Here at Vervante, we’re often asked about the differences between our services and those of Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing KDP (formerly CreateSpace). If you only have time to read just this paragraph, then we’ll sum it up quickly:
You need to capture each customer’s email address to grow your subscriber database. Vervante allows you to do this – CreateSpace does not.
We can work with any shopping cart to automatically process your orders, print and ship your book, and give you full access to critical information you need to keep in touch with your customers. AND we’ll list your book on Amazon as another purchasing option.
If you’d like to know more details about the differences between Vervante and KDP, please read on. At first glance we appear very similar, but there are significant differences, as you’ll see here.
Setting Up
Selling your books and products from a site you control, and not sending your buy button links to Amazon, allows you to grow your database of customer information. As business owners, building our email lists should be our #1 Priority because email subscribers are product buyers.
CreateSpace directs customers to Amazon to purchase your book, which makes them customers of Amazon, leaving you in the dark about who is buying your book.
We recommend that all of your marketing and sales efforts direct customers to your site to purchase books and products. You process the transaction, collect the customer data, and build your community. We’ve got super simple systems that work with ANY shopping cart for automatically gathering customer information so that we can print and ship your book.
True Cost
CreateSpace can print and ship books directly to the author’s door, usually at rates cheaper than most. These special prices are only applicable for “member orders” that are placed by you for your own title. However, this leaves you shouldering the responsibility of supplying packaging, processing payments, addressing the packages, and taking them to the Post Office for shipping, steadily chipping away at your bottom line.
Vervante prints your books, then we can either store bulk orders in our warehouses until they are needed, or print or ship books directly to your customer as they are ordered. In short, we handle everything from printing the book to getting it directly into your customers’ hands. You avoid the expense and hassle of processing and shipping your own books.
Amazon as a Secondary Distribution Channel
We want you to sell lots of books and we’ll help you do that, so as a secondary distribution channel to your site, we recommend Amazon Marketplace. We list your books and products on Amazon for you, then we handle orders and shipping. This way you will know who is buying your product because we will receive the orders and shipping addresses and will provide that information to you.
More than Just Books
We offer a variety of other products and services. Your book could lead to more products down the road such as a recipe book, a home study, an audio or video program, a coaching or training program, card decks, etc. We can print and ship your books, CDs/DVDs, binders, card decks, etc. You can also send us complimentary products such as apparel or branded promotional items to include and ship with your book or products. View our product catalog HERE.
Customer Support
Our staff of publishing professionals are happy to help with any questions about publishing. We also offer ISBNs, UPCs, Copyright Registration and LCCN applications. And we have a full library of free expert guides you can access any time online.
It’s All in the Details
Profit and Royalties
We hope this helped create a clearer picture of our services, and inspired you to let us help you create your next book or product. Questions, ideas, comments? We're here for you at [email protected].
If you’re a publishing consultant, book coach, or author mentor, one of the main goals of your business is to help your clients create the best book possible. All too often, though, once your client’s manuscript is ready for publishing, they move on to the next step without you and the relationship ends.
Here at Vervante, however, we give book coaching professionals the ability to offer clients complete idea-to-finished-product services – expanding your impact on their journey as an author, as well as your ability to increase your income as a business.
Complete oversight of publishing process
We offer book coaches the ability to guide their clients through the self-publishing process by overseeing the process of ordering sample copies, approving all print and design decisions, and placing the actual, physical book in their clients' hands.
This is all done using a system set up for book coaches with Vervante that allows oversight of the full publishing process, from uploading files to approving samples and ordering first runs. Once the author is ready to take over, we can make that happen easily too.
Products you can offer through your business
We also offer book coaches the ability to offer products that complement books, such as bookmarks, cards, journals, postcards, spiral workbooks, CDs or DVDs, adult coloring books, card decks, and other creative solutions.
These are perfect for special events, upgrades, book signings, or to offer as special bonuses. You can easily add these options to your services, offering lucrative bonus services and products that authors will love.
Help clients sell books AND grow their business
By using Vervante, your clients have access to their customers contact information. Other publishers, such as CreateSpace, do not offer this. This is not usually on the radar for new authors, but it's a game-changer. Especially for those who are also entrepreneurs, business owners, or want to keep in touch with loyal readers.
Here's why you can't collect customer information when using CreateSpace: When an author sells their book directly on Amazon, the buyer becomes Amazon’s client (not the author’s), leaving the author in the dark about who is buying their book.
Here's how Vervante is different: We encourage authors to sell the book from their own sales page, process the transaction and we'll print and ship the book to the buyer. This scenario provides the author with more profit on the sale PLUS the buyer's contact information and email address.
