I need help!

@krupar5 (287)
United States
July 10, 2012 9:26pm CST
I have decided that I am going to write an autobiography for my children. I want them to know who I am and the experiences I have lived through. I am wondering if there is anywhere in the U.S. that will just publish a few books.
3 responses
• United States
11 Jul 12
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Don't use a vanity press!!! They are a huge rip off for what you are wanting to do (they're a huge rip off anyway). Go with a self publisher like Lulu or CreateSpace. If you are just buying them to give away to your family, you can get them done for pretty cheap - just kind of guessing here but I think you can get them published for as little as $5-6 a piece plus shipping, depending on how elaborate and fancy you want to get with them. Different weights and types of paper cost more, color illustrations cost more, different kinds of bindings...that kind of thing but you can buy as many or as few (1) as you want at a time. A vanity press will require you buy a certain number at a reduced retail price (with a self publisher you pay whatever it costs to have it made) and won't give you any real publishing liberties (for example, they'll have cover templates where you insert your title and name, whereas a self publisher will let you design your own cover art and upload it...or you can use their templates too but you don't have to).
@krupar5 (287)
• United States
12 Jul 12
Thank you for your advice. I will definitely look at the other alternatives. I do not want anything fancy, but I do want something that will last. I never heard of CreateSpace so I will lok into them as well.
• United States
12 Jul 12
I've not done anything with CreateSpace but it's owned by Amazon so while I don't know what their pricing scale is, I can assume they are trustworthy.
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
11 Jul 12
Heck. If this is a project for you and your children and you're not trying to make the biased Times' bestsellers' list, then I say you should just create an eBook/kindle and publish it yourself. No cost. Just use Word, convert to PDF, upload to Amazon and other sites around the web to sell it, create a site and offer a 50% commission for affiliates to push it for you, etc.
@krupar5 (287)
• United States
12 Jul 12
That is a very interesting. I did not know you were able to do that. Thank you for the idea, but I would like it to be a book so my children can keep it. I do not intend to write for commission though. Perhaps one day I will. Thanks for responding.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
11 Jul 12
There are places called "vanity press" companies that might. Do a search for self publishing, too. I know you can get it done, but I'm not sure what you call it. You might want to check with lulu.com or Amazon to see what their publishing requirements are.