I HATE CHANGE – PART II

My last blog was on why I hate change. The battle continues.

During the past three weeks, I have published five books. All of them were with KDP Print since CreateSpace is going away. Sadly, it is no longer an option for new books.

The first book was Larry’s The McGregor Chronicles: Book 5 – Nina’s Revenge.

This one was already in process before the mandatory switch, and everything went smoothly.

Then, I tried the second edition of the cookbook, Recipes by the Book: Oak Tree Authors Cook.

Here is where the conversion from CreateSpace to KDP Print became an issue. They changed the rules between the platforms, and I am not a happy camper about it. Since this was the second edition of one I had published previously using the publisher's credentials, I expected the process to be seamless. Not so.

KDP Print limits the number of authors/contributors for their print versions. (KDP doesn’t for the ebook.) This one has twenty-six contributors. The platform only allowed me to enter ten of them. I contacted them, and they added the rest—for the ebook version only. They say they can’t add more to the print book. I filed a ticket about it, and I won’t close it until they resolve the issue.

They also have not linked the versions on the Amazon page, even though I entered the ISBN of the print version when I created the ebook. (Both versions have all the numbers on the copyright page.) I made another request today, but I’m not holding my breath because of the author listing issue.

The original cookbook had two versions: black and white and full color. We wanted to create second editions of both. KDP Print changed the rules for their cover art. We had to change the black and white cover twice, and the one for the print version four times. (Recipes by the Book: Oak Tree Authors Cook – Full Color)

The interior is identical to the ebook version. I have requested that it be linked to both versions of the print titles. I’m not optimistic. Although we started this one near the beginning of the month, it only went live this morning.

The next book was for our grand-niece, A Wolf’s Magic.

We had worked with her for months on it, and Larry created a fabulous cover. It was ready to be published in May. However, it was delayed. This one was formatted for CreateSpace, and it gave us no issues, for which I am most grateful.

The final book for the month was Lola: The Parrot Who Saved the Mission.

This book had been in process for well over a year. A friend, whose artwork I loved, was supposed to do the illustrations. However, she had family issues and art shows, so her part of the project was delayed. When it became obvious she wouldn’t be able to complete it at any time soon, Larry decided he wanted to give it a try. He brought Lola to life.

This is a little-known but true story of Father O’Sullivan’s pet parrot who saved Mission San Juan Capistrano. When we mentioned the parrot to the docents last year, only one of them knew about the parrot, and none of them knew her name. This book just begged to be written.

We only had one hiccup with it and considered ourselves fortunate.

I ordered author copies of a couple of these and was disappointed to see that they had charged me tax for them. I had filed my resale license number with CreateSpace when I first published on that platform and was tax-exempt from then on.

When I complained to KDP Print about it, they first said they had no way to send author copies without charging tax. I received a whole treatise on how Amazon is required to charge tax. (I know. I remember when the whole issue arose in the first place.)

I wrote back, patiently explaining that we sell most of our author copies to retailers, and THEY are responsible for collecting the taxes. With the current system, tax is paid twice for the same items. Their reply included a link for tax-exempt status for Amazon itself.

I don't want tax-exempt status for all of Amazon. I purchase a lot on Amazon, most of which is for my own use. I am happy to pay tax on those items. I only want tax-exempt status when I purchase author copies of my own books. I have patiently explained this several times, but the only options I appear to have at the moment are to opt in or opt out of the status on the entire site. However, far too many of us will be affected by this issue CreateSpace. So, the battle continues.

Have any of my author friends run into issues with the transition from CreateSpace to KDP Print?

I HATE CHANGE

I HATE CHANGE. There, I’ve said it. I like everything neat and in order. (Does this make me a good Presbyterian?) I work much more efficiently once I get into a routine. I like to keep things in the same place so I can find them, even in the dark.

I have no idea how some people function in the midst of chaos. I have a couple of friends who seem to live in a whirlwind. If life doesn’t shake things up enough, they create their own havoc.

I have other friends whom I have threatened to report to the Hoarders TV show. I would say I don’t know how they function except I know they don’t do it well.

I was raised by dirt and clutter Nazis. Both my mother and grandmother cleaned and scrubbed and vacuumed every day. If we left anything out of place, they threw it out. Heck, even if our things were put away, we often came home from school to discover our toys and other possessions gone. My mother always had the same answer: “You don’t need it.” (Is this why I’m a bit of a pack-rat today? Could be. But everything has to be put away so I can locate it later. Fortunately, we live in a large toy box.)

My computer came with a new keyboard. I’m still not used to it. Some of the keys are in different places, and the touch is a bit harder than my old one. Some don’t register as well. I don’t slow down well, as some of you who have worked with me and my former bosses can attest. So, I now spend far too much time editing and correcting. This does not make me happy!

The latest threat to my well-being is Amazon’s switch from CreateSpace for print book publishing to KDP Print. I manually migrated all of the books we previously published, and everything appears to be okay. However, I haven’t purchased any copies yet to be sure.

Larry’s latest sci-fi book, The McGregor Chronicles: Book 5 – Nina’s Revenge, was in process before the switch. The copies we received look fine, and they did not reject the cover.

However, I am republishing an old cookbook, and have gotten three error messages. I uploaded the original using the publisher’ credentials, so we had the original cover Larry designed using a CreateSpace template. Each time we got an error message, he changed it to be compatible with the requirements, and each time, it came back.

The ebook cover published just fine, but the one for the paperbacks (there are two of them with the same cover since one has a B&W interior and the other is in color) kept bouncing. Today he downloaded the KDP template and rebuilt the cover. I have uploaded it yet again. If they don’t accept it this time, I am planning a very loud and unpleasant phone call to them as a follow-up on the many emails I have already sent.

Yesterday I uploaded another book prepared with a CreateSpace cover template. Yet another error message. So, Larry will rebuild it using the KDP template. However, he will probably wait to see what happens with the cookbook. No sense in expending the time if we have to engage in another battle.

My armor is ready, and my sword is drawn.

PS: As I was writing this, a technical service representative called. We were able to figure out what the issues are. Fingers crossed…

Do you deal well with change? If so, please tell me how you manage it.