[CS] My forum profile was deleted

[Michelle]

So, I thought I'd check in to the CS forum for any replies to some posts I'd offered help on this morning. Only to find my whole forum profile is deleted. All my posts, gone. My name in the "Helpful Members" box, gone.

No email or any explanation or warning from CS.

[Seisa]

Apparently you're not alone. There's another user who managed one post though his phone (where he was still logged in) that he no longer seemed to have an account when he attempted to access it through his laptop. His wife just replied to the thread that his access through his phone is now gone as well, with no notice or explanation from CS, and Customer Support seem to be giving them the runaround, saying they'll pass it to the correct the department, but the users never hear anything more.

Not a good sign for those of us who still have accounts with books there. At least all but one of mine are also on IngramSpark. The other one was my first, with a free CS ISBN, so if it goes south I'll publish a new edition with my own ISBN as IS.

[smk123]

A similar thing happened to me. I can't login to the community anymore and all replies and posts are gone. At least I can see my dashboard and track my sales. I wonder if I should start downloading daily sales reports, just in case, so I have some record of my sales for the month should I get locked out completely.

~SMK123

p.s. I'm going to try my phone now and see if I can access the forum that way

[Phoenix]

I still have full access, not that I really care or need it anymore.

[Michelle]

I can access my dashboard, but if I click the Community link while logged in the site doesn’t load and the URL contains the word “disabled”. So I’m obviously banned. I don’t care: the whole forum will be gone soon enough, but it’s still a surprise after all this time.

[Michelle]

Just spent some time reacquainting myself with the KDP forum -- still as bitchy as ever.

Are KBoards any better?

[Seisa]

Yeah, I've noticed that about the KDP forum too. Horribly snarky and mean. Kboards is definitely more professional, from what I've seen, but also a much more broad range of topics, so I don't usually read very many threads there each day.

[MR B]

My forum profile on CS has not yet been deleted... knock on wood, orders through CS are being processed and delivered in a timely fashion, at least so far.

A harsh reality is that CS is closing, going out of business, disappearing. The big question is "when?" I fully expect to see that they are going to continue to stop supporting pieces of the business--that was actually somewhat apparent even before they announced the change.

KDP does not, in my opinion, have a proven track record in the print business. The odds are good they will get crushed by the additional demands placed on them by the customers being moved from CS--it appears CS has slowed the move, but I think it's too little too late. Be prepared. CS won't be supporting their soon to be former customers and KDP may not have the resources to do so.

Somebody in an Ivory Tower made a really bad decision. SInce ultimately we're talking about a very big company called Amazon, they can afford it. Most of us can't.

[Seisa]

A harsh reality is that CS is closing, going out of business, disappearing. The big question is "when?"

From the CreateSpace Community Homepage announcement:

"Moving books. We've created an easy way for you to move your entire catalog in just a few steps, but it's not available to everyone yet. Over the next few days, we'll enable this option for more authors and send you an email to let you know when it's available for you. Also, in a few weeks, we'll start automatically moving all remaining accounts to KDP. You're welcome to take action when we enable your account, or just sit tight and we'll move your account for you."

So it's imminent, probably to be complete within the next month, I would guess.

[Phoenix]

I have found the KBoards forum to be very informative. They are a helpful bunch as long as you are doing the right thing. If you are a black-hatter trying to dodge Amazon's TOS, well, then the gloves come off. At least we get to find out what we need to avoid and such. For anyone peddling services like editing and cover design, there is ample opportunity to gain custom from the site. You are able to place one post for your services on the main Writer's Cafe page which can be updated once a week, or in response to a reply. You are also able to place an ad for your services in a billboard section.
I could never get into the KDP forum where a few stalwarts seem to rule the roost and tend to crucify the noobs. I also found the new design of their forum to be clunky and difficult to navigate.