- It's been a couple of months since CreateSpace announced
the merge with KDP Print, and many people
have since transitioned from CreateSpace over to KDP
with zero issues.
As some of you may be aware of, I tried the transition early
on and was very unsuccessful in merging it on over.
Well, I've got good news in today's broadcast,
so make sure that you stay tuned.
Welcome to Self Publishing With Dale,
where you'll learn how to publish books that sell
and build an unstoppable brand.
Not too long ago CreateSpace announced their merge
with KDP Print, however it was rife with issues
and a lot of heartaches, hassles, and horse manure.
(horse neighing)
However, it appears like they've got everything
somewhat ironed out so I thought I would finally
take a moment to hit the merge button
and try it out again.
Well, I was very fortunate and very successful in doing
that merge, but here are some of my thoughts
before I share the exact process I went through.
The reason I wanted to shift my CreateSpace catalog
over to KDP Print now was I heard there were
some issues when it came to the transition.
Some covers weren't going over.
Some of the metadata needed to be updated.
So, I knew that I didn't wanna be saddled
with this right in the midst of peak season
just after Thanksgiving and right around Black Friday.
So I said, let's go ahead, let's get this merge now
so I don't have to worry about all this stuff right
in the middle of peak season.
I knew ahead of time that going into this
there were gonna be some issues.
So, that's why I thought we'd go ahead
and pull the trigger now.
A few things that have been an issue are
of course, we only have five keyword slots in CreateSpace.
When you go over to KDP Print,
you have seven keyword slots which can be a big advantage
to your book, but if you're like me and you
have a deep back catalog of books
over in CreateSpace, there's going to be some issues
in transitioning your catalog from one site to the other.
And part of that problem is some of the covers aren't
propagating properly inside the dashboard.
However, if you go over into the Amazon Bookstore,
you'll discover your book's just fine
and just the shape that you wanted it to be in.
Let's take a look at the process that I went through.
Alright, we're over here on createspace.com
and we're doing attempt number two
over the past couple of months since the merge
of CreateSpace to KDP Print.
So far, early signs are that it has been
a very smooth transition for a lot of people.
Especially ones with larger accounts.
Mine is a larger account, so we're gonna see
just how easy it is.
I'm gonna go ahead and log in.
We're gonna get started.
We're gonna link the existing account.
Alright, it all looks good.
Start your move, and we're working on it.
Transfer complete, you'll be redirected in a moment.
Wow.
This is pretty incredible, but you know,
we can go down through and we see
that everything was moved.
So at this point, all I have to do is go in
and fix probably some of the metadata,
as some of you may be aware, we have five keyword slots
on CreateSpace with up to 25 characters per slot.
Now with KDP Print we have seven keyword slots
with up to 50 characters per slot.
So, this really can add up to quite a bit
and get it to where your book's a lot more discoverable.
So, it was that stinking simple.
Really, it took most of the day
for a lot of the books to get all the way
over into my KDP Print account.
But now my CreateSpace account is completely empty,
not a single publication is left.
It's almost like an apartment that you grew fond
of and as you move out on the very last day,
you reflect on all the great times that you had.
I would highly recommend that if you are going
to be expecting big things going into quarter four,
don't wait too long on the merge.
Because if you run into some kind of issue,
it's better that you handle this now rather
than waiting 'til later and then you're having
a terrible quarter four, and I don't want that
to happen for you.
What do you think?
Have you moved your CreateSpace books over
to KDP Print yet?
If so, how has the process been for you?
And if you're waiting, what's holding you back?
Why are you waiting so long?
I definitely want to hear your candid thoughts
in the comments.
In the meantime, if you enjoyed today's video,
make sure that you click the little thumbs-up
and share it with somebody else who would enjoy it, too.
'Til later, this has been Self Publishing with Dale
and I'll see you soon.