Publish Your Books Online - For Free
Thursday, January 10, 2008
There is a great little site called Lulu that offers free self-publishing to everyone who signs up. It's similar to Cafepress in that you make your own products on the site and sell them through your online store on Lulu. The difference is that Lulu only deals with books - whether it be novels, text books, art books - even calenders.
When you sell on Lulu it's up to you to get the sales for your books. They don't distribute the books to major stores, they just print them and ship them out when a book is ordered off the site. This service is free to everyone, they just take a percentage of the book's cover price to cover the costs of shipping and printing.
If you want to make money selling your books on Lulu you should probably have a blog or another way to get your name out there. By setting up a blog people can sample your writing and it will give you a platform to promote your book.
If you really want to get your word out there you can take advantage of their marketing services, which includes press release services, advertising, and public relations, but keep in mind that their marketing services cost money and there are many free ways to advertise online.
If you are very serious about your writing and plan on making it your full time job, you should look into traditional publishing before you set up an account on Lulu. However if you want a hassle-free way of getting your word out there without the costs of traditional publishing, Lulu is probably the way to go.
Posted by Crystal 12:22 PM
9 comments:
- At January 12, 2008 1:13 PM John Cow said...
-
Interesting, now all we have to do is write a book..
- At January 15, 2008 10:45 PM The University Kid said...
-
I've stumbled across Lulu before, but sadly I don't have anything worth going into print as a novel yet...
A goal for the future, perhaps? :) - At January 23, 2008 12:33 PM Roland Hulme said...
-
I've had very good experiences with Lulu - I actually published two author's books for sale using Lulu and made enough to cover the expense (and could buy a stick of gum with the profits.)
But it's a really great service. What it WON'T do is promote your book - or edit/proof read it.
Do your potential readers a favour and polish the book as much as possible before you release it.
I've got a review of my experiences here if you're interested:
http://rolandhulme.blogspot.com/2006/09/eddy-on-demand.html - At January 23, 2008 10:51 PM Maximillian Gunther said...
-
Nice info. I'm gonna give it a try.
- At January 23, 2008 11:02 PM Gunady said...
-
The interesting part is that we can make only a book for this. But the expense is quite a lot.
- At February 7, 2008 10:49 AM chaosgone said...
-
What a cool idea!
- At February 13, 2008 9:08 PM Soo about kids jewelry said...
-
This is such an interesting idea. I'm all excited but can't think of anything concrete on how I can make use of such innovative services. I'll discuss this with some friends.
- At February 26, 2008 7:28 PM Al Vig said...
-
Ive personally written to E-Books and sold them on digital point forums. Find a niche that can make money and write a book about it.
- At June 1, 2008 7:22 PM Recycling Manny said...
-
This is an innovative idea for any aspiring writer who wants to avoid the hassle of dealing with an offline publishing or printing company. I'm in the opinion, however, that e-books are more cost-effective than printed copies, easier to market, and offers greater returns. At least, in the initial stages. If the book is a hit online you can always choose to have it printed as an actual book, in the future.