If the author doesn't want to deal with credit card transactions, we can list the book in our store and the author simply redirects the buy button from their landing page to their book in our store.
The three big differences between our bookstore solution and redirecting to Amazon are:
We don't take 40% of the price of the book like CreateSpace
We share the customer data with the author
We take pre-orders for the book. An author can take pre-orders on their site or in our store and when the book is ready we'll print and ship to the buyers. This isn't possible on Amazon.
You can still sell from Amazon, though, and we recommend it be set up this way:
While we DON'T recommend redirecting buyers from the author's landing page directly to Amazon, we DO suggest using Amazon as a secondary retail distribution channel. Amazon Marketplace is a great option for selling books and products on Amazon. We'll manage all of the details from listing the book on Amazon to managing and shipping orders.
We receive so many questions about using Vervante vs. other publishers like CreateSpace that we've created a special report with more details you can read HERE.
Additional profit potential for book coaches and authors
On-demand printing and complete fulfillment services
While other publishers may offer cheap rates for initial press runs to the author, there are usually hidden costs. These special prices are commonly only applicable for bulk orders placed by authors for their own title. However, this leaves them shouldering the responsibility of storing the books in their home or office, supplying packaging, processing payments, addressing packages, and taking them to the Post Office for shipping, steadily chipping away at their bottom line - and adding time and stress to the process.
Vervante will print and ship books directly to customers. A copy of the order confirmation email generated from the author's shopping cart is all we need to print and ship the book. We can print and ship on demand or we can print bulk orders at further reduced costs, with the option of storing in our warehouse until they are needed. This helps authors avoid the expense and hassle of processing and shipping their own books.
Increased perceived value of book
While some people opt to list books with Baker & Taylor or Ingram, this can result in resellers taking the opportunity to sell your book through their own services, underbidding the set author price, and devaluing the book. Even if your clients are not writing a book for the money, when they try to offer their books at events, as promotions, or to support other products and programs, this causes the book to lose its value in the eyes of consumers.
Retaining control of the book's price is essential to retaining its value. Listing books with a wholesaler like Baker & Taylor releases control and can result in plummeting sale prices and royalties. Whereas selling and distributing through a personal sales page and shopping cart, as well as using Vervante's Amazon Marketplace listing services, retains control of the book - and ensures the continuation of its value.
Have you ever noticed when searching for a book on Amazon that there are a number of resellers offering the book at random prices? This is because the book has been listed with a wholesaler such as Baker & Taylor or Ingram and resellers then sell the book on Amazon at their discretion. The end result is that prices can drastically fluctuate, causing buyer confusion and devaluing the book even more.
Exceptional customer service
We have dedicated publishing professionals who will answer your emails and talk to you on the phone. Something pretty much unheard of in this industry.
Authors retain all rights
Authors retain all rights and creative control of their books and products. And we offer complete services for ISBNs, UPCs, LCCN Assignment and Copyright registration. You even have the option to list yourself or your own company as the publisher of your book.
However, if you use CreateSpace's template builder for your cover, they technically own the artwork for your book. And if you use their ISBN services, they own the ISBN and are listed as the publisher. This means if you decide to use alternative publishing services in the future, you must get a new ISBN and new design for your book.
We'll work with you and your client as a team
You've got experience in publishing. Your client probably doesn't. We'll work with you and your client to get their book published, distributed, listed on Amazon, shipped to speaking events, and whatever other support you need.
Satisfaction guaranteed
We stand behind our products and services, creating the highest quality books and products for our clients supported by the best in customer service. If you are not delighted with your experience with Vervante, we pledge to work with you to make it right - or we will refund your money. Furthermore, all products we publish are guaranteed against defects in quality and design. If any of our products are defective in quality, we will replace or repair that product at no additional charge.
Publishing a book for the first time? We know that the process of creating, printing and selling a book can seem a bit overwhelming at first. That’s why we created this step-by-step guide to help. If you love lists and need a little guidance for publishing your next book, we’ve put together this checklist to help you stay on track for a successful and lucrative publishing experience.
STEP #1: Build Your List
If you’re thinking of writing a book, or have been working on your manuscript, building an audience who will be first in line to buy your book is one of the best things you can do to ensure sales success. Start blogging, send out emails, write newsletters, and start collecting email addresses to build a database list that will become your biggest fans – and buyers! – and help to spread the word when you release your new book.
STEP #2: Choose Your Publisher
There are companies out there who offer “one-button” solutions that make it all look super easy – just send them your manuscript and they print your book and sell it on Amazon for you, easy-peasy. What they don’t tell you is that by handing the book over to Amazon for sales, you are also handing your customers over to them as well.
