Well, I did it! I published my 2nd book

[ibrinkley]

After much debate, I went ahead and published my second book myself on Lulu.com. It's called "Embracing the Light" and it is an exciting Christian novel. It was supposed to be a sequel to "A Light in Darkness" which is supposedly being published by Publish America but they are really taking their time so I made theirs a "prequel" to Embracing the Light. Not sure if I did right or not but for better or worse, it is on the market now. I was afraid Publish America would wait the whole year to publish it and I didn't want to wait that long for this book to come out. I also have a children's book called Rainbows and Promises that I am going to publish on Lulu. Has anyone published on Lulu and had any success with their book once it got on the market?

[rljfl]

Congrats!

I think there are a few lulu authors around here...remember seeing it talked about in other threads. Hope you have great success!

[ellenjames]

Congratulations, ibrinkley! !thumbsup! :D
That is a great accomplishment and I applaud you. I believe Bro. Dave published through Lulu.
Blessings!
Ellenjames/Bertha
www.freewebs.com/wayber

[lgracebrooks]

Congratulations publishing your book on your own. I've published two books using Lulu. The one isalready available to the public. It was published very recently so I can't say how the sales are going and the second book I'm waiting for the first proof books to reach me.
I'm satisfied with the way THE ASQUINN TWINS and the EXCHANGE STUDENT turned out.
http://www.geocities.com/lgracebrooks

www.lulu.com/contents/231128

I am not the author of my books, God is. Praise goes to Him, I was merely a pen in His hand.

[ladypreacher]

It sounds to me like you have made a good choice in going ahead and publishing your book through Lulu. The cover is beautiful! Did you use one of their artists or did someone create the coverart for you, or did you do it yourself? Just curious.

I self-published my Nanowrimo book on Lulu (and loved the results!) but then retired it for the time-being. I decided to re-publish the book with the sequel that I wrote in February and part of March as a two in one book. I had a different cover in mind and decided to go with it instead of the one that I had at first published. This cover is really serene and my son will get the credits in the book for the photo enhancement.

Anyway, I wish you the best with your publishing adventures!

[ibrinkley]

Thanks so much for your encouragement. I used their cover. The only problem is that they don't have much to choose from and I'm getting ready to publish a children's book but I don't like the covers. I may see if my friend will do a cover for it. Thanks again and may God's richest blessings rain down on you all. Inez

[Merry]

Nice job, Inez!

[David Cristwell]

Nice going Inez,

I just approved "The Bush Pilot's Daughters" for the global distribution plan. Hopefully I will have a few copies when we meet at the May 6 book signing. I am working on the total rewrite of one of the pilots for my first book, as well as what will be the first in a 3 or 4 book series of which "Daughters" is the third.

The total rewrite seems to fit the name "Above Kingmetolik Creek" and the one that will lead into it, "The Shepherd of Koyukuk Valley."

Did you make yours 6x9 or 8.5 x 11? I went with the larger size. Fortunately, I used some of my own photos for the cover of "Daughters" but the airplanes I used for it and "Shepherd" are added in. The rewrite will just have a picture of the stream itself.

Congrats on a job well done.

[ibrinkley]

Thanks David. I made it 6x9 and it looks great. Lulu does a professional job. Looking forward to seeing you at the book signing. Good luck with your series. Inez

[Butterfly]

Congratulations Inez! That must be very satisfying. !thumbsup!
Butterfly

[David Cristwell]

I have been even more impressed with the quality of the books than with my PA one.

Take care

[lgracebrooks]

I am not impressed with Publish America at all. I've received my two author's copies of The Asquinn Twins Come To Forest lake and it's a mess.
I wrote and told them if they don't fix some mistakes I would break the contract and publish using Lulu. They are relucently fixing the part where Kenny was praying for God to help him marry his own sister. So if anyone out there is inclined to order THE ASQUINN TWINS COME TO FOREST LAKE, don't until this mistake is corrected. PA assured me they would let me know when it is safe to order. There are other mistakes but this one was MAJOR. The sentence and following paragraph was to set the mood for following sequal.
PA boasts about being a traditional publisher. That's not so, traditional publishers EDIT.
I'm waiting to hear from two other publishers. New Leaf Publishers and Whitmore Publishers. These are mainstream publishers and if either one doesn't accept then I will definateily stay with Lulu. I've published two books using Lulu and really like the finished product. (A book one can be proud she said she wrote)!thumbsup!
lgracebrooks

[David Cristwell]

Well, we will pray for a real publisher to accept your manuscript. I have been pleased with the books lulu has done for me.

