Australian orders of paperbacks

[A. N. Onymous]

Have those bloody twerps at Amazon changed their policy again as far shipments to Australia are concerned? I have been able to purchase author copies of my last two releases from the American store, now I cannot do so with my latest release!!!! If they have changed it again, I have had a gutful of the rotten buggers. Anyone heard/know anything? I have contacted KDP but haven't received a reply yet.

[Simon Haynes]

Earlier this year they did announce that they're not shipping books (and many other products) to Australia. Covid related.

I'm guessing there aren't that many flights between the two countries right now.

[Simon Haynes]

For myself, I use lulu xpress at lulu.com, who do print in Australia.  Prices are in USD, which caught me out initially, but you can drop-ship a single (or multiple) books to any address.

They don't offer the 5.25 x 8 size I normally use, but the 5.5x8.5 is close enough with a couple of tweaks to my exporter. As for the cover, I download their template for the new page count and then resize my existing KDP cover to match. Usually it means scaling the whole cover then narrowing the result by less than 1/16th of an inch.

[A. N. Onymous]

Earlier this year they did announce that they're not shipping books (and many other products) to Australia. Covid related.

I'm guessing there aren't that many flights between the two countries right now.

And yet I received orders around midyear when the Covid was at its worst. Had to wait quite a while but that was okay. Now can't order at all from the US store.

I tried Lulu for paperbacks but their quality is woeful; buckled and warped. Complained, got a second batch which was no different. They are fine for hardcovers but I won't use them for paperbacks again.

This sucks!

[LilyBLily]

Earlier this year they did announce that they're not shipping books (and many other products) to Australia. Covid related.

I'm guessing there aren't that many flights between the two countries right now.

And yet I received orders around midyear when the Covid was at its worst. Had to wait quite a while but that was okay. Now can't order at all from the US store.

I tried Lulu for paperbacks but their quality is woeful; buckled and warped. Complained, got a second batch which was no different. They are fine for hardcovers but I won't use them for paperbacks again.

This sucks!

How about Ingram Lightning Source? I hear their quality is good. I don't know if they'll ship to you but they do have free title setup with the code FREE2020 through the end of December. They also have the same offer through March 31 through NaNoWriMo with the code NANO. I never use my winner code and I don't think Ingram cares who does. 

[A. N. Onymous]

Earlier this year they did announce that they're not shipping books (and many other products) to Australia. Covid related.

I'm guessing there aren't that many flights between the two countries right now.

And yet I received orders around midyear when the Covid was at its worst. Had to wait quite a while but that was okay. Now can't order at all from the US store.

I tried Lulu for paperbacks but their quality is woeful; buckled and warped. Complained, got a second batch which was no different. They are fine for hardcovers but I won't use them for paperbacks again.

This sucks!

How about Ingram Lightning Source? I hear their quality is good. I don't know if they'll ship to you but they do have free title setup with the code FREE2020 through the end of December. They also have the same offer through March 31 through NaNoWriMo with the code NANO. I never use my winner code and I don't think Ingram cares who does. 

Its good advice and I already have the bulk of my paperbacks with them. I started this series with my first book having to be published exclusively through KDP to enter a competition. I had always had in mind to swap over to IS once the comp was over. Then I was suddenly able to receive author copies from the .com site again and was happy...for a time.
My biggest bugbear at the moment is that I was trying to save some money by using KDP's cover creator with some purchased images. I lost my reliable cover designer last year and haven't found a worthy successor. If it were only ebook covers I would use one of the many cheap ones out there, but I have to have paperback covers as well. To publish with IS I have to have pro covers to suit their templates, something I am unable to do myself. I knew about IS's free period and would love to take advantage of that, believe me, but I don't think I can find a reasonably-priced cover designer in time before the promo period finishes and there is no way I'm paying the set-up fee on top of  the price for the three covers I now require for my series. I own my ISBNs, so that is no issue, however, I have to unpublish those paperbacks on KDP before IS will accept those ISBNs. I hate this crap. I just wish bloody Amazon would get its frigging act together vis-a-vie Australia. If I have to wait an extended period to get the books, then so be it.

[Simon Haynes]

I found the note about posting internationally.  It's on the Contact page (KDP dash)

There's also something I didn't see before, which says that you can cancel or delay pre-orders without penalty.

[A. N. Onymous]

Although I haven't tried it yet, KDP came back to me to say that I can order proof copies to be sent to Australia. Wouldn't that mean they have the word 'proof' watermarked on the last page? Can't very well sell them with that on there! Anyway, I am going to go through IS now that a cover designer is on board. Thanks for all the advice peeps.