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.

With the inevitable merge of Createspace/KDP Print more and more likely, Amazon’s KDP has recently posted another update to their website related to the KDP Print platform.

I have this Love/Hate Relationship with Amazon and I think all of us experience this type of sentiment all the time with Amazon!

So if you aren’t that curious as to why I’ve mentioned this little tid-bit, you are welcome to scroll on down to the end, almost the last “entry” in this post (surrounded by *** and in bold) for the most recent update to Amazon’s KDP Print Platform …

Otherwise, stick with me, I think you’ll get a laugh and/or perhaps you’ll feel the same pain I endured! LOL

For years Amazon has offered two separate distribution platforms for books.

1. Kindle Books: writers, authors and publishers could publish their eBooks (Kindle book) via the KDP platform and sell their eBooks via Amazon’s Kindle store.
2. Softcover books: writers, authors and publishers could publish (print) their books (hardcover was an option for authors but Amazon didn’t offer distribution) via the Createspace platform (and before that Booksurge before they merged with Createspace) then distribute, sell and fulfill their books from the largest online bookstore in the world: Amazon.

The past couple years Amazon has been beta testing a program called KDP Print (as early as July 28, 2016). It’s a platform that combines both the KDP eBook platform and print books (POD) in one convenient place.

Publish Your Paperback on KDP (Beta)
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202059560

Obviously, there’s been lots of “hooting and hollering” from many authors, indie-publishers as well as long-time industry professionals within the publishing space.

If you have plans to get your book in as many distribution channels as possible, you need to publish (print) from the sources that give you direct access to the major distribution channels. What are the major ones? Amazon and Ingram (and to a lesser extent but just as important Baker & Taylor).

This begins with purchasing your own ISBNs. Do not buy your ISBNs from third-party sellers, but directly from Bowker (MyIdentifiers): https://www.myidentifiers.com/get-your-isbn-now.

If you have plans to publish more than 1 book and in multiple formats, it’s best to buy ISBNs in bulk, at least a bundle of 10 or 100. By doing that you’ll end up spending less per ISBN.

During the purchase of your ISBNs, DO NOT purchase barcodes or copyright.

Why?

When given the option to buy, they become “upsells”. Why buy something when you can get it for free?

Additional reasons for not buying a barcode:

1. Barcodes can be created for free from online applications (eg. https://www.bookow.com).
2. Bookcover designers can create barcodes at no additional cost to you.
3. Many POD (Print on Demand) platforms will now automatically add barcodes to bookcovers during the printing process. Some give you choice to have List Price of your book encoded into the barcode.

You are better off registering your copyright directly from: https://www.copyright.gov.