Published two books on Lulu.

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Wed, 2011-11-16 11:39

My impatience with the mainstream publishers prompted me to self publish with Lulu. The Eternal Chain, a horror/thriller and This Blood Red Sea, a biography of a friend is now available at Lulu, and within weeks will be available elsewhere. If I am happy with the service, then I will consider publishing another thirteen of my novels. The Blood Red Sea, I would wait until I have recieved my first draft, as I messed up and offered it for distribution immediately. I will notify when I have seen the finished product.
Anyway, I got the idea from the ABC Tales book Let's Start Again, and I'm not getting any younger, so I thought, go for it. I retired two years ago at the young age of fifty so that I could concentrate on writing, and so I thought now is the time. Has anyone elese here had any books published by Lulu? While at first it seemed daunting, it is fairly straight forward, apart from if you want to design your own cover. Not being a techy, I used two covers available on their site.
Thanks for listening folks.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/this-blood-red-sea/18667867
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-eternal-chain/18670151

Thu, 2011-11-17 01:56

Savx

Hello, I haven't published anything on Lulu, though I have tried. When I was trying to publish a book that I had finished a few months ago, everytime I was trying to load it, it would say something like "error loading" or "sorry, we can't load this" or something in that range. Did that happen to you? Because it's either my laptop or just something gone wrong. Maybe it's my location, still no idea. Do you have a clue?? Savannah

Sav

Thu, 2011-11-17 07:42

hulsey

Savannah, mine uploaded okay, though I had to sometimes persevere. I use Microsoft Works and only have a trial version of Word. I saved my work as a doc file and it was okay. The second book contained photos and that was a bitch, but it uploaded okay in the end. A couple ot times, I did get an error message, but I kept retying and it eventually uploaded. I am not a techy and was unable to add photos to my cover, but if you need any help, just ask and I will oblige. The good thing with Lulu is that you pay only for your printed book and even get a free ISBN. There is an offer on at this moment, until December, where you get your first book free. Anyway, good luck if you decide to publish.

Thu, 2011-11-17 13:33

andrea

I know many people who have self-published with Lulu and, on the whole, they're very satisfied. They offer a good service at a very reasonable price. The only drawback, as I understand it, is the high cost of shipping to anywhere other than the US (where they're based). Congrats on your books - now comes the hard part - marketing :) As a matter of interest, did you ever try any small, indie presses? http://www.ukauthors.com

http://www.ukauthors.com

http://www.ukapress.com

Thu, 2011-11-17 23:20

(Reply to #4) #5

Bumblingalong

Hi, Books I've ordered have always shipped from UK at normal rates

Thu, 2011-11-17 13:46

hulsey

No, Andrea, I never tried them. I sent off a novel to a large publisher and an agent and have not heard anything yet, though that was about a month ago. This Blood Red Sea, the biography that I wrote for a friend, I sent off to a local publisher, who showed great interest and told me to send in the full manuscript. That was in February, and I have heard nothing since, even though I have e-mailed them. I suppose given that Chicky,the friend I wrote of, is eighty-six years of age, I was deseprate. I have no regrets about self publishing, and will consider submitting more of my novels. As for marketing, I have designed a couple of posters, and am considering going to my local gazette, something I did seven years ago when Insanity never Sleeps was published. Also at the time, I sold several of my books in a local bookshop, and that may be an option for me.

Thu, 2011-11-17 14:42

andrea

No, it's a great way to go if you've exhausted other avenues, although I would say that one month is no time at all. It's considered okay to follow up a query after 3 months, so perhaps don't give up quite yet (although the Feb one doesn't look hopeful). But most publishers are so inundated with mss that it can sometimes take them up to a year to respond. Re the marketing - local papers, local telly and local radio are all worth a try. And the obvious Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc... Good luck, anyway! http://www.ukauthors.com

http://www.ukauthors.com

http://www.ukapress.com

Thu, 2011-11-17 21:34

Savx

Thank you Hulsy for your help. Much appreciated =) Savannah

Sav

Fri, 2011-11-18 09:04

andrea

Oh, good! I expect my info's out of date :) I just read one of your Seline stories by the way - excellent! http://www.ukauthors.com

http://www.ukauthors.com

http://www.ukapress.com

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