On July 9, 2018 (yesterday), Amazon announced that Expanded Distribution is now available via KDP Print.

The announcement was made via the KDP Community website:

“Expanded Distribution now available on KDP”:
https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/Expanded-Distribution-now-available-on-KDP?language=en

Learn more about the reason why I no longer recommend Createspace to my students and clients:

“Createspace vs. KDP Print – it’s time to make the switch”:
https://ericvanderhope.com/createspace-vs-kdp-print-its-time-to-make-the-switch-2/

I’m sharing this since this was one of the last benefits that KDP Print didn’t have compared to what Createspace has been offering for more than a decade. However, even though Expanded Distribution is now an option with KDP Print, I still recommend using Ingram Spark (or Lightning Source) for “Expanded Distribution” since it’ll be much more favorable and beneficial long-term.

It’s practically impossible to get into physical bookstores using Expanded Distribution (via Createspace or KDP Print). Why? They don’t offer standard book industry discount (anywhere between 40% – 55%), nor do they allow for book returns. These 2 criteria alone make it difficult for store owners to see the benefit to them if they purchase the book.

It’s important to note that store owners also look for one other requirement: demand. If nobody is requesting the book, they are less likely to buy it. So it’s the author’s responsibility to create demand for their book. How? The author needs to be consistent with their marketing, advertisement, promotion and continue building their platform. This will in turn create demand for their book, but ultimately create demand for them.

More info on this can be found in previous articles of mine:

“Createspace vs. KDP Print – it’s time to make the switch”:
https://ericvanderhope.com/createspace-vs-kdp-print-its-time-to-make-the-switch-2/

and

The Most Effective Method to Self-Publish while Getting the Best Distribution
https://ericvanderhope.com/the-most-effective-method-to-self-publish-while-getting-the-best-distribution/ (the article refers to using Createspace, but substitute that now with KDP Print)

So what do you plan on doing …? Feel free to share in the comments below.

If you have questions , please share in the comment section below.

I’ve also decided to create a Facebook group so that folks have somewhere to go when they need answers to their questions.

The name of the Facebook Group is: “Publishing Made Simple“

https://www.facebook.com/groups/publishingmadesimple/

…and if you see value in this article, make sure to share it with your network of friends.