Introduction
Posted on April 14, 2007
Filed Under Self-Publishing with Lulu |
The independent publishing industry has seen a phenomenal growth over the past several years, thanks to companies like Lulu.com. Every year, more and more authors are choosing to self-publish for a variety of reasons. Many of them have gotten frustrated with traditional publishing. Others would like to have total control of the publishing process as well as the profits.
You have your own reasons for wanting to self-publish. Or, perhaps you’re just thinking about this option and want to do some research before you decide which route you want to take. That’s a smart move, considering all of the Print-on-Demand (POD) companies who overcharge you for an inferior book. After ordering several books from various POD companies, I felt both cheated out of my money and grateful that I hadn’t shelled out any more to publish my novel through them.
A couple of years ago, I began hearing the buzz about Lulu and its “do-it-yourself publishing†concept. I didn’t rush over to the site to sign up for an account, despite the fact that I could publish my book virtually for free. Instead, I lurked in writer’s forums and read what people had to say about this company for quite a while. Most of them had very positive experiences.
I’m happy to say that I have as well, although not without many hours of practice and some frustration. I have a background in design and desktop publishing, but I had never designed a book before. Most of the work involved formatting the text correctly to give it a professional appearance. I had a design in mind for the cover, which made the process of creating it much shorter than formatting the book’s interior. Once I figured out how to design the book’s interior so it would print correctly, I was able to produce a book that was indistinguishable from a trade paperback.
The purpose of Self-Publishing with Lulu is to guide you through the publishing process, from formatting and cover design, using the most popular software such as Word and InDesign, up to using the Lulu interface. It is my goal to help you design a book that will attract readers’ attention long enough to read the synopsis on the back cover.
Comments
2 Responses to “Introduction”
Leave a Reply
I can see this is going to be a very interesting read, Deborah.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with the rest of us. I will be reading on with interest.
I look forward to hearing your input, Karen.