When I opened my Member Dashboard at CreateSpace today, I saw a note in yellow at the top of the page telling me that the Expanded Distribution channel is now free.
I called CreateSpace to speak with a representative, who confirmed that it is now free.
So if you had been thinking about trying it out, but didn’t want to invest $25, now you can test it out for free. The advantages and disadvantages remain the same. What’s changed is that you don’t have to invest in this distribution channel.
If you recently added the expanded distribution, you might be a little bummed. I inquired about this.
Any expanded distribution purchases made since September 24, 2013 (if I was informed correctly) will be automatically refunded.
Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)
chrismcmullen 
Thank you for letting us know, Chris! 🙂
I found out by accident. 🙂
But you shared it with us on purpose! 😉
Very cool. Though, now I wonder what it does.
Probably, encourages more authors to use this channel for their paperbacks and makes other authors less anxious about recovering their investments. 🙂
I can see the appeal to them. I like how libraries are on the list.
I’ll have to check that out.
The price is right. 🙂
I signed up. Let’s see how it goes.
I think it really helps out paperbacks more than eversions.
Definitely. 🙂
I’ll have to check that out.
It’s worth exploring. 🙂 The main drawback is if adding this channel would require a significant raise in list price.
Thanks for that Chris. Yes, I was surprised to find I had to put my price up but I’ll see how one goes.
The good thing is that you can always cancel it (though it takes a while for this channel to get going, and a couple of months for those royalties to report, so it’s not easy to see what effect it’s having right away—but you can see if the higher price is having an adverse on your Amazon sales). Good luck with it. 🙂