lessy
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by lessy on Jun 20, 2024 11:20:23 GMT
Hello there,
I am new to the Lulu community and I am excited to be here. I have been working on my first novel for the past two years and I am finally ready to take the plunge into self-publishing. I have done quite a bit of research and Lulu seems like a great platform; but I still have some questions and could use advice from those of you who have experience with Lulu.
First; I am curious about the formatting process. How easy or difficult is it to format your manuscript for Lulus print and ebook options? Are there any common pitfalls or issues I should be aware of? I have read that having a properly formatted manuscript is crucial, and I want to make sure I get it right.
Second; I am wondering about cover design. Did you design your own cover or hire a professional? If you designed it yourself; what tools did you use? If you hired someone, do you have any recommendations for designers who are familiar with Lulu's specifications?
Another concern I have is about marketing and distribution. How effective has Lulu been in getting your book out there? Do you have any tips on marketing strategies that have worked well for you? I am planning to use social media and my personal network, but I would love to hear about other methods that have been successful.
Lastly; any general advice for a first time author using Lulu would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure I avoid common mistakes and set myself up for the best possible outcome.
Thank you all in advance for your help and assistance.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Jun 20, 2024 12:45:35 GMT
Go get 'em Lessy! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Lulu provides MSWord templates that you can paste your manuscript directly into. That's how I did my first one and, other than a few hiccups with my own unfamiliarity with Word at the time, it went smoothly. At that time, Lulu's old system would convert it into PDF for you. Now, you must do the conversion yourself, which is very simple with a free add-on to Word called NovaPDF. Simple. Even if you have trouble with the templates, they can serve as great guide for doing you own formatting. Personally, I have done my own covers because it's fun and a great learning experience. I just patch together the images using various tools such as GIMP and LviewPro and Paint then put them into a Word document and convert to PDF. Lulu provides the barcode for the ISBN that you can paste right in. If you don't want to deal with the cover, I know that forum member Maggie (Mag2024) does/did really nice covers in the past. I would encourage you to contact her. Nice gal.
Marketing is all on YOU. Lulu is very good about distributing the information and files to produce your books to Amazon, Ingram, etc. and an internet search will definitely show the many sellers who pick up the Lulu distribution and will provide your book to customers, but that does NOT mean that anyone in the world knows your books exist. In other words, Lulu makes them available everywhere, but if no one knows they exist, then no one will buy them. Lulu and Amazon and Ingram will print them, but it is up to you to advertise them!
Best of luck, Lessy! And welcome to the (sleepy) forum! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by potet on Jun 20, 2024 16:44:22 GMT
You have to opt for a format, for instance 6 x 9 inches. The total number of pages must be divisible by 4. The rest is plain sailing.
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Post by And still Kevin 2024 on Jun 21, 2024 0:34:07 GMT
Hello there,
I am new to the Lulu community and I am excited to be here. I have been working on my first novel for the past two years and I am finally ready to take the plunge into self-publishing. I have done quite a bit of research and Lulu seems like a great platform; but I still have some questions and could use advice from those of you who have experience with Lulu.
Well, this is for publishing anywhere :-)
First; I am curious about the formatting process. How easy or difficult is it to format your manuscript for Lulus print and ebook options?
There's a lot of Help files on Lulu, I spent a lot of time reading them. Plus quite a few guides on YouTube, some about using Lulu's Wizard tools. There's also a lot of advice and guides on line elsewhere (but many are on sites trying to sell you a service as the bottom line!) It's not at all easy to create pages that look like what you expect to see in a pro-published book. Like everything else, it's a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, a bit at a time, you can do it in your sleep. Do be aware that the manuscript for an e-book is unlike one for a printed book. But one for the former is easier to create.
Are there any common pitfalls or issues I should be aware of? I have read that having a properly formatted manuscript is crucial, and I want to make sure I get it right.
It's totally crucial, if you don't just want to become one of the reasons self-publishing still has a stigma.
Second; I am wondering about cover design. Did you design your own cover or hire a professional? If you designed it yourself; what tools did you use?
I do my own, but I am an artist, graphic, fine, commercial or otherwise. I use Paintshop Pro 95 (from 1995!) freehand. But there's more to a cover than art. What does it 'say' to the viewer? Although a cover is not as important as it once was, it still has to look professional. Remarkably there's a site called Fiver or summat, where you can get one designed for, wait for it - $5. Although if you like what that artist does and want to use them again, for cover 2 they may ask $500 and more.
If you hired someone, do you have any recommendations for designers who are familiar with Lulu's specifications?
You simply tell them Lulu's specs. But basically they are common book sizes and either PDFs or jpegs. Whereas for an ePub they are all one fixed size. But to find a designer, look for one who has a site that shows their wares.
Another concern I have is about marketing and distribution. How effective has Lulu been in getting your book out there?
The free Lulu ISBN and distribution does exactly what such devices should do, spread you across the world on book sites (not brick shops). But it does not mean they will sell! Do you have any tips on marketing strategies that have worked well for you? I am planning to use social media and my personal network, but I would love to hear about other methods that have been successful.
There's a vast amount of advice about such on line, not to mention places that claim they can market your book for you. A lot depends on just what it is you are writing.
Lastly; any general advice for a first time author using Lulu would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure I avoid common mistakes and set myself up for the best possible outcome.
Maybe the common mistake is using self-publishing in the first place?! Mainly via Print on Demand, because it is very expensive, which makes it hard to compete with similar books created by major publishing houses.
Thank you all in advance for your help and assistance.
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Post by Mag2024 on Jun 26, 2024 0:44:13 GMT
Go get 'em Lessy! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Lulu provides MSWord templates that you can paste your manuscript directly into. That's how I did my first one and, other than a few hiccups with my own unfamiliarity with Word at the time, it went smoothly. At that time, Lulu's old system would convert it into PDF for you. Now, you must do the conversion yourself, which is very simple with a free add-on to Word called NovaPDF. Simple. Even if you have trouble with the templates, they can serve as great guide for doing you own formatting. Personally, I have done my own covers because it's fun and a great learning experience. I just patch together the images using various tools such as GIMP and LviewPro and Paint then put them into a Word document and convert to PDF. Lulu provides the barcode for the ISBN that you can paste right in. If you don't want to deal with the cover, I know that forum member Maggie (Mag2024) does/did really nice covers in the past. I would encourage you to contact her. Nice gal.
Marketing is all on YOU. Lulu is very good about distributing the information and files to produce your books to Amazon, Ingram, etc. and an internet search will definitely show the many sellers who pick up the Lulu distribution and will provide your book to customers, but that does NOT mean that anyone in the world knows your books exist. In other words, Lulu makes them available everywhere, but if no one knows they exist, then no one will buy them. Lulu and Amazon and Ingram will print them, but it is up to you to advertise them!
Best of luck, Lessy! And welcome to the (sleepy) forum! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) That's very sweet, Blue. Thank you. Incidentally, I just moved into a new place and was unpacking my collection of books. Among them are Castle's Keeper and 13 Creepy Rhymes. It made me smile to see them.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Jun 27, 2024 13:12:28 GMT
It made me smile to hear they made you smile! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Thank you!
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