Lulu.com - Avoid
Tue, 2004-03-23 08:05
#1
Lulu.com - Avoid
We've been discussing this elsewhere, and I thought some of you might like to know about it.
Although Lulu.com may seem tempting at first, well, the name gives it away. They say it costs nothing to get stuff published, but what they don't tell you is that that's just the manuscript, and only on their site available to a select few people for a rediculously high price.
I did some maths, and you need an ISBN, cover art etc. It comes to £404.85 so far, then there's more and then they'll probably ask for a voluntary donation of anything you like, preferably £647.83 or they'll see you in court. Just thought you'd like to be warned.
Stephen Fraser
James,
I serve as the marketing and communications director of Lulu.com and ran across your post just today. You've clearly been given some bad information somewhere along the way--I'd love to answer any questions you may have in order to clarify what Lulu.com does or doesn't do, and how much it does or doesn't cost. Please feel free to email me any questions directly at sfraser at lulu.com.
Just to quickly cover the points raised in your post:
1) It is in fact free to publish through Lulu.com. No purchase is necessary and there are no fees. Lulu.com makes its money from a 20% commission on books sold.
2) The cost of a high-quality paperback book if you (or your customer) buys one copy is $4.53 + ($.02 x # of pages). If you add a royalty (which is voluntary), the cost of the book will reflect your royalty + a Lulu commission based on a percentage of the royalty amount. For example, if you add a $3 royalty, Lulu will add a $1 commission. Bulk order discounts are available to authors ordering copies of their own book.
3) Many authors sell their books through Lulu.com alone, which is quite effective if you are marketing the book through the web. For those who wish to sell their books through Amazon.com and other retail outlets, Lulu.com offers an ISBN package that includes registration and expanded distribution for $149 or so. (sorry-you'll have to translate into pounds yourself)
4) Most of our authors provide their own cover art. If you don't provide your own, there is also a selection of standard cover templates for free. If you wish an artist to design a custom front and back cover for your book, that service is also available for a fee of around $150.
I know this is going to sound self-promotional, but the cost of a print on demand book purchased through Lulu.com (www.Lulu.com) really is the lowest I know of. If you can find a cheaper source, by all means email me so we can switch printers! The cost of custom cover art through Lulu.com is likewise the least expensive I've found. If you know of an artist who can do it for less, we will gladly send customers to him or her.
We are always working to improve the services and tools we offer, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have suggestions.
Regards,
Stephen Fraser
Marketing & Communications Director, Lulu.com
sfraser @ lulu.com
tinhorn
Dunno where you got your info, dude. I've published several books on Lulu.com and all it has cost me was the price of the copies I bought. And I buy some of them one at a time.
And Lulu gives me a storefront for promoting them, free. (Two of them, in fact.)
And gets me listed in Google, free. (Go ahead - look me up - last time I checked I was in the top 10 and had repeated entries in the top 25. Free.)
I design and use my own covers, free. If I make a mistake I upload a corrected version, free.
Go ahead - click and visit one of my FREE Lulu stores. Download the FREE preview I offer on one of my books.
www.lulu.com/dixiepress
Wilson John Haire
Hi,
Lulu seems too good to be true. I have just read a glowing report on Lulu in the GUARDIAN newspaper this morning. (29 April, 2004) It sort of made me think of trying to publish something with them for the sake of speed. I have already been published by three conventional publishers. You probably know it can take anything up to 2 years for something to be published after going through the hard grind of trying to have a manuscript accepted. So you are advising me to say away from Lulu.
Wilson John Haire
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PABD - Andrew
The Guardian article can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1205143,00.html
I think you'll find that it was more about PABD than lulu.com though. ;)
Also, our shipping costs in Europe are a fraction of lulu's (which isn't their fault, I hasten to add).