Review Of Amazon & Createspace Vs Other Book Sales Platforms - Why I Self-Publish On Amazon

Most times, it seems very difficult to discover the best online book publishing company or platform. After writing my very first manuscript, I found it very difficult to discover the best publishing platform to use. I tried a lot of book publishing platforms. In the course of my experiment, I discovered that some platforms favour a particular category of books. I have decided to write a review of some of the book publishing platforms I tried out and why I have chosen to stick with Amazon KDP and CreateSpace. The truth is that every book publishing platform has its pros and cons, likewise Amazon and CreateSpace. But their pros are more than their cons. I will still show you some pros and cons of different online book publishing platforms.
Review of amazon kdp and other publishing platforms
Are you a passionate book writer with no money to sponsor your book publishing? 
Have you been finding a way to monetize your write ups without spending a dine? 
Have you been looking for the easiest way to make money online even without having a website?

Amazon kdp and CreateSpace are the best online publishing platforms for you! Amazon and CreateSpace are not just publishing platforms. They have the largest online market with customers who are ever willing to patronize you! Amazon and CreateSpace have various awesome features when compared to other online publishing and marketing companies at your advantage such as their price system, payment methods, online reach,supported viewing devices, etc. You don't pay any dine before you start selling your books on amazon, unlike many other book marketing and distribution platforms. All amazon demands from you is creativity, hard work and dedication.

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Reasons Why You Should Consider Publishing on Amazon and CreateSpace?

There are tons of reasons why you should consider publishing on amazon and CreateSpace! Many professional Authors have discovered these reasons and that is why they have stuck to amazon and Createspace. What have you previously read about Amazon and CreateSpace? It’s much more than just an online shopping cart or web store.

Amazon is the Largest Paid Search Engine and Book Market World Wide

Many people argue this assertion. Some say the largest paid search engine is google. Yes google is the most popular search engine, but people don’t search things on google with their credit cards like they do on Amazon. When it comes to book market, amazon still dominates! Many other online book distribution companies come to amazon and CreateSpace when their customers search for books that are unavailable on their platform. 

Amazon and CreateSpace have the highest number of Distribution Channels.

CreateSpace alone which is a subsidiary of Amazon has three extended distribution channels apart from Amazon.com, Amazon Europe and CreatSpace eStore.

These extended distribution channels are: 

Bookstores and Online Retailers
Academic Institutions and 
CreateSpace Direct
So in total CreateSpace has six distribution channels!
These distribution channels spread world wide.

You do not need Buy an ISBN code; It is Free!

Amazon and CreateSpace provide an optionally free unique ISBN code for all paper back and print books published on their platforms both for kindle ebook, paperback and print book versions, thereby relieving you of the burden and expenses of buying ISBN codes for all your books, unlike most platforms. Most publishing platforms require that you buy an ISBN code for each of your books. Imagine when you have up to or more than fifty books and you are to buy separate ISBN bar codes for all of them! But 

Amazon issues eBooks an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) unique to your book and is the identification number for your book only on Amazon.com. Createspace, gives you a choice to use your own ISBN number or they provide a 13-digit createspace-assigned ISBN for your book for free. You still have complete control over your content with the ISBN being used as an identifier only. If you plan to sell your book retail, you are also permitted to use your own ISBN code. You can get one at Bowker.com if you are located in the US or contact your local ISBN agency.

Amazon and CreateSpace Create Employment Opportunities

Yes! Amazon and CreateSpace don't just pay you. They offer you emploument opportunities especially if you are a hard working author. Amazon and CreateSpace pay you the monthly royalties that your book has accumulated. Therefore, you can compare them with an offline employer who pays his workers their monthly salaries at the end of the month. Infact Amazon and CreateSpace publishing platforms are more an offline employer because they are very consistent in their royalty payment and never owe any author. They always announce the amount they budgeted for paying authors even before the end the month. Many popular and hard working authors have discovered this and that is why they stick to these two powerful book publishing platforms.
Are you a hard working author? Then Amazon and CreateSpace are ready to reward you!

You Don't Pay a Dine to Self-Publish on Amazon and CreateSpace!

Unlike most other book publishing platforms, Amazon and CreateSpace do not charge any initial setup fee before you can publish your books. There are no upfront costs and no need to carry inventory. They even stand on your behalf and cover you when these charges accumulates. For example, Amazon and CreateSpace only deducts your book's printing costs only when the buyer demands and buy your book.
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Various Online ebook Publishing Distribution Platforms

Here is a list of some popular book publishing and distribution platforms: 

Pros and Cons of Amazon, CreateSpace and Other Self-Publishing Platforms

Payment System

The payment systems of Amazon and CreateSpace are pretty awesome both on the site of customers and on your side as an author in terms of receiving your royalty. The most awesome feature in Amazon payment system is their one-click payment option. People can buy your book by clicking a single button, no need to enter payment or personal details especially for old customers. Many Amazon and CreateSpace customers trust them, so a greater percentage of these customers save their credit card info and mailing address on these platforms. This has made the payment system so fast and easy when compared with that of other book publishing platforms. Most other platforms have a lesser trust level from their customers.

