Now that the writing part is over, I need to move to the publishing part. These days there are self publishing services out there that allow you to be your own publisher. You just upload your book, and everytime someone orders a copy, it will get printed on demand. Now, that's progress!
There are two such self publishing services I want to test out: lulu.com is the oldest and most known one, but it got some competition from Amazon itself that created a similar service called createspace.com.
I've created a free account on both. Setup is smooth on both, and they both have extensive help for first time publishers. You can do the same for CDs, DVDs etc, but that's not what I'm interested in. A plus for lulu is that it allows you to upload the word document, whereas createspace only accepts PDF files. Both have an online cover creater. Since I had a very specific cover in mind that did not fit with any of the templates, I uploaded them in the form of two pictures. You need to leave some space on the back cover for the book ISBN and bar code. I created the PDF file of the interior by uploading the word version to lulu. Lulu has also handy MS Word templates for all the formats of its books. I choose for a large square 8.5 by 8.5 inch book. So those are extras you get with lulu for free. Createspace on the other hand has a review step where a robot checks the uploaded content and I did get a warning from Createspace to adjust my cover as it would not all fit on the printed area. So that is a little extra you get with Createspace.
The next step for both services is to order a proof copy. I'm still in this phase. The costs for printing at createspace are lower that lulu. But they make that up in shipping costs. It seems that createspace has only US printers, and while they have printed my review copy earlier than lulu, the lulu one did arrive while the createspace trial is probably somewhere stuck at customs or so. Lulu ships from the UK printers it has for European orders and that goes a lot swifter. I can't compare the quality of both prints yet as I'm still waiting for the createspace trial copy. But I can tell you it feels great to actually hold the book - looks and smells like a real book - in your hands the very first time!
After comparing the two books, there is the administrative hassle. For example the createspace service is US based and needs tax ID numbers and IRS forms also from non US citizens, while all that seems much easier at the Lulu site. Lulu also pays you out your royalties via paypal, and not by sending a US check.
So I'm still not sure which one I'll keep, or if I'll keep both of them (maybe one for EU buyers and one for US buyers). If you want to see my lulu store that is already active, go here:
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