Thanks to Andrew Bell for suggesting this post idea!
Years ago, becoming a published author was a really big deal; one had to write up a book proposal, find an agent, shop the book around to various publishing houses and hope that one of them would sign on to publish the book. In the traditional publishing model, the author also relinquishes a good deal of control over the manuscript, may be expected to do most of his/her own marketing and may receive a royalty in the range of 5-10% of the cover price for each book sold (this information is based on anecdotal evidence from people I know who have worked with traditional publishers). I hate to look at the glass half empty, but to me, earning $1-$2 per copy of a $20 book is a tough way to make a living.
Recently, the self-publishing industry has really been revolutionized by the advent of high-quality Print on demand (POD) services. POD, previously derided as one cut above a photocopied manuscript, is now in widespread use. As its name suggests, POD books are printed one at a time when someone orders a copy; thus there’s no inventory, no waste, no storage issues, etc. Many traditional publishers, especially academic publishers, are now using POD to keep their backlist of books “in print” pretty much indefinitely. POD books have also come a long way in terms of quality and appearance; I’ve even had people comment that the paper and printing in my book look superior to what some traditional publishers produce. POD also offers authors the option to update their manuscripts at any time and start distributing the new edition immediately since there is no backlog of books that have to be sold or destroyed.
I used the POD service Lulu to publish my book
How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator in 2006, and I’ve been thrilled with the process (I don’t have any affiliate deal with Lulu, I just love them). The book has since sold over 2,800 copies and has risen to #59 on Lulu’s all-time bestseller list. I estimate that I’ve made about $15,000 in book royalties; all of this isn’t to brag, but to say that if I can do it, you can do it! POD royalties vary, but seem to fall in the range of 25-50% of the cover price depending on how expensive the book is.
I really wonder why more translators don’t self-publish using POD services. Translators love to write and translators consume a lot of information. Why aren’t people publishing subject-specific glossaries, or manuals to all of the software applications that we battle with on a daily basis, or their own literary translations (after securing copyright permission of course)?
Self-publishing on Lulu is easy, and getting easier all the time. You can have your book for sale only through Lulu (you can then order whatever quantities of the book you want and sell it yourself, or people can buy it off the Lulu website) or you can purchase an ISBN and have the book for sale through major retail outlets (Amazon, Barnes&Noble, by special order from bookstores, etc.). If your book is for sale only through Lulu, you pay nothing up front and Lulu takes a commission on each book that you sell; their “Published by You” service which includes an ISBN costs $99.95. You can also make an e-book or an audio CD of your book and Lulu will sell that too. In addition, Lulu offers a wide array of service levels, from DIY (the option I selected) to their “publishing packs” ($369-$1,369) which get you phone and e-mail support, a cover design, editorial support, formatting services, etc. In addition, you set the price of your book, so you determine how much royalty you earn off each copy. And unless you specifically want to handle the distribution and sales yourself, Lulu does it for you, then deposits the revenue in your PayPal account.
Basically, Lulu will publish anything that you can upload as a PDF or Word document; then you can pick whether you want your book to be hardcover, paperback, spiral bound, etc. If you want your book to be distributed through major retail channels, it must meet certain requirements (these are imposed by wholesale book distributors, not by Lulu). Lulu offers templates to help you meet these requirements, so in theory you could just write your book in Word or OpenOffice, upload it, and Lulu will create a suitable PDF of it. For my book, my husband served as the editor and designer, so he did the layout using a free program called LyX, which I think produces a book that looks much more professional (much more “like a traditional book”) than one that is generated from a Word or OpenOffice document.
If you’re interested in self-publishing on Lulu, the easiest first step is to browse their Publish section and check out the options. Then you can decide what you feel comfortable handling yourself and what you need to hire someone to do for you. I think that a nice cover design goes a long way toward making your book look professional; for my book, we were able to find an image from an illuminated manuscript that showed a Medieval translator and that happened to be in the public domain. Before you use a piece of artwork for your cover, make sure that you are in compliance with fair use and copyright law; some online stock art sites specifically require you to purchase an extended license if you want to use an image for a POD product.
Now, all that is left is to write your book! Feel free to post your book ideas in the comments, I would love to see what other people have in mind.
Thank you very much for the review. Its good to know that POD services are getting better.
I wrote some years ago a book about the relationship between the camera obscura and sundials. Its target audience is so reduced that POD is the best publishing solution. I’ll give Lulu a chance.
Thank you very much for your post. I will look into it. I am a literary translator and I always thought about publishing my own book. Your information is very valuable.
Ana
Corinne,
This is an inspiration! Lately, I’ve been thinking of dusting off my book about our experiences living in France, editing the last few chapters and trying to publish it. This is might be the way to go. And your description is very concise and helpful. Thank you!
All good wishes!!
Excellent, thorough post – thanks for your advice! I’ve been recommending LuLu ever since attending your presentation at the BWA Expo. Now I’ll recommend this post for others to read to get all the details. Congratulations on the success of your book, and thank you for sharing your process with us!
I published my book by POD this year. I used iUniverse. Everything you wrote was true for me also. My writing group did the editing, I took the photograph for the cover, I asked two other people to read the book, I chose the types and fonts and style.
I participated on every level. There was communication back and forth within one or two days.
