Amazon and Self-Publishing

Shelf Awareness had the following interesting blurb about an new Amazon.com initiative:

CreateSpace, which Amazon.com bought in 2005, has launched an online Books on Demand service and will not charge setup fees for those books--and at the same time is ending setup fees for its DVD and CD on demand services. CreateSpace on demand books will be displayed on Amazon as "in stock" and will be shipped within 24 hours. They are eligible for various Amazon programs, including Amazon Prime. Books are printed with full-color paperback covers and text may be printed in black-and-white or color and in multiple trim sizes. Authors may order copies at "competitive wholesale prices."In a statement, Amazon's senior v-p, North American retail, Jeff Wilke said, "The new CreateSpace Books on Demand service removes substantial economic barriers and makes it really easy for authors who want to self-publish their books and distribute them on Amazon.com."

It will be interesting to see what impact this initiative is going to have on the iUniverse, Exlibris, Author House and Lulu's of the self-publishing world. Of course, many self-publishers (and some may say authors generally) have grandiose notions about their sales chances and the direct connection to the biggest on-line book emporium may be a huge attraction. There is of course the virtual certainty that these books won't do any better than if published by Publish American: Will that become a customer service problem for Amazon.com?