We appreciate the fact that everyone shops on Amazon, but we offer a way to sell your books on Amazon without denying yourself access to your customers and their valuable contact information (see STEP #1). When you use Vervante, we give you the best of both worlds – your own solution where you sell the book from a site you control, collect customer contact information critical for building your business, and we handle printing and shipping. PLUS we list your book for sale on Amazon as an additional purchasing option. It’s a win-win solution: You have access to your customers’ data AND your book will be available on Amazon. Want more information on how this works? Check out this article: The Difference Between Vervante and CreateSpace.
STEP #3: Finish Your Manuscript
The world needs that special gift you have, so what’s holding you back? Join a writer’s group, sign up for a book-writing challenge, join an author mastermind, assemble all those blog articles, or even hire a coach or ghostwriter if that’s what you need. You can do it!
STEP #4: Edit Content
Your book is your reputation. For best quality, and no embarrassing errors, add a professional copywriter or proofreader to your team. Ask other authors for referrals, survey your trusted connections online, or check with us about copyediting services.
STEP #5: Gather Quotes / Create an Author Account
Once you have an idea of the size, length and style of book you want to publish, reach out to us at [email protected] for a free quote. You can also create a free author account for access to many of our author tools, expert guides, and to upload files, place orders and watch your account activity after you start publishing.
STEP #6: Get An ISBN & LCCN
ISBN’s are required for retail sales. Do it yourself or let us handle it for you by clicking on Purchase ISBN in your Vervante author Dashboard.
LCCN’s make your book eligible for library cataloging. If you want an LCCN, we offer that service as well, you’ll find it under the Services menu on our site.
STEP #7: Format the Interior & Design Your Cover
Professional formatting for your book content (the interior pages) creates a better experience for the reader. Look at some of your favorite books for ideas about everything from page numbering to chapter headings to photos, graphs, and charts.
Attractive cover design invites readers to dig in. It’s best to use a professional designer with book cover experience. Ask your colleagues, reach out on social media, or you can check with us for referrals and ideas. Don’t forget, book cover design includes front, back and the spine.
STEP #8: eBook Conversion
If you have a book – you can have an ebook too! Just think of how many more readers you can reach by offering your book to e-reader audiences who are hungry for new titles to add to their digital library. Be sure to choose a reputable ebook conversion specialist who can provide the services you need. And feel free to reach out to us for recommendations as well.
STEP #9: Upload Files & Order a Copy for Yourself
It’s ready! Upload print-ready text and cover files for your book using the Send Files link on your author Dashboard home page. Once the file shows up in your author account you can place orders from there. If you have something special in mind, such as bulk orders for a special event or book signing, let us know by emailing [email protected].
Once the book appears in your author account, order a copy (or 2) from your author Dashboard page for a final check – and congratulate yourself!
STEP #10: Copyright Registration
Don’t skip this important step to legally protect your book. You can do it yourself, or let our copyright experts handle it to make sure your work is protected. We can set it up for you, just log into your Vervante author account and click on the Copyright registration link on the author Dashboard. Here’s a great article with lots more details about Copyrighting a book.
Set up sales pages and make sure your shopping carts are integrated with our system. Follow the instructions on our Order Processing Page (link at the bottom of our website pages) and Vervante will be automatically notified. From the order confirmation email generated from ANY shopping cart, we’ll print and ship your book to your customer. forsales and shipping.
STEP #12: Retail Sales & eBook Listing
We will handle all of the details of listing your book and eBook on Amazon, processing and shipping orders. We don’t take a percentage of the retail or any processing fees.
If you’re ready to get your book out there and share your brilliance with the world, we’re here for you. Be sure to sign up for our Vervescence newsletter and you’ll receive valuable special offers, priceless tips from the pros, and all the support you need for creating and publishing book and products that will truly help your business grow. And if you have any questions, we’re always here to help. You can email us at [email protected] or schedule a live phone call with one of our publishing experts at https://vervante.youcanbook.me/.
If you’re a publishing consultant, book coach, or author mentor, one of the main goals of your business is to help your clients create the best book possible. All too often, though, once your client’s manuscript is ready for publishing, they move on to the next step without you and the relationship ends.
Publishing a book for the first time? We know that the process of creating, printing and selling a book can seem a bit overwhelming at first. That’s why we created this step-by-step guide to help. If you love lists and need a little guidance for publishing your next book, we’ve put together this checklist to help you stay on track for a successful and lucrative publishing experience.