Self publishing with Lulu.com---good experiences?

Question

I am looking into publishing my book, "Lipstick and Thongs in the Loony Bin" with these guys...anyone know anything about them? Any first hand experiences? I am still strying traditional routes but am looking into this option as well...

Answer 1

Self publishing is typically a bad idea for anyone that doesn't have several hundred thousand dollars to pour into it. Keep in mind also that you will be paying for your books to be produced, boxed, shipped, publicized, and everything else.

You will be forced to house the books if they do not immediately sell, you must contact the retailers to sell the books (not a fun task since most won't talk to individuals), and then if your books still don't sell, you have to take them back and give a refund. (few retailers will buy books if they can't return them)

I don't know about lulu.com from personal experience, but they look like every other self publisher I've ever seen. Keep trying the traditional routes.

I know this sounds cruel, but if the traditional routes don't work in time, there's probably a reason for it. Maybe this isn't the time for that particular book. Publishers usually turn down a book if there's some sort of problem with it or if they don't think it will sell.

So what do you do?

Keep working and practicing. Maybe on your second or third book, you'll find a publisher that loves your work. If that's the case, you could then show them this one and they may make something of it.

Let me know if you would like help setting up through traditional means, but please, leave self publication as a last resort.

Answer 2

I've heard the writer only gets 25 percent of the book sales. Since family and friends are the ones that buy the book, the self publishing houses are making lots of money. For your information, 1 out of 220 self published books sell more than 500 copies.