BIG NEWS! KDP (Amazon’s eBook and printing distributor) have announced printing will commence in Australia from May 19, 2021.

Anyone unfamiliar with the process has dodged a bullet, to say the least. The system in the USA has caused me nothing but headaches, so this is something to celebrate. It all started back around 2018 when the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison (ScoMo as he is known down under), insisted on taxation changes for importing products and big businesses internationally, specifically targeting Amazon US. The resulting fallout meant that any products being shipped to Australia from Amazon US had to be ‘stored or stocked’ on-site in Australia, thus significantly limiting Amazon accesses to those of us residing on this island nation (I’m happy to take comments from anyone more ‘in the know’ because this is my very basic understanding of the issue). Amazon then launched its own Amazon.au site, which is limited in many, many ways.

The biggest impact that people didn’t see behind the scenes, and that I certainly didn’t see until I decided I wanted to write, publish and print a book *facepalm* was what this meant for printing and shipping, for independent authors to Australia. According to historical blog posts, I found that Australian authors were previously able to make use of KDP and its printing opportunities, including cheaper proof copies and author copies for resale. I found that this new change made it even more difficult to get products from the Amazon.us site shipped here, thus restricting access.

What I have had to do previously to get a printed copy of my work here in Oz included; uploading the book via KDP, register via Australia Post for a US Warehouse shipping address and either paying to have it re-routed for delivery via an Australia Post mail handler (at a minimum cost of $56.00). Or wait weeks for KDP to allow me to purchase it myself because KDP continued to tell me that it couldn’t ship to Australia directly (due to the taxation spat the Australian Government had with Amazon in 2018.)

Now, if you’ve made it this far (thanks for sticking with me), not only is this printing an excellent opportunity for jobs and labour forces in Australia, it offers access for local authors to have their proofs printed and shipped closer to the cost our American counterparts pay. I’ll admit, I am guessing here as postage costs haven’t been announced yet, but if I don’t have to pay $50 in shipping to get one $8.00 print from the USA, it will be worth it.

I would usually purchase multiple copies at a time to ensure I was making the most for what I was paying, however, when you haven’t laid eyes on the final printed product before shelling out for multiple copies, it is somewhat nerve-wracking. I was fortunate that my formatting and uploads were successful, and the product that arrived looked great! It would be far less anxiety-inducing, however if I could pay $20 (instead of $70) to have the same book sent to me to proof it before people start purchasing copies.

This also means that readers in Australia can purchase a paperback copy of the book for closer to the printing and shipping cost rather than the blown-out costs that are incurred shipping from the USA.

Good news for writers, self published authors and readers alike!

One quick note for my author friends in Australia - take note of the fine print on the Amazon T&Cs:

Note: Currently, only books that have chosen to print with white paper are eligible for proof and author copies. We’re working to make cream paper available to Amazon.com.au soon.

I excitedly logged in on the 19th to order my author copies and couldn’t find the option in the list. I realised my books are listed to print on cream paper. The Amazon website states that you can’t change the paper type if the book is ‘published’. I checked the details for unpublishing and republishing and couldn’t seen any issues so I tried that.

Sadly, even when you select ‘unpublish’ Amazon do not ‘unlock’ the printing options to change the paper type. My guess is that you will need to completely delete the book from sale or unpublish and recreate the file online to change the paper type. Delving further, I found this note: The paperback attributes listed below will be locked after publication because of ISBN requirements. They can't be updated unless you unpublish and republish your paperback as a new book (requiring a new ISBN).

So my friends, at this time any authors who wish to print proof or author copies in Australia, I hope you had selected white paper when you originally submitted your book, otherwise I suspect you are in my boat and will be waiting until Amazon make cream paper prints an option in Australia.

x Anna