Anyone used KDP for paperback printing?

[okey dokey]

Just noticed that KDP offers Print On Demand for paperback books.
Have you used this service?
What was your experience?
 

[Vijaya]

I have and been very pleased with it. I followed all the instructions to the t and it worked out well. Paper quality and binding is very good. I notice they are printed in KY.

[okey dokey]

Thanks for your fast response.

[NathanBurrows]

Yep, as Vijaya has said - good quality and very happy with the end product.

[Edward M. Grant]

It's basically the same as what used to be Createspace. I ordered some author copies a few weeks ago and had nothing to complain about, plus the shipping included prepaid taxes, so I didn't get stung with customs fees the way I used to when ordering from Createspace.

If I remember correctly, my first Createspace order was about $20 of books and, when it arrived, I was charged $15 in fees to collect about $1 in tax.

[Hurricane John]

The KDP print quality seems as good as Createspace, but it takes longer to receive the books....at least that's my experience.

Also, my books were printed in South Carolina, not KY. 

[Edward M. Grant]

True. Amazon took about two weeks to print the books, I think Createspace was more like a couple of days.

[Bill Hiatt]

Being annoyed at the demise of Createspace, I was prepared to dislike KDP Print. However, I've found print quality, ease of use, etc. to all be comparable to CS.

Well, except for how long it takes to get proof copies, as was alluded to above. There's no real reason for that, and it holds up the final approval process.

I live in the LA area, and the proofs seem to be printed in San Bernadino, one hour and fifteen minutes away by freeway, so no cross-country shipping needed. Yet it took nine days for the proof to reach me. (It was supposed to be six, but the proof wasn't printed until the day it was supposed to be delivered. Hmmm...

[NathanBurrows]

I guess it's different depending on where you are, but in Europe it's a bit quicker I think. I'm in the UK (which is still part of Europe for the next few months before Independence Day!), my copies were printed in Poland and reached me in less than a week.

[Larry]

I have also used it. For the most part, it is great - the books look great. My only problem is I could not figure out how to get anything to print on the back cover.

[NathanBurrows]

I have also used it. For the most part, it is great - the books look great. My only problem is I could not figure out how to get anything to print on the back cover.

That'll be your cover image mate.

[Vijaya]

The KDP print quality seems as good as Createspace, but it takes longer to receive the books....at least that's my experience.

Also, my books were printed in South Carolina, not KY. 

Interesting Hurricane John. I live in SC.

[dgcasey]

I have also used it. For the most part, it is great - the books look great. My only problem is I could not figure out how to get anything to print on the back cover.

The same way you get the front cover and spine printed. I upload my cover files as one PDF file, following the template instructions to the pixel.

[AmHere]

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201113520 - See the last section on this page. You don't even need to convert to PDF. You can use Cover Creator to up load the full image. 

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201953020 - this page has a cover size calculator excel file that you can download and determine image size based on your book.

This is what I do. Use the calculator, create image, upload image via Cover Creator

[IW Ferguson]

I have seen four of my books printed by KDP, and three of them were fine. On one of them, the cover image was off center about an 1/8 of an inch and the interior text was moved up, so the top margin was tiny. Print on demand yields inconsistent results. Otherwise, it's been great (though I'm so new at this I've never used CreateSpace).

[Larry]

I have also used it. For the most part, it is great - the books look great. My only problem is I could not figure out how to get anything to print on the back cover.

That'll be your cover image mate.

Yea, well, I don't know what I was doing wrong. The front cover and spine worked out well, but not the back.

[Larry]

I have also used it. For the most part, it is great - the books look great. My only problem is I could not figure out how to get anything to print on the back cover.

The same way you get the front cover and spine printed. I upload my cover files as one PDF file, following the template instructions to the pixel.

As mentioned in my previous post, for whatever reason, I was doing it wrong. Front and spine came out great. Not so much for the back.

[dgcasey]

I have seen four of my books printed by KDP, and three of them were fine. On one of them, the cover image was off center about an 1/8 of an inch and the interior text was moved up, so the top margin was tiny. Print on demand yields inconsistent results. Otherwise, it's been great (though I'm so new at this I've never used CreateSpace).