Coming to the side of payment of royalties to authors, the system is also awesome. They pay you 70% as royalty for kindle ebook and 60% (minus printing cost). Amazon and CreateSpace pay you your book's monthly royalty after one month. This might not sound advantageous for new authors, but after two months, you will not feel the gap because you will be receiving royalty every month. 


Amazon and CreateSpace prefers to pay into your payoneer account.

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The IRS requires Amazon to collect 30% of your royalties if you are not from US. Sellfy pays you instantly, minus their fees. Gumroad pays weekly minus their 5% charge and 25 cent and both platforms pay through PayPal. PayPal fees are around 3%. So compare Amazon and other book publishing platforms!

Review Time

One established truth is that book publishing passes through many stages and processes. Not withstanding these various stages, any book you publish on Amazon and CreateSpace takes not more than a day (i.e. maximum of 24 hours) before it comes live. Most times, it takes an average of 12 hours which is not really bad. I published my first kindle ebook by 12 am and before 12 pm, it became available and before the end of that same day, it synchronized. The same thing happened when I published the paperback version of the book on CreateSpace. 
Don't mis-understand my point! It can take up to 72 hours for your book to synchronize on amazon, which is not still bad unless you are impatient.

Book Previews

When it comes to book previews, Amazon and CreateSpace book preview system is the best! They show the first few pages of a book right in a browser, and the final page of that preview is the buy button in a popup window where your customers can read your book content. But for platforms like or indies, you have to link to a separate preview file and include a link to buy it at the end, which is a few more steps but still fairly easy. You could also create a plain-text preview for selling on your own site. The added bonus of creating your own preview file is that you get to specify length and content, whereas with Amazon, they pick where the preview cuts off.

Price System

Amazon and CreateSpace respect you very much to the extent of giving you the full right to price your book any amount you wish unlike most online book publishing and distribution companies and platforms that allow customers to price your book as they wish. Amazon KDP only suggests a price range of $2.99 to $9.99 if you want to enjoy the 70% royalty but never compel you to this price range. You can price your book higher or lower than this price range and then enjoy 35% royalty.

But always remember that your book is placed in a marketplace with other similar books, so if your book costs much more than similar books, it may not sell as well.

Your Customer's Details

This is the only aspect that I don't admire about publishing on Amazon and CreateSpace! They don't show you the contact details of your customers, not even their email addresses. They only show you the number of copies sold and a royalty percentage in a spreadsheet. This makes it very difficult to stay in touch with customers. But you can still help your customers to stay in touch with you by setting up your amazon Author page from Author Central.

Some book publishing platforms like Gumroad and Sellfy save those email addresses into a mailing list or export as a CVS file which you can import into your mailing list program.

Content Update

This is another aspect that I don't really fancy about Amazon and CreateSpace book publishing platforms. If your re-edit and upload your book's interior in Amazon KDP, it takes up to 12 hours for the update to appear live. If you are using CreateSpace, your book goes offline for a few days while Amazon reviews the updated files. This makes me sometimes feel reluctant to update my book's interior on amazon. But I don't really think this is an issue!

But with an indie, you just re-upload the book's interior if there are changes and it gets live instantly.

Considering Whether to Publish and Sell on Amazon and CreateSpace or On Your Website

Many Authors find it very difficult to decide whether to publish on Amazon and CreateSpace or to sell their books through their websites. The truth is that it is not really easy to conclude on which option to choose!

There are some questions and tips that can help you decide on which option to choose.


1. What type of ebooks do you write?

If you write fiction or memoir books, Amazon and CreateSpace might be the better choice for you. But if you write tutorial books or guides, then you might consider to sell on your own website and set any price tag you want. But tutorial books still thrive well on Amazon and CreateSpace.

2. Are you planning to build your own readers and buyers?

If you are planning to build your own reader community, then consider selling through your own website, though you’d likely find success on Amazon, too
No: Sell on Amazon. And start growing your community now, because you’ll still need it!

3. Can you create and manage a website?

Yes: Consider selling on your own site, depending on your other answers here
No: Might be better off with Amazon (or hire someone to set up an online store for you)

4. Do you want to sell the same book on your website and also on Amazon?

You can sell a book both on your website and through Amazon and CreateSpace, but don't choose Amazon KDP Select because KDP Select prohibits you from selling your books through any other platform, not even through your own website ot blog!

I don't advise you to also sell a book on your website if you are planning to sell on Amazon because selling on your website will adversely affect your book' sales on Amazon. But you can advertize your amazon book through your website or blog. Amazon even suggests such promotion strategy!

Do you still want to know more about other online publishing companies?

An article at Publishersweekly.com will help you decide Which E-Book Publisher Is Right for You, he wrote a detailed review of each publishing platform.

Are You Ready to Start Your Book Setup Process on Amazon or CreateSpace?

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