ART WORK I SUBMITTED FOR NOVEL
'LOVE HURTS'

                       BACK COVER               SPINE                   FRONT COVER

FRONT COVER OF NOVEL

This is what the FRONT cover of my novel 
'Love Hurts' would look like if Create Space followed the usual format submitted for all of my previous novels.

BACK COVER OF NOVEL

This is what the BACK cover of my novel 
'Love Hurts' would look like if Create Space followed the usual format submitted for all of my previous novels.

THIS IS ARTWORK CREATESPACE APPROVED AND WANTED ME TO SUBSTITUTE ON THE COVER

(AS SEEN ON THEIR DIGITAL PROCESSOR ON-LINE)

The mavericks at Create Space indicate that the distorted colors would improve once they put the cover in PDF format before printing. This illustration is presented by me to show the NEW SIZE art work and layout the mavericks decided my book should have.  It is hideous.  THEY HAVE STRETCHED THE 4"x6" ARTWORK TO 6"x9".  I don't have an actual proof of the book, but since it is a 6"X9" book size, it would seem to be an accurate assumption.

I last spoke to a Customer Service Mgr. on January 7th, who asked me to give him time to work this out.  Today is January 9th, and as yet,  I have not heard from him or anyone in Technical Support.  This has been ten days of harassment for me.  Why?  I don't know.  I don't know why someone in this company seems determined to sabotage my efforts with almost every publication.  They (Amazon and Create Space) appear to be making money as my books are advertised 'on line' everywhere.  I am sorry that I agreed to their expanded distribution program as there isn't any way for me to track how many books have sold and if I am receiving an accurate sales report.  I would think that if their Sales and Marketing departments thought the books weren't saleable, they would not continue to promote them on Amazon.  Remember, it's supposed to be POD (print on demand) system for these novels.  Lots of questions about distributions and sales without any answers.

I am going to upload this complaint as my gut tells me this company doesn't give a damn about my feelings or financial concerns. I do not intend to approve this book cover and the book will not go to print with them.  If need be, I will pull all of my other publications from their participation. Readers of this announcement should realize I no longer wish to deal with an unprofessional, detached workforce hiding behind the soft rhetoric of their up-front telephone reps, who are programmed to 'yes' the client to death.  At this point I haven't a problem saying . . .   'adios createspace'. This author is finished with your arrogant attitude, covertness, and poor excuses for incompetence.

To all readers of this article . . . 

I will keep you posted.  I would also welcome anyone out there who has legal savvy and/or pending complaint against  Createspace with room for another signature.

astdome@aol.com

Thanks. 

Carol Reimer

As I indicated I would do, this is my first update concerning the above problem with Createspace:

I checked my Createspace account the next day out of curiosity and was surprised to see different sized gifs on the front and back cover of my novel - 'Love Hurts' - displayed on their digital format apparatus.  Someone had changed the art work size back to my original submission ( 4"X6" gifs for both  the front and back cover). The only problem remaining was that there was several red lines showing on the art work that didn't belong. I called Customer Support and spoke to Carlos R., who is a  manager in the department  and asked him if he was aware of the 'switch'. He said he was, but had been informed that 'they' . . . (Tech. Support) . . . told him that they didn't know if they could remove the mysterious red lines when they printed the cover. I told Carlos I didn't know why these lines appeared on the art work, and that perhaps someone (at Createspace) had messed up the file beyond it being repairable. I uploaded another file - with a minor alteration that I thought might eliminate the red lines.  Meanwhile, they agreed to print the original cover file to see if the lines disappeared.  If not, they could then print the second file I uploaded as a possible solution.  Carlos suggested I be patient and that he would call me on Thursday, January 14th, to apprise me of the status of the cover.

*** Carlos R. was very supportive of me as a client and my dilemma.  He offered his assistance and acted as a liaison between Tech. Support and myself for which I am thankful.  

Today is January 14th. The time is 6:00 pm as I write this page.  Earlier today, I tried to access my Createspace account (I check for daily sales) and guess what . . . ?  I couldn't get into the account because someone has a problem with my outdated browser.  No warning . . .   no email . . .  I'm just cut off from accessing my account because some mental midget has a problem with browsers all of a sudden.  You can't make this up. (My XP is not compatible with the high speed of the various browsers and this is why I haven't updated).

There are numerous sites on the web who accommodate me and my browser and I am not  penalize and blocked from their sites.  In my case, with regard to Creatspace and Amazon, I'm thinking it's just another one of their quirks and a stall to prevent seasoned clients like myself  from accessing their accounts.  Why?  Maybe Mgmt. has to do some fudge work before sending out our income tax statements (1099s). 

I called and sent a follow-up email to inform Createspace about my situation.  I was promised a phone call from both Carlos and Customer Service - It didn't happen.

So, dear hearts. A word to the wise.  Take a deep breath and decide if it's worth the aggravation to get your novel published by this particular company.  If it's your first publication, you should probably take a chance.  I did.  But eventually, if you're not a 'star', or if they aren't making any money doing your cover design, editing, or formatting your novel, they will try to discourage your from future submissions in subtle ways.  You just have to be aware of the game and if you want to continue to play it.  

As I mentioned the other day, without any warning . . .  or  email . . .  I was abruptly cut off from accessing my account because some mental midget had a problem with browsers all of a sudden.  I finally spoke to Carlos and he was told the matter had been rectified - which wasn't true. As of today, I still cannot access my account on the Createspace web site.  However, they have sent several emails to me requesting that I approve the 'Love Hurts' files while completely ignoring the problem they have caused me. 

THEY'RE GOOD AT THAT!     

Carlos TRIED to rationalize that the browser harassment was to avoid me from experiencing a problem with the revenue reports that can be generated on the site.  Inconsequential as they cannot be accessed or changed by a hacker or curiosity seeker.

BUT . . .   They (Createspace) don't seem too concerned about companies who are offering  my novel as a PDF download . . . (It was never published in an eBook format).

Sophia and the Archons - Google Docs

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