I spent the last few days reacquainting myself with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.
I used Amazon’s CreateSpace platform in 2014 and 2016 to self-publish my first books, and loved the process. CreateSpace was merged into the KDP platform in 2018, and I was pleasently surprised at the improvements of this self-publishing platform, compared with 2014/2016.
It’s now possible to publish hardcover books as well as softcover books on KDP, and printing costs per page appear to be cheaper now than ten years ago, if I remember correctly. I especially love the manuscript templates, which were already available ten years ago on CreateSpace, and which make the publishing process on KDP a breeze.
I did check out other (self-)publishing platforms in the US as well, but most of them don’t allow authors or publishers to publish public domain content, e.g., PublishDrive. IngramSpark is the only other platform I found which would be an option for me, as this platform also allows the publication of creative content that’s in the public domain. (I intend to publish 19th century literature for which the copyright has expired.)
I did try to set up an account with IngramSpark a few years ago, but was unable to complete the set-up process. IngramSpark requires that you provide them with a phone number, and the online-form was set up only for U.S. phone numbers: a 3-digit area code, plus seven digits for the phone number. It wasn’t possible to enter international phone numbers with country codes into the online-form.
These days, it’s possible for international customers to purchase virtual U.S. phone numbers, and I might just do that. The monthly fees for such accounts aren’t very high, and it would be useful to publish my books not just on KDP, but also on IngramSpark. With a virtual U.S. phone number, I could set up an account on the IngramSpark platform.
So, I’m exploring my options while typing like a maniac, and educating myself about copyright issues, especially in regard to public domain creative content.