Comments on: Lulu POD service gets rave in PC Mag—and is taking e-books more seriously, with iPhone and Sony options http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/05/18/lulu-pod-service-gets-rave-in-pc-mag-and-is-taking-e-books-more-seriously-with-iphone-and-sony-options/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:25:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Rob Preece http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/05/18/lulu-pod-service-gets-rave-in-pc-mag-and-is-taking-e-books-more-seriously-with-iphone-and-sony-options/#comment-804212 Rob Preece Mon, 19 May 2008 13:09:43 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/05/18/lulu-pod-service-gets-rave-in-pc-mag-and-is-taking-e-books-more-seriously-with-iphone-and-sony-options/#comment-804212 Although my primary focus is eBooks, I also offer paper books. My authors like having a physical book on their shelves so they can show friends and relatives, paper books do better at book signings, and some readers just don't read electronic books (yet). When I decided to get started with paper, I used LuLu because they have no setup fees. I have no complaints about their quality and found they had a number of tools that make it easy for authors to publish with them. One key advantage for me, because I have authors (and readers) around the world, is that they have printers on multiple continents, meaning that shipping costs to Europe and Asia are less painful than some other publishers. I've been shifting my POD publishing from LuLu to CreateSpace, however. CreateSpace doesn't have as nice tools and their international shipping is expensive, but their printing costs are lower and, because they're owned by Amazon, their integration with Amazon is far better. (To sell LuLu-printed books through Amazon, I have to join Amazon's Advantage program, purchase the LuLu books, have them shipped to my home, inventory them and ship them to Amazon when Amazon orders them, all to receive 45% of the cover price from Amazon. The combination of two separate sets of shipping charges, LuLu's high costs, and Amazon's high commission means that I lose money on every LuLu-printed book I sell through Amazon. This said, LuLu is not really set up for publishers. It's designed for people who want to produce a book for their grandchildren and it does a great job at that. Rob Preece Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com Although my primary focus is eBooks, I also offer paper books. My authors like having a physical book on their shelves so they can show friends and relatives, paper books do better at book signings, and some readers just don’t read electronic books (yet). When I decided to get started with paper, I used LuLu because they have no setup fees. I have no complaints about their quality and found they had a number of tools that make it easy for authors to publish with them. One key advantage for me, because I have authors (and readers) around the world, is that they have printers on multiple continents, meaning that shipping costs to Europe and Asia are less painful than some other publishers.

I’ve been shifting my POD publishing from LuLu to CreateSpace, however. CreateSpace doesn’t have as nice tools and their international shipping is expensive, but their printing costs are lower and, because they’re owned by Amazon, their integration with Amazon is far better. (To sell LuLu-printed books through Amazon, I have to join Amazon’s Advantage program, purchase the LuLu books, have them shipped to my home, inventory them and ship them to Amazon when Amazon orders them, all to receive 45% of the cover price from Amazon. The combination of two separate sets of shipping charges, LuLu’s high costs, and Amazon’s high commission means that I lose money on every LuLu-printed book I sell through Amazon.

This said, LuLu is not really set up for publishers. It’s designed for people who want to produce a book for their grandchildren and it does a great job at that.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

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