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Post by Rob on Jun 17, 2020 12:25:32 GMT
Thanks benziger, it seems a while ago now but one of the alternatives was Draft2Digital, their main unit being the ebook, however I think they are planning to include print books in the near future. Unfortunately I can`t remember my second alternative.
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Post by benziger on Jun 18, 2020 13:56:50 GMT
Blurb- costs extra to remove the Blurb logo - the price page does not show it to me (only white) - They distribute with Ingram, so I can go directly to Ingram. - high postage (shiping a paperback to Switzerland costs 19€ Economy = 14 days or 26€ Priority = 12 days)*
* following shipping calculator on the website
IngramSpark- free ISBN or your own - was super easy - similar to Lulu - no setup costs with coupon code (so I publish my books when the next code* is available) - very broad distribution network - simple cover design (at the end you can download a template for your project; opened in Gimp; cover created in a new layer above; saved and uploaded) *INGRAMSPARK2020 (until end of June, new coupon in autumn)
Streetlib - e-book - audio book - print is coming again, but no shure when - large distribution outside the U.S. - no setup costs - European based (Italy)
My evaluation: This could be a great provider, if printed books are possible again and a few reasonable trim sizes including different landscape.
New information added in July: print is available now for 49€ upset fee.
Epubli - only their ISBN, in return, they deliver a deposit copy to the German National Library at no cost - site in German only - greatest selection in landscape trim sizes - distribution also in D-A-CH-FL book shops - no setup costs
My evaluation: This would be my home supplier, if he would only accept my own ISBN. The range of sizes seems generous.
Draft2Digital - print is coming (there is a link to print beta, if you need print now) - free ISBN or your own ISBN - no setup costs
Mybestseller - no setup costs - ISBN is about 12€ - European based (Netherlands) - large distribution, including bookshops in D-A-CH-FL
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jun 18, 2020 18:46:26 GMT
First thing IngramSpark wanted to know was my business (I'm retired) and the second, my bank details. Why do US outfits always want to know everyone's bank details? No Paypal at IngramSpark? Couldn't go any further to find out without entering my bank details. Not for me. Also, it seems that without a coupon, a book setup is not free. I'm not one to pay for the privilege of having worked hard before I see a book. It might sound odd but part of the reason businesses based in the U.S. ask for details like your line of business or at times bank details is kind of simple, the War on Terror.
Due to the U.S. Patriot Act there are a lot of transactions here that require a business to enter Drivers' License numbers to help ensure both the identity of the individual involved as well as to make certain funds aren't from a drug or terror related source.
Bank details make it easier to both comply with the law here as well as save both the business and the individual on the other end some money.
Due to the War on Drugs, you can take US$9,999 in cash to deposit in the bank, but if you take in US$10,000 in cash to deposit there's a special form to fill out to help verify the cash didn't come from drug sales.
The last time I got pulled over by a cop years ago I was asked: "You're not wanted in California for ax-murdering anyone, are you?"
I replied: "No sir, I'm not. But I do have an ex-wife out there..."
The cop replied, smiling: "I don't need to hear any more, I already ran your license and you're free to go."
Life can get tedious here at times.
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Post by Rob on Jun 18, 2020 18:51:39 GMT
Nice comparisons benziger, none are on a par with the old Lulu by the looks of it at the moment  |
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Post by And still Kevin 2024 on Jul 1, 2020 2:06:17 GMT
I am not keen on sites that explain to you what they do, and what you can do, and insist you open an account to have a good delve at any Wizards they may have. Lulu was better because you could actually look at the entire system for oneself, read 1000s of help pages, and a few videos, and a forum. Although that's changed now.
If you search on line for self Publishing companies the list is huge, but many sites do a Top 10 (or more) but, often they mostly list companies who are not so much Self as - hand over your pages and your dosh and they will do it - and, on many list sites, that includes Lulu. That can only be classed as self-publishing if it means not being taken on by a publisher, at their expense. To me, Self means do as much as you can yourself, hence the word, Self. That was the beauty of Lulu (and to some degree, Createspace/KDP) you prepare your stuff, upload it to Wizards you could control, and Books your uncle. And then with the free ISBNs, the Internet is your 'family'.
