| Do you have a book you would like to publish, but | | | | also has a tendency to lose formatting |
| you can't find an agent? Would you publish it | | | | information. When I put text on the back cover, |
| yourself, but you are afraid of being out hundreds | | | | choosing different font sizes for different |
| of dollars and having your garage full of boxes of | | | | paragraphs, the cover wizard would frequently |
| books? In theory, print-on-demand publishing may | | | | lose this formatting when I navigated off the |
| be just what you have been waiting for. You can | | | | page to take a look at the layout. I repeatedly |
| buy as few or as many copies as you wish, and | | | | had to reformat. |
| although the cost per copy is not as low as for | | | | Also, when typing text on the cover, it is difficult |
| large print runs, it is not outlandish. | | | | to see what you have typed without magnifying |
| To see whether the technology is ready yet, I | | | | the cover size, but the magnification goes away |
| published a book at These are my experiences. | | | | as soon as you type any more characters -- |
| I already had the contents for a book when I | | | | terribly annoying. |
| started. I've been publishing an e-zine for over | | | | Information on how to sell the book through Lulu |
| four years on how to be witty, so I just used the | | | | and other sales venues is not perfectly clear. I |
| articles for the contents. | | | | have a suspicion that some vestigial descriptions |
| I was able to format the articles into a book in | | | | are still online of options that are no longer in use. |
| about one day's work. It actually took me a | | | | The real thing to worry about is that it is too |
| week, because I was creating screen capture | | | | easy to put the book up for sale at Amazon and |
| videos of the process to produce a CD to show | | | | bookstores. There are two problems with it being |
| my friends how to do it. | | | | so easy. The first is that if you just |
| After the one day's worth of work, it took me a | | | | spontaneously do it, you lose the chance to have |
| week to receive my copy -- I only had to buy | | | | a product launch. A great deal of the sales of a |
| one copy. Unlike with traditional printers, I am not | | | | book come from the product launch. In particular, |
| out hundreds of dollars, and I don't have my | | | | reviewers want to get early copies so that they |
| condo filled with cartons of books. The single copy | | | | are only reviewing books that are coming out |
| of the 108 page 6 x 9" book cost me $6.66 to | | | | soon, not books that have been out for a year. |
| print. If I include shipping, it cost $10.65 overall. | | | | Second, you're tempted to just get an ISBN from |
| The book is nicely bound and has a pleasant | | | | Lulu. Unfortunately ISBNs include within them the |
| cover design that I neither had to pay a designer | | | | identifying number of the publisher. If you wish to |
| for nor create myself. | | | | move your book to another printer, you won't be |
| Lulu offers a choice among many book formats. | | | | would take the number with you. Anybody who |
| My choice of 6 x 9 was arbitrary. Lulu also offers | | | | finds a copy of your book will go to Lulu, if they |
| a wide choice of attractive covers. | | | | want to buy more of them. There is a lot to |
| I used OpenOffice Writer along with Lulu's page of | | | | know about publishing. Read Dan Poynter's |
| suggestions to format the book. They offer a | | | | Self-Publishing Manual before you put your book |
| template, but strangely, their advice on how to | | | | up for sale -- except perhaps by direct access. |
| lay out the book is not reflected in the paragraph | | | | Nonetheless, my overall experience with Lulu has |
| styles in the template file. | | | | thus far been positive. There are a great many |
| I do, of course, have some complaints. | | | | people who want to get a book out and are |
| When the book arrived it did not have the title | | | | stymied by their inability to find an agent and |
| and author printed on the spine. I found no | | | | interest a major publisher. They are stymied by |
| documentation on the number of pages required | | | | the thought of having to spend hundreds of |
| for the title to appear. I have since then | | | | dollars and ending up with a garage full of boxes |
| reformatted the book and added a little material. | | | | of books if they self-publish. Lulu lets you get a |
| When I uploaded 120 pages, I did get the title and | | | | high-quality book in whatever numbers you need |
| author on the spine. Somewhere 108 and 120 | | | | quickly and cheaply. Most people will find Lulu and |
| pages is the boundary. It would be nice to have | | | | the other print-on-demand publishers to be just |
| been told where it is. | | | | what they need. |
| The cover wizard takes a long time to load. It | | | | |