Self Publishing

[Don Atchison]

Hello Family,

For all of you who decided to Self Publish, what company did you decide to go with .....Lulu, Createspace, LightningSource, etc.......and what were your experiences with them..... good and bad? Would you use them again to drop another book>?

Thanks so much.

Don

[K. L. Stewart]

Well, my husband and I are actually trying to start our own self-publishing company. It is called Reimann Books. We decided to go into business for ourselves, because when we started doing our research, it just seemed the sensible thing to do. We're still learning, of course, but we are able to keep most of our profits from the books, and we don't have to give our rights away. All the authors get to keep the right to their own works, which was the biggest issue for me. I plan on publishing many more books in the future, and I hope to help others do the same.

[Theresa M. Moore]

Lulu, definitely. I did use Lightning Source for a while but it is more expensive in terms of production costs, and I would not recommend Createspace because it lacks any support structure. Also, one has to buy a separate proof copy for each book, and you cannot see what the final product looks like until you do.

With Lulu, you can upload your raw files into their conversion engine and see the interior and cover as PDFs before they even go to proof status. You can order multiple proofs all at once and save on shipping. You can revise and edit as many times as needed until you want the product finished. And they have revised their distribution package to make it more efficient. They will use your ISBN or assign theirs; but the choice is still yours. Their primary target is Amazon and if you want global you have to pay extra, but it is less costly than it used to be. While they used to have live support, their email support is still there, and you can find additional support on their forums. Explore their "HELP" modules for more information. Also, they offer cover-to-cover services but if you can do most of the work yourself they are not necessary.

I have also published a book on self-publishing, PRINCIPLES OF SELF-PUBLISHING: How to Publish and Market A BOOK On a Shoestring Budget, where I compare and contrast the three. It is in a revised edition, and is scheduled for a 2nd Revised Edition for publication in January. I plan to use Lulu to publish. For more information about my other books visit my web site:
Antellus.

[Theresa M. Moore]

Hi, see more about this in my reply to Linton Robinson in the "SELF-PUBLISHING" group discussion.

[Blake Schaefer]

Lulu uses Lightning Source for its printing services. I think most self publishing houses do as does my publisher. That is why I am in the stages of starting my own publishing company. Lot cheaper than going through someone else. I've been learning manythings about the publishing world. Good Luck.

Blake (B.E. Schafer)

[Martin T. Ingham]

I went with Lulu for my latest novels, and so far it has been a positive experience. It's nice to have ultimate control over what the books will look like, and have some say in the overall prices.