I have to be honest, when I get around to finishing my next book, it could be the last at Lulu (at least for printed books) and only then because it's the last of a long series. I think I will move on to CreateSpace/KDP, where I already publish Kindle books.
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Post by tasmanianartist on Jul 2, 2020 7:11:21 GMT
Retired all projects, except 3 free PDFs (e-books), and went to mybestseller.co.uk, sweek.com, and bookmundo.de. Since they all are an arm of miynbestseller.nl (a Dutch POD company) the software is all the same. Simple, without heavyhanded 'war on terror' disguised dips into my privacy; paypal address and physical address sufficed. Setup with jpgs and PDFs is VERY easy (smoother in fact than the old Lulu wizzards, and thus even more user-friendly) - personal contact to smooth out some details (no auto-responders), and no endless error messages to re-do everything ... and that's that. Time to do all this (redo cover to fit new company templates, re-upload everything .......) inside one week. It was fun with Lulu while it lasted, but the long-drawn-out mischief got to me. Still missing my 10 large, thick, full-edge-to-edge-colour coffee-table photo books, thankyouverymuch. Guessing by all the 'what's new at Lulu' information, I'll never see them again. I got a copy of all of them while they existed - they'll one day enter the 'rare books' list I guess ... I'll pop in and lurk about here occasionally, nevertheless, as by default (by dint of my 3 free e-books) I'm still tethered to Lulu.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2020 9:06:02 GMT
I decided to try Lulu for my latest book and after many failed attempts at making an all-in-one cover, but with the help and encouragement of people here, I finally made my book. I've ordered a copy and await the book with fingers crossed.I think Lulu are slowly getting it together. I was so happy to see the "delete" button. My projects list was cluttered up with attempts at a cover in various formats. Now I've deleted those attempts. I agree benziger, I would "prefer to stay with Lulu." Hopefully I can.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2020 10:26:51 GMT
Retired all projects, except 3 free PDFs (e-books), and went to mybestseller.co.uk, sweek.com, and bookmundo.de. Since they all are an arm of miynbestseller.nl (a Dutch POD company) the software is all the same. Simple, without heavyhanded 'war on terror' disguised dips into my privacy; paypal address and physical address sufficed. Setup with jpgs and PDFs is VERY easy (smoother in fact than the old Lulu wizzards, and thus even more user-friendly) - personal contact to smooth out some details (no auto-responders), and no endless error messages to re-do everything ... and that's that. Time to do all this (redo cover to fit new company templates, re-upload everything .......) inside one week. It was fun with Lulu while it lasted, but the long-drawn-out mischief got to me. Still missing my 10 large, thick, full-edge-to-edge-colour coffee-table photo books, thankyouverymuch. Guessing by all the 'what's new at Lulu' information, I'll never see them again. I got a copy of all of them while they existed - they'll one day enter the 'rare books' list I guess ... I'll pop in and lurk about here occasionally, nevertheless, as by default (by dint of my 3 free e-books) I'm still tethered to Lulu. Congratulations, Tasmanianartist. Let us know how the sales compare and any coupon codes that arise. Anything you might think useful. |
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Post by benziger on Jul 2, 2020 12:10:46 GMT
Retired all projects, except 3 free PDFs (e-books), and went to mybestseller.co.uk, You may promote them in the Book announcement and promotion tread, tasmanianartistStill missing my 10 large, thick, full-edge-to-edge-colour coffee-table photo books, thankyouverymuch. Guessing by all the 'what's new at Lulu' information, I'll never see them again. I got a copy of all of them while they existed - they'll one day enter the 'rare books' list I guess ... I'll pop in and lurk about here occasionally, nevertheless, as by default (by dint of my 3 free e-books) I'm still tethered to Lulu. I hope for you that in September or October you can download the ten coffee table books as pdf. |
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Post by benziger on Jul 2, 2020 12:12:25 GMT
I decided to try Lulu for my latest book and after many failed attempts at making an all-in-one cover, but with the help and encouragement of people here, I finally made my book. I've ordered a copy and await the book with fingers crossed.I think Lulu are slowly getting it together. I was so happy to see the "delete" button. My projects list was cluttered up with attempts at a cover in various formats. Now I've deleted those attempts. I agree benziger, I would "prefer to stay with Lulu." Hopefully I can. You may promote your book in the Book announcement and promotion tread, larika as soon as you get your copy. |
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Post by tasmanianartist on Jul 3, 2020 6:26:53 GMT
