|
|
Post by Ken on May 2, 2021 7:24:23 GMT
Why do you use Lulu or more specifically why do you use Print on Demand?
The question is about how and what for do you self publish.
Please don’t confuse things as to using Lulu or not using Lulu but other companies.
People will often have different reasons and it would be nice to discuss them in this thread.
Also by self publish I include design, typesetting, cover design and publishing for oneself as sell as others. For example I know that Ron designs covers and that both Maggie and I over the years produced hundreds of books for various authors.
So I would speculate that by and far the vast majority are one time author/writers who have a story they want to see in print.
Then there are those who seem to want to make an income although the chances of making very much seem remote to me.
Specialist topics peculiar to different groups of people can also attract them to self publishing where the quantities printed at any one time are not large.
Looking at my own portfolio the vast majority of my books have been for individual authors where I have designed and typeset their work but helped publish them on their own accounts under their own names. Other works fall roughly into two categories firstly specific areas/eras of military history and secondly those of a highly technical engineering bias such as Radar, and of course in the early days a number of tutorials in how to use Lulu.
|
|
|
|
Post by potet on May 2, 2021 9:13:53 GMT
I write three types of books. For each I write the text and design the cover. They are my own creations. I have never published any book by another person. Only a small readership is interested in my scholarly books on Tagalog (Philippines). My other books have never had any appeal to anybody. I also write private books for myself and my family, such as my paternal grandparents' biography. Print-on-demand is the natural option for the three categories. So far Lulu Press has proved the best POD company despite the vast changes that took place in 2020, and involved the deletion of the cover wizard, that was one of its fortes. My latest creation:  |
|
|
|
Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on May 2, 2021 14:21:51 GMT
If one considers that Traditional Publishers only publish 1 to 2% of the MSS they receive each year, the logic behind Self Publishing is easy to see. Editors know what they want to see and have been known to turn down good work based on their preferences.
The problem with Self Publishing is the number of people with little if any writing ability who are convinced they have a best-seller making it harder for serious writers.
I do the SP thing because no matter how often editors says they want to publish new voices, mine isn't one of the voices they want to hear.
|
|
|
|
Post by benziger on May 2, 2021 16:07:22 GMT
Benziger Émosson is a small publishing house. Neither am I Mr Benziger (they have been dead for a long time), nor do I live in Émosson (that has been flooded for a long time). Yes, of course, there are one or two books that I have written. The first books were handmade and are most out of print. New editions are only partly planned. Because what I produced in small editions in my younger years, for example as Christmas gifts, was not compatible with copyright law in all cases. Other treasures still need to be lifted and digitised.
- Benziger Education: scientific publications and books for teaching purposes
- Benziger Émosson: Helvetica, partly in Alemannic
- Bandeko Benziger Aketi: books in Lingala
Local history publications can be printed and sold at an event. Then it's over. With print on demand, you can get into the long tail, i.e. still be available for years, even if only one book is sold every blue moon. Besides, there are always the most curious customers. Someone who is interested in something local from the other side of the world and has never been to my event or to the local museum where the book was offered.
With the books in Lingala, it's one thing. The big market would be Congo with over 80 million inhabitants, at least a quarter of whom speak Lingala. But (almost) nobody reads there and there is no real distribution. The biggest chain of book shops has about five shops in the capital town and eight in the rest of the country - one for every 10 millions... The usual print-on-demand services do not deliver there either. I will not explain our business model in detail now, as we are in the start-up phase. But print on demand will play a big role there (Ken could guess why). When the time comes, it won't be a secret, you'll see it when I present books in the promotion thread that you can't read...
In summary: I will not get rich. It's more matters of the heart. Things that should be published. If now and then some pocket money comes out, that's nice. But not budgeted. Everything had been built up with Lulu for years and in April 2020 the own ISBN would have been added. But now it will take a little longer, with fewer middle men.
|
|
|
|
Post by potet on May 3, 2021 9:41:44 GMT
Benziger wrote: "With the books in Lingala, it's one thing. The big market would be Congo with over 80 million inhabitants, at least a quarter of whom speak Lingala. But (almost) nobody reads there and there is no real distribution. The biggest chain of book shops has about five shops in the capital town and eight in the rest of the country - one for every 10 millions... The usual print-on-demand services do not deliver there either. I will not explain our business model in detail now, as we are in the start-up phase. But print on demand will play a big role there (Ken could guess why). When the time comes, it won't be a secret, you'll see it when I present books in the promotion thread that you can't read..."
Wow! That's quite a venture. Congratulations. I remember that for a long time Japanese books in Japanese and Japanese books in English on things Japanese were hard to find in Europe. Eventually Tuttle signed a contract with a Swiss company, and sent them bulks of books. From France, I could order a book from the Swiss company, and it reached me fairly quickly. I paid them with a postal order (no internet at that time). Things have changed. Now there are a couple of Japanese bookstores in Paris.
So, in your case, the solution would be to sign a contract with the biggest bookstore company in Congo, and deliver them books in bulk. At the beginning, it would be a venture. You'd lose money, but once your books in Lingala are known to exist and be available from the local bookstores there will be a growing demand.
|
|
