This is a three cookie day. It’s a chocolate day. I’m trying to remain calm. But when I saw that email in my inbox this morning, I knew it had happened. Createspace was closing. Most of us in the Indie/Self-Publishing community knew it was going to happen. But the timing is not the best. I had just pushed the button to self-publish the print edition of The Lost Secret of Time last night. I’d received my proof, and everything looked good. Everything seemed set, right?

But I forgot Murphy’s Law. I look over the emails and start to follow the instructions for the merge of my books from Createspace to KDP Print. I figure it will be easier than having it automatically moved over later by the Zon. But no. Even that doesn’t go well. In fact, it’s been horrific. Even though I’ve read on a couple writing boards and blogs that some people have had a seamless move, mine has had a series of bumps and rolls that have pretty much brought my new release to a stop.

I’M TRYING TO REMAIN CALM!

**It’s important to take deep breaths in self-publishing.*

Basically when I transferred my books, it only showed my print books from Createspace. It didn’t join them as one account with my ebooks. So, I had to log out and try again. This time I logged in and went into my ebooks. After awhile, I realized I had wisely different passwords for my KDP account and my Createspace account. So, it looked like the merge created two accounts, each one tied to the password. Now, that makes sense, but really isn’t going to be seamless for others. I’m not sure if that is the thing going on, but I can’t see my ebooks and print books at the same time. It is VERY WEIRD!

Also, my Createspace covers are disappearing off of the print books. When it first moved over, there was one missing. Later when I checked there were two missing. Now when I checked there are 5 covers missing. At first I thought it was the website just not loading the thumbnail, but I checked with other authors on the Createspace Merge thread on Kboards.com, and they mentioned that KDP Print MIGHT have different specs than Createspace.

So, maybe I jumped the gun and trusted Amazon too much to have this merge go right. Maybe I should have checked out that the covers would match or gone over everything with a fine tooth comb before hitting the merge button. But no. I trusted Amazon and KDP. I went back to try to get into my Createspace account to see what I could do, and all the books were gone, moved already, and supposedly on KDP Print.

So somewhere in the ether of the internet, five covers have been lost, and I can’t get into any of the details of my books. I am locked out. I have emailed support twice already and all I hear is crickets. So, maybe I should have known better. I knew Murphy would do something with my book launch. Or I should look at the glass half full. My books ended up somewhere.

Yes, I’m sure it will eventually all get sorted out. But there is a lesson maybe in all of this. Self-publishing has never been easy, and things will come up that throw you for a loop. You just have to keep going. Hope that customer support will slog through your request with the onslaught of other authors moving at this time.

I just need another cookie. And some more chocolate.

***Tiffany Turner has been a self-published author for 10 years. Her fourth children’s book, The Lost Secret of Time, will be releasing on September 10 both in ebook and print (I’m still keeping the faith).