Self Publisher

[rudelle]

I see a lot of posts about various Publishers. I published through Lulu and am looking for someone who maybe offers a little more for a decent price. Can you tell me the pro's and con's of using who you published with? Thanks!

[Tommie Lyn]

Hi, Rudelle.

I took advantage of Lulu's offer to print a free copy of your NaNovel if you "won" NaNo. I toyed with the idea of actually going ahead and self-publishing, but seeking a less expensive route. I checked with a local printer, and, surprise, the cost per copy for the number of copies I could afford in a print-run was even higher than Lulu's.

So, it looks like, for me, the only way that novel is going to be published is if I go the traditional route and submit it to traditional publishers.

My experience with Lulu was a positive one, and I like Lulu. But the high cost makes it impractical if you intend to try to have it distributed through large bookstores (I mean, who is going to be willing to pay over $25 for a paperback book from an unknown author? Because, with the discount a wholesaler is going to expect, and with the profit the bookstore has to make, the final retail cost will be prohibitive).

[Alice]

I've heard rumors online of new technology allowing printers to make runs of 100 or 200 (or whatever) books cheaply, like for 1 or 2 dollars a copy. I don't know who they are or if they actually exist, however.

In my research, which was admittedly scarce, Lulu looked like the best option... but then I was looking at it as a vanity press, for printing up copies of my handicapped sister's work for family and friends.

All the other ones I saw included up-front costs, some with help editing or distributing, but none with a guarantee you will earn more than you spend!

[tlm]

After about a year of looking I thought Lulu looked best for regular sized paperback books. It is pretty simple to set up, too.

If you have a very short book, like 60 page or so, you might try CafePress. The price will be a little less if you choose one of the other binding options.

[jvdoles]

I self-publish through Lightning Source Inc (http://www.lightningsource.com/). Got my own ISBNs--a block of 10 for about $250 (the ISBN is what establishes who is the publisher of record).

To give an example of cost, I get small quantities on a 128-page book printed for about $2.72.

The catch is that I supply my own formatting and book cover design and submit according to LSI specifications in PDF form. It works for me because I shelled out for the software (Pagemaker for interiors; Photoshop for the covers) and spent some time on the learning curve.

I had a friend who was using Xulon for his books--he was paying quite a bit for setup and also much more per copy of his books than I pay for mine. The kicker is that his books, although published through Xulon, were actually printed up by Lightning Source. We discovered this at a Christian conference when we were setting up our book tables next to each other. His carton said "Lightning Source," the same as mine did. (Lulu uses Lightning Source for some of their printing, too).

So we talked and decided that I could design and set up his books much cheaper than Xulon could, plus his cost per copy would be much cheaper, which he would see more of the profit. So now his ministry is the publisher of his books. It is much less expensive now for him to publish his books, which is very good for him because he is Bible teacher and has a lot of books in him.

"Print on demand" is a very good option if you are working with quantities under 500. When you start getting over 500, the pricing for traditional offset printing starts to become much more reasonable. You still pretty much have to have your layout and cover design worked out though.

When you are your own publisher, you are pretty much in the driver seat, and it is wise to develop your own marketing plan whether you stay with Lulu or go with something else. Questions are quantity and budget are pertinent to how you plan to market and promote your book. Fortunately, there are a lot of good resources available to help self-publishers understand and pursue these things.

By the way, I also publish through Lulu, too. Mostly for my eBooks, but since I already had my files ready for print anyway, I also loaded them up into the Lulu system. My page is http://www.lulu.com/jeffdoles

[Tommie Lyn]

Jeff, I just looked at the Lightning Source website -- very interesting! You mentioned that you get your 128 page book printed for $2.72 -- where on the Lightning Source website would I find pricing info for a 268 page book?

Did you create your own imprint, and could you share how you go about registering an imprint as a publisher?

I'm wondering if Lightning Source could provide an cost-effective alternative for self-publishers and could provide a stigma-free means to self-publish.

Thanks for the info!

[jvdoles]

Jeff, I just looked at the Lightning Source website -- very interesting! You mentioned that you get your 128 page book printed for $2.72 -- where on the Lightning Source website would I find pricing info for a 268 page book?

Did you create your own imprint, and could you share how you go about registering an imprint as a publisher?

I'm wondering if Lightning Source could provide an cost-effective alternative for self-publishers and could provide a stigma-free means to self-publish.

Thanks for the info!

Their current rates, for perfect (paperback) book sizes up to 7.44x9.69 is $0.90 per unit, plus $0.015 (a cent and a half) per page. So 268 x .015 + .90 = $4.92.

Our ministry is called Walking Barefoot Ministries and registered as non-profit in the state of Florida. So we publish under that name, and registered our ISBNs under that name. You can register at www.isbn.org. The current rate for a block of 10 is $275 (registration and processing fees).

[Tommie Lyn]

Thanks, Jeff, for the info. Lightning Source is looking better and better.

[lynnmosher]

Jeff, thanks from another interested party. This was great help to me. Thanks for sharing that info. !thumbsup!

[jvdoles]

Thanks, Jeff, for the info. Lightning Source is looking better and better.

Here's something that makes it even better. It is a part of Ingram/Spring Arbor. If you have your book processed through Lightning Source, you can have it automatically up on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, BooksaMillion.com and other sites.

And you can set the discount. I have mine set as "short discount" of 25% and Amazon sells it at my suggested retail price. I could offer a trade discount of 55% if I thought I had a good shot at getting into a lot of brick and mortar stores, but that is a pretty long shot. So my strategy, instead, is to promote my books online and through "back of the room" sales when I go to minister.

[cpickett]

Hi Rudelle,
I found your question on the other thread first so please hop over there if you'd like to read it. Didn't want to duplicate.