One thing I found out is if you have a legitimate complaint about a book they printed, they take care of it, usually with a refund. I ordered one of my books, three copies of it, and one of the copies looked like whoever was supposed to glue the cover on the book, didn't put any glue down the center of the spine. It was only attached at the outside edges of the spine, so when you opened the book, the spine acted like a hardbound book would, with the center pushing away from the pages and leaving a little tunnel down the spine. I sent a picture of the problem to KDP and they refunded the cost of the book and the shipping and didn't ask for it back. Worked for me. I just gave the book away to one of my kids.

[tdecastro31]

The KDP print quality seems as good as Createspace, but it takes longer to receive the books....at least that's my experience.

Also, my books were printed in South Carolina, not KY. 

Interesting Hurricane John. I live in SC.

Sometimes my author copies come from KY, some from Columbia, SC.  I live in Greenville, SC.  My proof came from California....go figure.

[Hurricane John]

The KDP print quality seems as good as Createspace, but it takes longer to receive the books....at least that's my experience.

Also, my books were printed in South Carolina, not KY. 

Interesting Hurricane John. I live in SC.

Vijaya, they were printed in Columbia, SC. 

[MHodmann]

I ordered an author proof, which was printed in the UK. After fixing some issues (on my side) I ordered a second proof, also printed in the UK. That looked good, so I published. Then I ordered an author copy from amazon.com, which was printed in San Bernadino, USA. I thought the quality was a little bit lower than the ones printed in the UK (also took ages, really, more than 3 weeks before they got here). I then ordered a copy from amazon.de, which was printed in the UK again, and I must say I think the quality is just that little bit better. It also arrived within a couple of days, not weeks.

Quality of the US printed book is not such that I would really complain, but it's just not as good. The cover is slightly shifted, which leaves a narrow black band on the edge. I need to fix that by leaving more trim space, but my cover image was well within the template KDP gives.

Anyway, it was a learning experience, but overall I'm positive about the process and the results.

[Vijaya]

Curiouser and curiouser.

[Kay Inglis]

I produced 9 books on CreateSpace over the years, and watched the platform gradually develop and become much more user friendly - introducing the online cover creator and proof-checker, for example.

My first paperback on KDP was in February last year, and of course the platform included all the improvements that had been introduced on CS.

Basically the process and the book produced by KDP was pretty much the same as CS.

I have just finished another book on KDP and it was very straightforward.

When I first used CS the proof copies all came from the USA, so it was a very long wait to get one delivered to the UK.

Now it is a much better and quicker process.

So that's a thumbs-up for KDP for paperback printing from me.

[Authoress]

My latest book (Sentiments. A perpetual calendar) has just gone live today so I don't have a copy yet but the process was far easier than I thought it would be. 

[Tom Wood]

We studied node theory in B-school. They used the airlines as the example. The airlines have to predict the need for ticket agents, baggage handlers, mechanics & fuelers, tarmac guides, onboard support staff and pilots, along with the constant movement of their airplanes between airports. It broke my brain trying to think about it.

[Bill Hiatt]

The KDP print quality seems as good as Createspace, but it takes longer to receive the books....at least that's my experience.

Also, my books were printed in South Carolina, not KY. 

Interesting Hurricane John. I live in SC.

Sometimes my author copies come from KY, some from Columbia, SC.  I live in Greenville, SC.  My proof came from California....go figure.

In my experience with Createspace, and assuming the same is true with KDP Print, proof copies have priority and will be printed in whatever plant can produce and deliver them the quickest. Sometimes this is a plant on the other side of the country. Amazon most likely uses game theory to determine which plant and which shipping method to use. Next priority is filling customer (not author) orders. These will also come from an Amazon plant and again the algorithms will decide which one. Author copies are dead last in priority and will sometimes be outsourced to other companies, such as Ingram, or companies you never heard of that also supply Ingram. These are the worst, since quality might not be the same, and most importantly, since it's handled outside Amazon's system, tracking the shipment breaks down.

From my limited experience, no, proof copies don't have priority with KDP Print. I found the shipping horrifyingly slow--and the book wasn't printed until the day it was supposed to arrive, so clearly somebody dropped the ball.