LULU Formatting your Book for Self Publishing
On Demand Paperback Sales
Once you have an account, click on "My Projects" in the upper right to get to your list of projects.
Your page will currently be empty, if this is a new account, but as you add books you'll start to see them listed here like this.
To start a new project, click on the appropriate link in the top left. In this case we are going to click on "Paperback Book".
On this page you'll have a range of options for the binding, interior color, and shape / size of your printout. In my case I'm making a full-color-inside 8.5 x 11 magazine which is 94 pages. As you can see, the base price for that is $19.04. That's before any sort of profit or shipping or anything. In the case of Mused, we do this non-profit, so we set the sale price right at that base price.
The next page asks you for the title and author. As with CreateSpace/Amazon BE CAREFUL TO BE ACCURATE HERE. This information is locked to your ISBN number. That's how ISBN numbers work. So make sure you get the title and author name exactly right.
Lulu puts the channel option right here up front. Here's the decision point. If you sell just on Lulu, it's relatively cheap. They don't have to worry about the profit the other channels want to make. If you decide to auto-distribute out to Amazon and the rest, those guys will want to make a profit. Lulu still wants its profit. So the price of the item skyrockets. I definitely suggest, if you're going to Lulu for something, to go exclusive on Lulu. Keep the price reasonable. If you really want to list it on Amazon as well, list it there manually. That way you're not dealing with the artificially high price caused by the distribution system.
The next step is to load up the PDF file. The system claims it supports other formats but DO NOT USE THEM. Load up a fully formatted PDF file so you can guarantee it looks the way you want it to look. This needs to have all the page numbers, table of contents, and anything else you want to have in your book. This makes up the entire innards of the book from start to finish. Lulu does not edit your file in any way. Whatever you provide, they will print, as is.
Once you click "upload" on your PDF file, a progress bar will fill in as it loads the book into its system. It's good to always name your book file name something useful, with version numbers in it, so you can see online exactly what version is loaded.
Now when you go forward, Lulu will process this file for you.
Now it's time for the cover step!
Publishing On Demand Step By Step - Lulu
Lulu Self Publishing - Setting Up the Book
Formatting your Book for Self Publishing
Creating a Lulu Covers
Setting the Lulu Description
Setting the Lulu Preview
Promoting your Lulu Book
Problems and Issues with Lulu
Ebooks on Lulu
Lulu Self Publishing Main Page
What Does It Cost to Ghostwrite a Book?
Lisa Shea's Editing Services
Lisa Shea Free Ebooks
Lisa Shea Full Library of Published Books
Getting Your Book Published
Writing Tips and Online Books
Lisa Shea Medieval Romance Novels
Online Literary Magazines
Lisa Shea Website Main Page