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Anne Question and My Answer about Lulu.com!Posted 3-13-06 by Anne Anne Question: I was wondering how Lulu goes about helping us publish our books? Do they proof read the novels, edit and make actual hard cover copies for free or does that part cost money? Or is it just a downloaded version and no actual book covers? My Answer: First, Lulu doesn't publish your books...you are the publisher. All Lulu has done is arranged with their partners to allow you to publish your books at a very low cost (free or cost for them to make your book)! Unfortunately, you do have to format the book the way you want it printed (which they have great samples and guides to help with writing and publishing), and you have to either make a cover or choose from an existing cover with your title on it supplied by Lulu. Yes, you do have to take some time to make sure everything is correct with you book before you submit it to Lulu. [That's why I created Write and Publish Fiction to help with writing.] But all that is a lot easier than it sounds. They do not proof read it, edit it, or modify it in any way...but their partners will for a price. But if you know how to use Microsoft Word or a similar program, can make a cool graphic for a book cover using a program that creates .jpg images and have a little patience with formatting pages, you can easily publish your book for free and with very little outside influence. Here's what I did with the first book I published through Lulu with no help with writing. Once I finished writing it and proof read/rewrite/edit a few times, I found Lulu. I read their directions and formatted my entire book the way I wanted people to see it when they bought it (they have several formats to choose from...whatever fits your style). Then I went to Adobe and ordered their Create a PDF online conversion software. This cost me money, but it has a 5 conversion trial at no cost. You can take advantage of this at Adobe.com. Once I converted my word document to pdf format, I reviewed it and corrected a few things that needed to be corrected. After my final conversion, I started work on my book cover. Fortunately I took a college class in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and created a book cover on my own. Lulu has specifications for book covers and sample covers you can use to create your own book cover. There are several ways to create book covers, some of which are spelled out right here on the site. I submitted all of my information into my account at Lulu and ordered a sample copy of my book for cost. Here's more about how we publish for free! Lulu only gets a small commission when a book (hardcopy) is sold from your bookstore on their site. You also have an option to sell a book electronically where you make all of the profit. If you buy the books for yourself to sell during book signings and such, you only pay cost for the book plus shipping and handling. This is the amount of money the printers charge to produce your book. Lulu doesn't get commissions for that. [Lulu also gets money by selling different packages to help with writing, editing, and promoting your book once it's published or in the process of being published.] I think I hit all of your questions that will help with writing and publishing. Let me summarize everything for Anne question. Lulu does not proof read, edit, format, or make book covers. They are simply a company that lines you up with printers for your book. You are the publisher. You format the book, ensure it is correct, and make the cover. You can publish your book electronically and/or paperback/hardcover. You can also make modifications to your books at any time since you are the sole copyright holder and publisher. If you go through a major publisher and find something you'd like to change, you can't or have to pay a lot extra. Lulu is a free service and you will never pay out of pocket expenses to publish your book. Everything is paid by the buyer of your book. - Jason.
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