I know I’ve mentioned here
and there that I self-publish with CreateSpace, Amazon’s publishing arm, but so far I have not really talked much
about the company itself. It’s time to do that. I’m guessing it would be self-evident
that I love the company, since I have now self-published 15 books through them
(10 of my own, 5 by and about my parents) in just over three years. I’m
currently awaiting the proof for my new book about my father’s artwork (see
last blog), which precipitated a surprising back-and-forth with customer
service.
The book of my father’s art
needed to be in landscape mode, since most of his paintings are done that way.
This is one of the few areas where Create Space and other self-publishers are limited;
the traditional portrait-style book sizes are plentiful, but the landscape-style
sizes are few. I get it; the vast majority of books published are portrait mode,
but it would be nice to have more choices. At any rate, I chose the largest
landscape mode available, 8.5” wide by 6” high. I also chose to do this book in
full color so as to show off my dad’s artwork in the best possible way. I knew
color would be more expensive, but in this case it was necessary and justified.
In choosing the distribution
channels, I saw that because the book is not a “standard” size, it was not
eligible for all expanded distribution channels (EDC) like bookstores and other
online retailers. Ok, that’s fine. I’m not expecting this book to go viral or
be a NYTBS; I just want my dad’s artwork out in the world where it can be seen
and appreciated. But some of the extended distribution channels were available for my size book, like
libraries and academic institutions. I purchased the $25 extended distribution
option to take advantage of those, going for the broadest distribution
possible, even if it wasn’t everything in the whole wide world. (I have always
bought the EDC for every other one of my books and thought it was well worth
the price.)
After I’d processed that order,
I went to the pricing page and realized that, because I had selected the EDC,
the base cost of the book had gone up sharply and I would have to increase my
retail price more than I wanted. This is a small book; it’s slightly over 100
pages and just over half the size of a sheet of paper. I could not see charging
$20 or more for it. In order to keep the costs down as much as I could (without
sacrificing the color), I unselected the EDC options.
Then I realized that I had
just paid $25 for something that I was not going to use. Ok, where’s the cancel button? I looked at my order and
could not see any way to cancel it. Hoping against hope, not at all sure Create
Space would humor me, I sent off a note via their customer service interface
explaining the issue, asking for a refund. After all, there really was no way
to see how the EDC option would affect the price of the book before I purchased
it.
Any time I send in a question
via the customer service interface, I immediately get back an automatic
response just to let me know they have received my note. While this isn’t
terribly personal, it does at least confirm that my note was received and will
be dealt with. I knew I’d have an answer back within 24 hours from a real
person.
And I did. To my pleasant
surprise, I got an e-mail from a woman the next day. She was polite, friendly
and to the point.
As
a courtesy, I processed a full refund of order xxxx in the amount of $25.00.
This accounts for your purchase of Expanded Distribution on July 20. You should
see the refund credited to your card within approximately one to two weeks.
All well and good; glad my
request didn’t fall on deaf ears. However, she went on.
We
really appreciate your business here at CreateSpace, and we strive to make your
experience with us as seamless and helpful as possible. As always, please feel
free to contact us with any additional questions or concerns you might have.
I decided then that, because she had
taken the time to be so pleasant and so helpful, I needed to take a few minutes
and give some positive feedback. I sent back just a short note about how easy
they were to do business with, how much I appreciated not only the services
they offered (the self-publishing)
but the services they provided as
well—the quick responses, the quick resolutions, the willingness to correct
whatever it was without grilling me or treating me like I was making stupid
mistakes or asking for outlandish favors. I told her I absolutely loved Create
Space, but they could probably tell that by the amount of books I’d published
through them.
The next day I got another response
back.
It
is because of comments like yours that we strive to be the very best. Thank you
for your very kind feedback! Without customers like you, we could not continue
to provide the service you have come to expect from us. Your comments are
greatly appreciated, and I sincerely thank you for choosing us for your
self-publishing needs.
Made my day! If there’s one thing
I’ve learned in life it’s that people like to be appreciated, yours truly
included. How often, instead, do we get a dry, impersonal response to an
inadvertent error, i.e.: Dear customer,
we were unable to comply ..., our policy
clearly states …, blah, blah, blah. Create Space, obviously, understands
that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, something many other
companies should take to heart. These days it seems as if most places are more
willing to lose a customer than rectify an inexpensive error, winning the battle
perhaps, but losing the war.
In all my earlier dealings with
Create Space over the years, I have only run into two small glitches that were
immediately resolved. One time I ordered some books and received one that had
the pages completely out of order. It looked like someone had dropped all the
pages on the floor, picked them up and bound them without putting them back in
order. The other problem was when I received a proof copy of another book; the
top of the book had been trimmed about a half inch more than it should have. I
knew it was a mistake and was not worried about it happening en masse, but when
I sent off a note to Create Space about these two issues, I was gratified to
have them immediately send me replacement copies of both books (which I had not
requested) —no questions asked. They didn’t ask me to send back the bad copies,
just replaced them, shipping the same day as my note. That’s pretty darn good
service.
So when people ask me why I
self-publish with Create Space, it’s not just about the ease of the process,
the affordable pricing, the quality product (although all of those things are
there); it’s about the spirit of the company.
I love Create Space!