- Rolling forward, we're gonna continue on
with the Self-Published Book Unboxing series.
And today we're gonna compare KDP,
versus CreateSpace, versus Lulu, stay tuned.
(rock instrumental music)
Welcome to Self-Publishing with Dale,
where you'll learn to publish books that sell
and build an unstoppable brand.
We are rolling forward with even more unboxing of books,
and comparing print on demand distribution platforms.
It's with pleasure that I'm able to present
this series to you, that we are able to focus
on what we can expect from delivery,
shipping and handling, and quality as far
as the print books go from each one of the platforms.
Today I actually have the privilege
of covering three different platforms,
but also having many authors contributing their books
to the Self-Published Book Unboxing series.
So big shout-out to them, and also it should be noted
that I'm not reviewing the contents of the book,
or the manuscript, or the authors
of the books, more so the print
on demand distribution platforms and their services.
So, let's push forward.
Time to get KDP print out of the way.
Mojo actually sent me her book here.
And much like in the previous video where I discussed
about Mark Brownless's order getting here in record time,
this book got here in six days.
One of the fastest books to get here,
especially by way of KDP print.
But it was the shipping and handling
that I found very underwhelming.
As per usual they shipped it out by a bubble wrap envelope.
Now, for a small book like this it's not an issue.
When you get a little larger you might run into problems
where it gets kicked around or the pages get bent.
We need some kind of corrugation to support this.
Not one to rest on just one book
for KDP print, I've got two books.
This one's a little bit different as far as the cut goes.
This is from Xenia Zilli, and hers
is I imagine it's a coloring book.
And it's a little large, you can see
it's eight and a half by 11,
and it has white print on the inside.
This one took altogether almost the longest
to ship here out of all of them, 16 days.
They originally side it was gonna
get here within four to five days.
But then it kept getting pushed forward,
it kept getting pushed forward,
and it kept getting pushed forward.
So the delivery was a big fail.
Where they got it right with Mojo's book, mind you,
these two ordered their books the same day.
But for some reason this got here in record time,
whereas this one got here in, well,
the opposite end of the spectrum of record time.
Shipping and handling much the same,
bubble wrap envelope it came here.
But it was still in pristine shape, I'm very happy with it.
As far as quality goes I can't express this enough times,
KDP print does a good job of quality printing.
Each one of these are glossy covers.
It should be noted in the very first portion of this series
that James Ranson's book was actually a matte finish.
If I were to lean in favor of one
or the other I would say that I prefer glossy covers.
But this is just a matter of personal preference.
Quite frankly, the matte cover and the glossy cover
are both fantastic through KDP print.
But what about CreateSpace books?
Well, I've shared a few other orders previously
in Greg Austin's book, as well Mary Vogelsong's books.
And they all came through very nicely,
so here's what the results look like.
Where Greg's book took about 15 days
and Mary's book took about 12 days,
that's about par for course
when it comes to CreateSpace's delivery time.
My expectations have always been about that,
unless you're willing to part ways with more money
to have it rush shipped, that's about right.
As far as the shipping and handling
I've said this before, CreateSpace nailed it.
They ship books in corrugated cardboard.
That way they are reinforced, and if they're dropped,
they're kicked, they're tossed somewhere
along the line during transit they're not damaged.
I like my books to be undamaged when I receive them.
So can you imagine when your readers receive this,
and they're all damaged, well, with corrugation
that really minimizes the risks.
As far as quality goes, as I kind of shared
in the previous video about KDP print
versus CreateSpace, there's not too much
of a differentiation between the quality.
Glossy covers, matte covers look really good.
So I believe to a certain extent
Amazon does have the same printers.
As far as globally speaking they're gonna be
different ones I'm sure from one place to the next.
And last but not least in the comparison will be lulu.com.
And I've covered these two books previously.
Both books took a record time of five days.
Were they the fastest to get here on the doorstep?
