I’ve been thinking about putting together a small book, basically to give to my mother. I’m going to pick Rik’s brain about Lulu, but does anyone else have any experience with them or other POD publishers?
I’d like it to look nice, but if there’s a more economical way to get a nice result for a handful of copies I’d love to hear about it.
I use Lulu for my book press, No Tell Books. First book through them was The Bedside Guide — I was was please with the quality and how easy it was — and the distribution options.
If the book is just for your mother and you don’t intend on getting an ISBN — it’s all free (except for the cost of the books)
Like Reb, I’ve only had good experiences with Lulu. Also, if you’d prefer to keep the book private then there’s an option to restrict who gets to know about the book (ie it won’t be included in the Lulu listings, etc) – this could be perfect for you if you only want to do it for close friends and relatives (and me!!!)
There’s plenty of guidance on the website about how to go about the process, but it’s a bit chaotically ordered so be prepared to do a bit of hunting and sifting when you go through the process.
The one thing that tripped me up was the security status of the pdf document you need to produce for the book. Their recommended software for pdf’ing should produce an acceptable document first time, but be ready for some fun and games if you choose to use alternative software.
And if you choose not to set a royalty, the whole book will be set at cost price.
Have fun, and if you get stuck feel free to email me!
todpj
Thanks to you both for the information.
Reb, now I remember you saying how happy you were with the quality they put out. Thanks for that reassurance.
Rik, you’re like Beetlejuice. I say your name and you appear! I’ll probably pester you, because I am a pest and you are pesterable.
Thanks again, both of you!
Wild Poetry Forum produced it’s anthology thru Lulu and the quality of the book is outstanding. I also used Lulu personally for reader’s copies for my first novel and the private option was just the ticket to produce a few copies as a low cost. (Cheaper than Staples or a local copy shop, even with the shipping charge)
More good things said about Lulu. That’s wonderful. The whole formatting thing has me in a tizzy, but I’m nearly always tizzied about something. Thanks, Lisa.
Or it could be fun to do it in a book artsy-crafty way!
Mandy,
I don’t think I can do artsy-craftsy. That would take skills I don’t possess. I could probably do namby-pamby, though. 😀
Send me an email (mandypoet at hotmail dot com) if you want me to send you one of my crafty books. I think you might get a kick out of it! 🙂