CreateSpace Improves the Proofing Process for Authors Yet Again

I received notification today via my Member Dashboard that my latest book files I submitted for publishing were ready for review. For those not familiar with using CreateSpace, the proofing process is basically the last step before you launch your book into the world as a newly minted, published book.

Since I started using CreateSpace for my print-on-demand service years ago, the company has continually upgraded the tools it makes available for its authors. 

I really like the latest upgrade. You can now view a digital version of your book on line to examine the finished product and determine if it is ready for publishing. CreateSpace still strongly urges each author to wait until after viewing a physical proof copy before publishing, but the digital copy gives you a huge head start on the review process before your physical copy arrives. Glaring errors can be found sooner rather than later.

The image below shows the option to use the digital review process. You can select the Digital Proofer or download a PDF version of your book. I suggest you do both. The Digital Proofer is neat to view the finished product with, but you'll want to use the PDF to actually look for the fine details and read for typo's another mistakes. CreateSpace suggests you review the PDF a total of three times, each time looking for different items in the final proof.

This next image shows the cover of the book. You are shown the view of the entire cover as it would be printed before it is bound to the book. The proofer has measurements so you can determine if the cover artwork fits the dimensions as you planned.

The next feature is pretty neat. You flip the pages like you would thumbing through the the actual paperback copy. Here are two interior pages of my latest book.

The final page of the book in this edition is used for promoting one of my earlier books. Note the pages are laid out as you would actually see them in the physical copy of the book. To view this final page, I had to turn the previous page.

I have to hand it to CreateSpace. This is a neat upgrade. I still ordered my physical proof copies as I still want to check the book the old fashioned way by hand and actually giving in a good eyeballing, but you have the option of using only the digital proofing method. If you are in a real hurry to get your book listed on Amazon and are highly confident the book is ready to go, you can select that option.

Now, if CreateSpace can create this neat digital version for free, why can't my print-on-demand book edition be automatically released as a Kindle version as well? Hopefully the good folks at CreateSpace think this way and in the not too distant future both POD and Kindle versions will be released at the same time by CreateSpace.