By Laree Lindburg, owner/manager, Electric Moon Publishing, LLC and Signal Speakers
Amazon recently announced their intention to cease author services (editing, marketing, book formatting, design, etc.) through their self-publishing entity Createspace as reported in The Post and Courier.
This should be no surprise. The massive company is not known for their delicate handling of indie authors—their size makes it almost impossible to work one-on-one in a personal setting. And this is not a terrible loss on the author’s side. As those who use the author services supplied by Amazon may not have needed to sell the farm to pay the ticket price, the end product quality often left much to be desired.
A spokesperson from Amazon shared the company’s thoughts on this move. "After a thorough review of our service offerings, we've made the decision to discontinue Createspace's paid professional editing, design and marketing services. We will work closely with impacted employees through this transition to help them find new roles within the company or assist them with pursuing opportunities outside the company."
This layoff will sadly affect many workers in Createspace’s editing, marketing and design division starting as early as spring 2018. We can only hope Amazon will stay true to its word and assist impacted employees in their quest for new jobs.
If you are a Createspace author you may be wondering how this decision by Amazon/Createspace affects you. Only if you are used to procuring the editing, marketing and design services offered through Createspace, will you notice a change. No concern is necessary on the part of printing as Createspace will continue to print paperback books for indie authors.
Custom publishers, such as Electric Moon Publishing, are set up to support authors who would normally default to the employment of Amazon’s author services. Either way, at Electric Moon we are ready, capable, and eager to work with you on your first, next, or final book project. Along with being personable and friendly, we offer custom illustration, content and copy editing, proofreading, design, e-book formatting and publishing set-up/distribution, paperback/hardback printing through us or POD setup, paperback distribution options, and marketing assistance.
Contact a team member at info@emoonpublishing.com for more information or visit us on the web at www.emoonpublishing.com.