They were close to perfect on their time schedule.
I will add this–each time I corrected or changed something, I downloaded the entire book and checked every last spelling and spacing for possible errors.
At the time I felt as though I was doing too much of the work.
However, I was very pleased with the result and I enjoy doing readings and then selling my book SPIRIT LIFE.
This is interesting, Corrine. I didn’t know that LuLu offers audio as well. Right now I am back with POD company Lightning Source. I was with them originally, went with a
publisher called Morgan James and then took my book back and am back with Lightning Source. Needless to say, ti;s been quite a journey.
I remember when your book came out and I am thrilled you’ve done so well with it!
I have 2 books in ebook form on my website and when I am ready to get them into book form I”ll look more into LuLu, based on your suggestions! My 3 books are available as audio downloads from my website but I would love to have them available through the POD distribution.
It’s amazing to follow the journey that the publishing industry is going through!
Wishing you CONTINUED success!
Cindy Morris, msw
Priestess Entrepreneur
http://www.SuccessPriestess.blogspot.com
Thanks to everyone for your comments, it’s fun to read about everyone else’s self-publishing ideas! Also, let me know if you have any other specific questions about publishing with Lulu; it’s a lot to cover in one post, so if you have a certain issue you’re wondering about, let me know and I will include it in a future post.
As you know, you have already inspired us, and we are going with Lulu once the book is complete (which it should be in the next few months or so). I can already see myself agonizing over the cover, but we will figure something out. Who knows, maybe in the future we can offer our books as a little package? 🙂 2,800 copies? My hat is off to you. Thanks for posting all the details.
Great post! I published with LULU the second year that I formed my publishing company, and I loved them, but carrying inventory and dealing with Amazon’s Advantage program was just too difficult. Now I self-publish with CreateSpace (an Amazon affiliate) and I own all of my ISBN numbers, which I purchased directly from Bowker.
I made enough self-publishing this year that I quit my day job and now I’m just writing full time. But LULU is still a great place to start. I just don’t think the sales are really there. Amazon is the place to be, so you might as well start there from the very beginning.
Thank you Christy! I didn’t know about CreateSpace. Sounds interesting and more profitable.
@Christy, I agree that the majority of my sales do not come directly from Lulu’s website. However, my book is definitely *for sale* on Amazon, B&N online, Ebay, etc through the Lulu distribution program (and Lulu now lets you own your own ISBN too). I would be interested to know what CreateSpace’s royalty structure is: for example the cover price of my book is $19.95; when it sells directly off Lulu’s website I make $10 per copy, $4.95 per copy when it sells off Amazon/B&N/Ebay and I can purchase copies for my own use for $5-$7 each depending on what promotions Lulu is running at that time. Is CreateSpace about the same?
Thanks for your informative post, Corinne! It will be a great resource for writing clients of mine exploring ways to self-publish.
I’m considering going through LuLu right now and was glad to read your opinions on it! TY 🙂
Hey there. Thanks a lot for this. I found it very useful and encouraging.
Your site is always full of generous ideas. I like it. Went to see your book on Lulu: you got to update the number of copies sold. Thanks for the grit!
Thanks for the info on Lulu. I am planning to publish with them soon and I’ve been abit confused if I could trust them.
Wishing you success
I’m sorry to “rain on your parade,” but if you are using Lulu, you are NOT self-publishing.
Just as no one else can eat lunch for you, take a bath for you, or go to school for you, no one else can self-publish for you.
By definition, only _you_ can self-publish you.
Lulu (a vanity press), is your publisher and you are a customer.
If you are not a publisher, you are not self-publishing.
I wish you well, but be aware that Lulu has published some really terrible books and has high prices for both marketing services and book printing.
Lulu is fundamentally deceptive.
Lulu says it is “the only publisher that offers you all that it does for free.” The company has run online ads touting “Publish Your Book — Free,” “Free publishing” and “Free Self Publishing.” Their website promises, “free book publishing,” but their publishing is free _only_ if you don’t want any books to be published!
The price of a Lulu book is often higher than it would be from other services, so to make an adequate profit you’ll probably set a higher retail price than you otherwise would, and this may cost you some sales unless your book is unique and important.
Keep in mind that, unless you choose one of their more expensive publishing plans, Lulu will be the only online seller. People can buy your book if you direct them to Lulu.com, but it’s less likely that people will find the book through normal online searches. It ain’t Amazon.
As a test, I published an eBook with Lulu, and it disappeared from Lulu’s bookselling section and reappeared and disappeared for no apparent reason; and the search facility is defective.
Lulu founder Bob Young said, “We publish a huge number of really bad books.” If he knows they’re bad, why the heck did he go ahead and publish them?
Young even misspelled “misspelled.”
Maybe you should consider _real_ self-publishing. You can get a better book, publish faster, have more control, make more money, and maybe even have more fun.
Michael N. Marcus
author of “Become a Real Self-Publisher,” due next month
http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
http://Real-Self-Publisher.blogspot.com
http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com
Excellent post. I am considering publishing a tune book with my accordion compositions and will definitely use Lulu.
I saw this is an old post, but as far as I know, audio CD publishing is no longer supported (at least not in Italy).
Congratulations for your book, it has been really useful to me for my job as translator. I should pay you royalties, because I sometimes use your payment reminders templates!