Retired all projects, except 3 free PDFs (e-books), and went to mybestseller.co.uk, sweek.com, and bookmundo.de. Since they all are an arm of miynbestseller.nl (a Dutch POD company) the software is all the same. Simple, without heavyhanded 'war on terror' disguised dips into my privacy; paypal address and physical address sufficed. Setup with jpgs and PDFs is VERY easy (smoother in fact than the old Lulu wizzards, and thus even more user-friendly) - personal contact to smooth out some details (no auto-responders), and no endless error messages to re-do everything ... and that's that. Time to do all this (redo cover to fit new company templates, re-upload everything .......) inside one week. It was fun with Lulu while it lasted, but the long-drawn-out mischief got to me. Still missing my 10 large, thick, full-edge-to-edge-colour coffee-table photo books, thankyouverymuch. Guessing by all the 'what's new at Lulu' information, I'll never see them again. I got a copy of all of them while they existed - they'll one day enter the 'rare books' list I guess ... I'll pop in and lurk about here occasionally, nevertheless, as by default (by dint of my 3 free e-books) I'm still tethered to Lulu. Congratulations, Tasmanianartist. Let us know how the sales compare and any coupon codes that arise. Anything you might think useful. - As I'm quite retired from writing/publishing/anything book, except to keep a 'valid, available copy' online, my involvement will be very infrequent; but I will share anything I think might be of use to anyone in this forum (it's been quite helpful here) / @ benziger - yes, my paypal balance is never more than about AUD200 - a bit of pocket money. It pays for the occasional online purchase and the yearly domain fee. Thanks about the book promotions tip, and the hope that later in the year I might recover the photo book pdfs - that would be smashing. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 14:29:52 GMT
Congratulations, Tasmanianartist. Let us know how the sales compare and any coupon codes that arise. Anything you might think useful. - As I'm quite retired from writing/publishing/anything book, except to keep a 'valid, available copy' online, my involvement will be very infrequent; but I will share anything I think might be of use to anyone in this forum (it's been quite helpful here) / @ benziger - yes, my paypal balance is never more than about AUD200 - a bit of pocket money. It pays for the occasional online purchase and the yearly domain fee. Thanks about the book promotions tip, and the hope that later in the year I might recover the photo book pdfs - that would be smashing. You can ask Lulu staff for the PDF files. Winter asked for his and was given them. Raise a support ticket, ask super politely and humanly as possible since support staff probably have burnout at this point, and the person on the other end might go above and beyond to find a way to retrieve your files. You have nothing to lose. Just be prepared for a five or six week wait.
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Post by tasmanianartistNotLoggedIn on Jul 9, 2020 4:55:15 GMT
Thanks Maggie; I'll be exceedingly humane and give them a little more time to 'migrate' the photo books, whatever that entails. If I can see the small-sized photo books, which might fit into the coming offerings of trim sizes, then I'll traumatize them with a request for the humungous PDFs. Cheers.
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Post by And still Kevin 2024 on Jul 13, 2020 17:34:22 GMT
The POD world is getting to be even more competitive and usually places like Lulu's Facebook page are nothing more than adverts. So they of course do not want competitors mentioned on it, at least not to try to tell people they are better than Lulu. I have only looked at Lulu's page there once, do they even allow complaints that cannot be rectified by a friendly reply to make it look as if they care? Once, Lulu's own forums allowed totally honest discussions about Lulu as long as they were not simply slagging Lulu off. Eventually it was frowned on to be too honest, and even more eventually, the forums vanished. It is hard to believe that Lulu's forums would have allowed this on it >> www.trustpilot.com/review/www.lulu.com and apparently such judgments are being deleted from Lulu at Facebook? |
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Post by benziger on Jul 13, 2020 20:54:47 GMT
No And still Kevin 2024, that would never have happened on the old Lulu forum. We both know that. There were several reasons.
First, there were several Lulu staff members who regularly read along, but also answered questions and participated in the discussions. In such an environment, it's quite normal to discuss issues openly, but with the necessary decency and restraint.
But if such a place no longer exists, the support only answers automatically and complaints on Facebook remain uncommented and deleted after 7 days, it doesn't surprise me that one or the other of them takes the tone. |
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