Lulu Questions

Has anyone here used Lulu? I'm nearly convinced but would appreciate some input such as; did you format yourself? or use any or their services? did you purchase your own ISBN? use one of theirs? How satisfied are you on the whole? Were they easy or difficult to use? Actually any experienced information would be helpful. Like any writer, I hate to take any time away from the actual writing and am always looking for writer-friendly services in publishing. Thanks.

I used Lulu for one of my books and found it relatively easy other than the fact they had a glitch in their cover software at the time and that dragged things out.

In her anthology post, Shelagh mentioned that she had trouble uploading the manuscript because Lulu didn't like the fonts she had chosen. Fortunately, I didn't have that happen.

Lulu took care of the ISBN for an extra fee.

All in all, it was an easy enough process.

Malcolm

I used Lulu for several sports books, etc. You do the formatting yourself. What you upload is exactly what will appear in the finished product. As Malcolm said, they will supply an ISBN for a small fee. You can use one of your own, but Bowker, which sells all of them in the USA, sells only in blocks of ten so unless you have a lot of books ready to go, getting one from Lulu is your best bet. I did not use any of Lulu's other services but I feel certain they are good. It is very easy to use and they have live help available if you have an unusual problem. The finished product is excellent - but only as good as you have made it, of course.

I use Lulu a lot; I like it. Since I got broadband, it's really fast and easy.

If I have probs, they have Live Chat and I've never waited longer than 30 seconds for help. They have solved quickly any prob I encountered.

I just got my proof copy of my book of art (I used the Scrapbook option), and the printing is fabulous.

Also, you can edit and upload corrected/revised/extended files as often as you want w/o extra charges.

For small runs, Lulu is perfect.

--Melinda

My only experience with Lulu is in copies of friends' books that have been Lulu-published. All are marked by a manuscript look and not a finished book. They are paginated and little else--no headers and are ragged right. Is this the look of Lulu's no cost service, and does Lulu offer a more polished format and appearance, perhaps at cost to the author?

Jim Woods
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I just uploaded my new book Banshee Angel Of Judgement to Lulu and I've printed both my other books through them as well. I doubt I would ever have been published if it wasn't for Lulu as I had all but given up after years of rejections, though I still love writing which seems renewed through my experience with Lulu.

Jim, Lulu prints exactly what you upload. If you do a professional job, the result is a professional book. If you just upload any old thing and any old way, that is what the finished product will be. It is strictly a do-it-yourself operation so the final result depends upon how much effort you put into it and whether or not you know what you are doing.

Thanks, Dick. I had begun to assume such was the case.

Jim Woods
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everyone. I appreciate your input. Lulu, so far, sounds like the way to go.