Now that several of us have proven that we can do as much as PA did for us, on our own, we still realize that a self published book won't actually be recognized as truly being published, any more than a PA book. We only have no one to blame but ourselves, and still own all the rights to contract with a recognized publisher, which is our next step.

I guess it is part of our maturing as writers. Self publishing also shows how little PA actually did for us. The next question is, were the mistakes your own oversight? Are they charging you for the corrections? They refused to even do my corrections, even though I was willing to pay their fee at the time.

I plan to submit a query to a couple of publishers for my current project, now called "The Shepherd of Koyukuk Valley" and let them know it is the first of two more finished stories in a series. Good luck with yours.

I would also insist that you get three more author copies of the corrected version. Some of us get up to five, but real publishers give up to 25 I am told, and ten is common.

[ladypreacher]

David,

Was the global distribution the reason that you are having a book signing? I don't know how everything works. For my first Lulu project I chose not to have an ISBN number. WIth my second edition I'm seriously considering digging my feet in a little firmer and seeing what I can do with an ISBN and buckets more promotion...

I'm waiting to release the second edition as a chapter of the second part of the book is entered into a writing contest and it must remain unpublished to qualify. I too am seeking representation that involves a traditional publishing house.

[David Cristwell]

The book signing was set up with the Publish Amerika book, "Auroraview, Alaska". I did get the Global distribution package so that I can also have a few copies of "The Bush Pilot's Daughters" to sell. Unfortunately it takes a few weeks to list with B&N once you process it through. The B & N CRM has been really helpful and said if nothing else, I can let people know the second and third books are out. Actually, I need to apply for the copyright still on the rewritten story "Kingmetolik Creek" that will replace "Auroraview, Alaska" completely.

In other words, the book signing is the last event I will even try to promote that over-priced story. If you have any hope of seeing your book in a book store, you need an ISBN number.

I will keep everyone posted. 2 more weeks and Inez and I will know for sure since she will be there too.

[ibrinkley]

Hey David. I have my ISBN too for my book Embracing the Light. I have some copies coming from Lulu so I can advertise that mine is out too. I'm looking forward to the signing. See you there. Inez

[lgracebrooks]

Congratulations ibrinkley for your success. I hope you won't think I'm being too boastful by mentioning my success almost in the same sentence as your. But I've had a second book published through Lulu with great success. I am very satisfied with the results both of the cover and the contents. This book, The Asquinn twins and the Runner of the Snow Desert will be available soon, if not already once you get to read this reply.
Asquinn Twins and the Exchange student
www.lulu.com/content/231128
The Asquinn Twins and the Runner of the Snow Desert
www.lulu.com/content/268827
lgracebrooks
!thumbsup!

[lgracebrooks]

David,
No I can't sewar that it all was PA's mistakes. I can guess some were an oversight on my part, but then I have noticed with other pod printers (publishers) I've received back mistakes in the manuscript I KNOW I've corrected. Did the computer not save these corrections? And I noticed this mistake in the line in question about Kenny marrying his sister as I worked with the manuscript and I made special effort to keep this in mind and include corrections; but it came back to me the way I described. Neither one admits to having proof whether or not the correction was included and PA has agreed to make the correction. I won't argue over who's fault it is. By the way, they refuse to make any other corrections other than the one about Kenny and Martha (brother and sister marrying).
I still haven't decided to trust them with another book or not. will need more prayer. The traditional publishers take so long to get things done and I would like to see THE ASQUINN Twins SERIES printed in my life time.