Not by any stretch, but bearing in mind
one of my previous instances I got one here in four days,
and it came damaged from KDP print.
So if I had to wait another day longer to get it
in good quality like this, then I'd be happy to do that.
Next is shipping and handling.
Again, bubble wrap envelope just not appropriate.
Folks at Lulu, you might want to consider
that when you're shipping out any book whether big or small
to send it out via corrugated cardboard.
That way it minimizes risks.
Given the fact that I've had numerous books shipped
from everywhere these two came in perfect shapes.
That means your batting average is perfect at this point.
And as far as quality goes, as I've shared
in previous videos between the cream-colored paper
and the white paper looks really, really good.
The glossy covers are awesome, the cut is just near perfect.
Definitely, as far as a product goes
I'm gonna lean in favor of Lulu.
Let's go ahead, and let's do a little bit
of a comparison between the three products.
First of all, we've got KDP print.
And it seems like the average time
is all over the board when it comes to delivery time.
It can be anywhere from 4 days to as much as 16 days.
So it seems that as far as delivery goes
it's just too unpredictable for me
to actually put all of my faith in it.
Then, we've got CreateSpace.
It might take just a little bit longer for it to get here.
But we at least expect that it's going to take anywhere
from a week and a half to two weeks
for the book to arrive on our doorstep.
Then, last but not least, Lulu in my opinion wins out big
when it comes to delivery time because they nailed it.
Five days for standard shipping
and handling, kudos, Lulu got that one.
Now, next it comes shipping and handling.
We already know there's two options so far.
We've got the bubble wrap envelope
versus the corrugated cardboard for shipping out books.
I think I've said this a million times
on the Self-Published Book Unboxing series.
If we're gonna have our books shipped to us
or our customers let's minimize the risk of damage.
Because here is the biggest issue.
When a customer receives a damaged book,
guess who that reflects on, the authors.
Because they're gonna go over,
they're gonna leave a low review for your damaged book.
Great book to read, but it came with pages torn
and the binding broken, one star.
(trumpet blows)
What the heck?
Then we get penalized, and the sad thing
is if it's on Amazon we reach out to them.
And they'll turn is down because they want to leave
all of the reviews up that are honest.
I don't think that's very fair,
and Amazon you need to take note.
And know that first of all KDP print,
they got it wrong when it comes to bubble wrap envelope.
Lulu.com, bubble wrap envelope again, no go.
CreateSpace, corrugated cardboard, nailed it.
So I would say at this point, who wins out
when it comes to shipping and handling?
It'd be CreateSpace, I know it's a little longer,
but man it's so much more worth it to get
a mint condition pristine copy of your book in the mail.
Last, but certainly not least is going to be quality.
And, of course, this is gonna be super subjective.
And you're welcome to disagree with me on this point.
Here's what it comes down to.
We've got the KDP print books and CreateSpace books.
Amazon's already come out and said,
look, we're using the same printers.
I'm gonna trust them for
the most part when it comes to that.
There was a slight deviation from CreateSpace
to KDP print book that I had shared in a previous video.
But who knows, maybe it was just
a different type of a printer was put on.
I don't know how to explain that.
But either way great quality,
I've always been happy with them.
Slight, you know, mishaps here and there,
but for the most part it's been pretty good.
But to me I really am absolutely blown away
by Lulu when it comes to quality.
The glossy cover, the cut, and everything else.
So with the comparison of KDP print, versus CreateSpace,
versus Lulu, I'm gonna lean heavily in favor of Lulu.
Because they've got two of the check marks
in their column when it comes to absolutely killing it
on delivery and killing it on quality.
So all we got to do is see if we can get
that shipping and handling to corrugated cardboard.
That would definitely make a lot more
of us authors and readers very happy.
But, hey, listen, this is not it.
I can guarantee you that we're gonna be talking a bit more
about self-published books and different print
on demand distribution platforms.
Instead of letting this party be all over,
why don't you go ahead and join me in the next video.
I'll see you there.