What is Your Take on Self-Publishing a Book, Artwork and Photos?
By davebrown64
@davebrown64 (443)
United States
January 2, 2008 7:36pm CST
I enjoy writing immensely. It is a great and relaxing hobby for me. I recently wrote my first book, unfortunately at first, I was wondering how much I was going to have to invest to get the book published and printed. Not long ago, through MyLot.com and Helium.com, I found a link to a site that I thought was interesting whe it came to publishing. It is called www.lulu.com and I have been finding it enjoyable and now know that I can write without the stress of how to get it published. At www.lulu.com, I found that all I had to do was download my manuscript, do a little bit of formatting and presto, I now had a book with a standard copyright.
You can get an ISBN number for a certain dollar amount, and this is important so that you can get the book you wrote in bookstores as well.
Thanks to all of the writing communities on the web for allowing authors such as myself to publish my books and stories.
You can find my first attempt at a book at http://stores.lulu.com/davebrown64.
5 responses
@kuirqs (512)
• Philippines
3 Jan 08
Congratulations on your new book! I think self-publishing is really picking up these days. It's pretty convenient. No more need to go through agents.
Anyway, it'll also help a lot if you have a writing community for support, and also one which could help you promote your work. I am a member of a great online writing community. You can enroll in classes, join contests and forums and get your work critiqued. You can also earn through referrals and sometimes through contests. Let me know if you're interested so I can PM you the site. Thanks.
@davebrown64 (443)
• United States
4 Jan 08
Thanks for your words. I am always interested in new writing communities let me know. I can be contacted at missionlighthouse@gmail.com.
Thanks again.
1 person likes this
@davebrown64 (443)
• United States
4 Jan 08
Not a problem. I am not sure if Lulu does exist for China, but they do offer foreign language publications. Check it out. Good luck. Happy New Year.
@EelKat (97)
• United States
7 Jan 08
WOO-HOO! I am in the process of editing my latest book and uploading the files to LuLu. I should have the finished book in my hands nest month. I can't wait. There is nothing on it right now, but by February, my book should be on my LuLustorefront at http://stores.lulu.com/twighlightmanor
I'm still designing my storfront right now.
I love self publishing cause I get full control of such things as cover art and font layout. It's great.
Good luck with your project!
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
3 Jan 08
thank you for the information. i also dream of having my own book published. the information you shared sparks the little interest and dream i have been keeping. now you have made me thinking and dreaming again for my book. thank you once again.
@davebrown64 (443)
• United States
4 Jan 08
Great! Thanks for allowing me to inspire you. I have actually been writing since I was fifteen years old and really enjoy it. I do not concentrate on just one genre. My writing depends on my mood and what interests me at the time. Keep writing and never give up.
Happy New Year and Good Luck!
@TheLadyW (61)
• United States
3 Jan 08
I belong to a couple of writer's groups and they all say the way to go now is to self-publish. Thanks for the info about lulu.com. Sounds interesting.
Now the hard part is promoting the book--isn't the internet great for that? But you can also do book signings at bookstores, readings at a library, and in your case at a historical society or VFW. I remember someone advising "think outside of the box." For yours, does a local school or college offer a course about war time? Would they be interested in your book.
I am working on a novel that needs re-writing. That's the hard part. Hope I can discipline myself to get it done this year.
Good luck with your book!
@davebrown64 (443)
• United States
4 Jan 08
Thanks for the confidence. Thanks for the information about promoting my book. Unfortunately, at this time, I do not have my ISBN numbers so I would not be able to do book signings at book stores at the present time. What I am doing is placing business cards with the link printed on it along with some of the marketing programs that I am affiliated with. I am also promoting it within my church and to old college friends. I also have friends that carry my business cards with them and hand them out.
The idea of colleges and local high schools is great and I will let them know about the book. I also am looking at getting information about it in local newspapers.
Thanks again. Good luck with your book. I will let everyone know when I am done with book number 2 which is well on its way.
@TheLadyW (61)
• United States
4 Jan 08
By the way, John Grisham is one of my favorite authors and did you know that when he started that he was selling his books out of the trunk of his car? That's another thing I heard, whether you are going to a baseball game, doctor's office or grocery store, always have a copy of your book with you. You never know when you will find someone interested. This one person I heard say that they would "pretend" to read it at the doctor's office and say how good it was! Every little bit helps, I guess.
