If you have a book inside of you that is dying to be published but don’t know how or where to start, Lulu might just be the answer for you!
Lulu allows authors to publish their books on demand and sell them online without any upfront costs or commitments. This means that authors can do everything from writing, designing, and printing one copy at a time all through the same platform!
Lulu has made it easy for anyone to publish their books, even if they don’t know anything about formatting or design.
We will see as follows the main reasons why you should consider publishing your book through their platform.
1. What is Lulu?
Lulu.com is a self-publishing and ebook company that has been around since 2002.
They offer authors the opportunity to publish their work without going through an agent or traditional publishing house and provides them with all of the tools they need to make it happen – including cover design, online bookstores, distribution to retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon, printing services for paperback and hardcover books through third parties, downloadable PDFs so readers can read your book on any device they have available (which might be great if you’re looking to get copies into schools!) and even marketing help from professionals who know what it takes to bring your work out into the world.
With Lulu, anyone can publish their book and share it with the world – it’s just the perfect site!
2. Why Should I Publish my Book with Lulu?
With Lulu, you can publish your work without having to worry about the cost of printing and distribution. All the self-publishing packages are affordable and come with unlimited copies for your readers.
You’ll also enjoy:
- A free ISBN number
- The option to create a print on demand edition
- Affordable pricing on additional services such as design, marketing, translation, and more.
Lulu offers a clean, attractive website with self-publishing guides and a simple onboarding process for authors to get their books into print quickly without hassle.
You can upload PDF files of your manuscript and edit them before they go to print so that they’re ready to sell when it’s time.
Publishing a book has never been easier!
3. How do I Get Started?
Their community-driven publishing platform enables authors to publish, sell and distribute their books globally.
You can simply upload your manuscript in .DOCX or .PDF format, select a price for the book, choose which formats you want it printed in and then order copies of the finished product.
However, Lulu’s home page is the place to start. The first things you’ll see after signing in or registering for a new account are your bookshelf and dashboard, where you can update listings and edit book details.
You can also access Lulu’s blog which provides advice on publishing topics like how to get started with self-publishing.
If you click on the “Publish” tab, it will take you to an area where Lulu helps create your book. You can choose from one of their pre-made templates to start – which makes formatting a breeze or upload your own template if needed – and then customize it with images, word art, chapter divider pages, or stickers.
You can also choose to publish your book as a PDF for reading on any device, e-book (ePub and Kindle formats), CreateSpace paperback, print+digital combo pack, display it in iBooks Author, or export a Word document so you can share the files with anyone! You’re not limited by Lulu’s templates and you won’t have to pay for any of the publishing packages.
Lulu also offers an amazing opportunity to reach readers through their author-branded storefronts – which can be customized entirely with your own images, book covers, descriptions, and more! You’ll earn royalties from every sale on these stores so it’s a great way to get your work out there and start earning some money.
4. What are the Benefits of Publishing on Lulu?
- Lulu offers authors a way to publish their books without having to go through any outside printers or distributors. This can save them money and time, but it also means they have more control over the process than if they work with traditional publishers.
- A remarkable thing to mention is how there are no upfront costs for using Lulu as opposed to when working with a publisher who will take care of all that stuff for you – which may mean not getting paid until after expenses are taken out (and those expenses can be substantial!).
- Lulu offers a variety of formats and typesetting for your book. They also offer the option to import content from Word or turn it into PDFs which is helpful if you want readers who don’t have those programs on their devices.
- All self-published books get featured in Lulu’s catalog and are reviewed by professional reviewers.
- Lulu offers a variety of free marketing services such as book distribution, unlimited bookstore listings, and the option to create your own website for free.
- You can also sell books on Lulu’s marketplace or in their online store which is great if you want customers to be able to purchase them immediately instead of waiting until they’re published.
5. Is There Anything to Consider Before Publishing?
There are a few things to consider before publishing your book with Lulu.
- First, you should know that they’re an online store so if you’re looking for a traditional publisher this might not be your best option – but authors can always upload their books to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other online book retailers and get them to carry their work.
- Second is that although it can be very affordable to publish with them (pricing starts at $12) there is no guarantee of success. The company handles everything and does all the work for you but also takes on some of the risks themselves by guaranteeing royalties regardless of sales.
- The customer service can be slow, which is one of our major gripes with Lulu Publishing – they have no phone number or email address so you’re forced to wait for a reply.
- Lulu is a community-driven publishing platform which means decisions about the quality of your book will be made by readers and not editors or publishers before it’s published on their site. This might sound scary but it can also be an advantage because it allows the book to be judged by people who are most likely interested in reading it and not someone with a different agenda.
6. Should I Hire a Professional Editor or Proofreader before Submitting the Book?
We’ve all been there before when we’re in the process of writing our manuscript. You have a deadline coming up and you need to get your book out for publication, but you know that it could use some more work.
Lots of people think that hiring an editor is the best way to make sure your book will be as good as possible, and it can often lead to getting more sales because you’ll get more reviews.
On the other hand, some people might decide not to hire one at all if they’re looking for something quick and easy, or are trying to save money.
In our opinion, there are many reasons to hire a professional editor or proofreader for your manuscript.
Some of the most common ones include:
- The potential to be published
- An increased chance of sales and word count reaching an appropriate goal
- A higher likelihood that agents will want to read it
- A more professional look to the book
So, should you hire a professional editor or proofreader?
If your goal is to boost the quality of your book, and consequently your Lulu sales, then it might be worth considering hiring an editor. If you are looking for something quick and easy or want to save money on editing services then self-editing will be more appropriate for you.
7. Can I Make Changes or Updates after Publishing my Book?
You might be thinking, “I’ve already published my book on Lulu and I want to make changes or add updates. What should I do?”
This is a common question from authors when they realize they need to make adjustments following feedback from readers or other sources.
Or there could be other reasons. Maybe you’re realizing that grammar and punctuation are not your strong points. Maybe the storyline is too predictable or confusing.
Whatever it is, however, the answer is yes! With Lulu, you can make changes after having published your book!
For example, an author might want to change the cover photo or introduction material that’s available on his Lulu book product page.
He can go into Edit Title and Author Details in My Account > Edits Items Tab > select the title he wants to edit. Click “Edit” and then make any changes necessary.
The same is true for editing the back cover text, changing the author’s photo, or editing book details.
So..Would you Really Recommend me Publishing with Lulu?
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to publish your book, then Lulu might be the answer. They offer affordable publishing services that many other publishing companies do not.
Their printing costs are also much lower than those of traditional publishers like Simon & Schuster or Random House. For example, if you want to print a hardcover copy of your 400-page novel with Lulu, it will cost $1 per page (or just over $400).
A similar project at one of these big-name publishers would run you about $2 per page ($800) – four times as much!
Lulu’s publishing process is relatively straightforward and it provides you with a lot of flexibility when it comes to pricing, printing options, etc.
So we think this might be the best option for authors who are looking to get started without breaking their budget or spending too much time on making sure everything is perfect before they publish.
If you’re looking for a turnkey solution and don’t want any hassle with self-publishing then we recommend checking out companies like CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) but their pricing structure is more complicated and they don’t offer as many options for printing.
There are also companies like Draft-Edits that will edit your book for a fee but you’d have to hire them before uploading the file into Lulu’s system which means if their editors can’t take on your project then it becomes much more difficult to publish with Lulu or any other self-publishing platform.
