante Fortson +1 Votes
I've been a member of CreateSpace since June of 2009 - Before the OP created this complaint. Their policy has been $20 payout since I signed up. I've consistently sold 30+ paperbacks per month and 30+ Kindle per month and I've always been paid on time every time. As someone pointed out, if you can't make $20 per month with your book, you are either bad at promoting or your book isn't good.

The fact that people claim that others are "leery" of self published books is an industry LIE. When you buy an author, do you do it because you like the author and the book is of interest to you, or do you look to see if it's self published? I never once cared who published a book if I already made up my mind to buy it. Furthermore, if you sell through Amazon, no one knows whether or not it's self published, unless you have crappy cover design.

Don't let the brainwashed industry thinkers, bad writers, and bad marketers deter you from self publishing. It's up to you to get the word out about your book, not the publisher.
 4th of Oct, 2011 by   Moses Nyagaka Okioga -1 Votes
But where am supposed to place a complain?Can anyone out there in the USA help?
I self published a novel with the booksurge.com which later changed its name to Createspace.The book RELEGATED TO THE WILD is rumoured to have sold several copies-hundred of thousands if not Millions.Since 2005 I have received nothing in form of loyalties.I only learned recently that the Company plus amazon.com could be conning writers.
I live in Kenya in abject poverty, I even borrowed the money that I used to pay for the publishing of the novel
I am looking for the assistance of a lawyer or any other person who could help.
My contacts are +254725129210 or +25429487282 email;mnokioga@gmail.com
 21st of Oct, 2011 by   Stanley Brown 0 Votes
Re:Moses Nyagaka Okioga LETTER
This looks suspiciously like one of those scams. "Nigerian Millionaire temporarily short of funds." Anyway...
Re: Createspace; I've now decided not to deal with them in any circumstances. Better to be safe than sorry. Good complaints board!
 12th of Nov, 2011 by   Moses Nyagaka Okioga 0 Votes
Mr Stanley, sir, I am not lying createspace is.They are now telling stories that goes worlds apart from the truth.When one applies for visa from outside USA is required to present a certificste of good conduct from the Police as proof that he had involved himself in any way in crime.One wonders is the USA authority aware of this massive global crime?
 17th of Nov, 2011 by   abi-pn 0 Votes
I think create space is doing professionally. by abi-pn
 21st of Mar, 2012 by   Robbnn +1 Votes
I use CreateSpace and it's been great. They do exactly what they say and their service is getting better all the time. They don't do the publicity and they're up front about it. I only wish they did hard-covers, too. Yes, real user, not a CreateSpace shill. My books, Do Angels Still Fall, Letters from the Waiting Room and others are on Amazon, feel free to check (and buy).

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