Posted by WritersMarketing

• Tweet

When self-publishing and print on demand comes to mind the company that most writers first think of is Lulu. Lulu.com is a site that allows you to publish books and ebooks as well as other material such as music, comic books, cookbooks, and more. There are pros and cons to using this and other self-publishing services and varying opinions on the process.

Self-publishing with Lulu:

1. You’ll have to share profits. They’ll take a portion of your profits directly from the sale as they will facilitate it on their site and pay you, rather than you collecting from readers. Many writers feel this is better for them as it minimizes their risk of loss in case they don’t sell too many copies of their work.
2. You need to do almost everything yourself. Lulu does offer various services for a fee as well as connects writers to vendors who could help you with the process but it could take a bit of an investment to accomplish what you need to.
3. You get to decide what to write when you self-publish with Lulu. No one is going to censor you. A lot of writers like this aspect of self-publishing. But that said, you also need to take responsibility for what you publish.
4. Lulu offers support. Most people find their tools very easy to use. If you do have problems, they have a support team who can help you utilize their website.
5. You can utilize .pdf, .doc, and several other file formats as well as their templates.
6. Promotion is important. You can benefit from being listed on their website as it’s well indexed in search engines and you will have your own page and category listings, but you’ll still want and need to promote your work in order to sell your books. Unlike traditional book publishers, you won’t have a staff of people helping you get attention, arrange book signings, etc.
7. The Lulu community and groups can be very helpful in helping you navigate it as well as learn to maximize the potential of the site.

Even if you choose to self-publish with a site such as Lulu, you still have the options to publish elsewhere as well. Whether you choose to do it as a start in getting something of yours into print or choose to publish there exclusively, there are plenty of choices and resources that can help you. Self-publishing doesn’t have to be the only way you’ll get published but can help you get published quickly and help you achieve your goal of seeing your name in print and getting your words out to others to read.