mybestseller dot co dot uk

Now that I can't ghost as a guest, I'm actually logged in - post script to my experience with Mybestseller.co.uk (and the Dutch gentlemen who helped me through the setup process, ordering, printing and shipping, with the latter posing problems because of the unsuitable packaging used by one British printing/shipping outfit):

Have now received the second (and final) replacement of the book in question (damage caused in transit 2 x) - they had it printed at / shipped from a different provider, and the shipping posed no problems this time (it's a thin, hardcover, A4 book, prone to bending and corner bashing during transit). I like their quality of printing, their response to my concerns, their assistance during 'doh' moments, and their immediate replacement of books damaged in transit.

I'm stayin' ... not going back to Lulu ...

larika - I'm very pleased with Mybestseller (and Bookmundo and Sweek - sampling ...) ... and have taken a stroll down memory lane, by trying to think back to where and with whom I started my POD odyssey ... I took my first POD book off the shelf (actually the second one, the first one was truly self-published - including printing, stapling, applying the spine tape, and then hand-colouring the black and white paper cover in 1996 ... ah, those were the days ...).

However, my second one was the 'real deal' ... I don't know how I ever landed there, it was in 1999 - the year iUniverse.com was launched - I could not afford their publishing packages today - and I sure don't remember what I paid back then - I don't think it was that much.

After that, in 2002, came a stint with a Canadian/US niche publisher who utilized Booksurge.com, then in 2005 I put my other ventures, the 19th century translations, on Booksurge myself (which included ISBN and Amazon distribution, the sale of the books paid for the publishing package prices, so no problems there).

That was pre-Amazon buy-up, then I tried the Amazon version of Booksurge called Createspace (after Amazon had bought Booksurge, it revamped it and renamed it to Createspace), but in 2008 I went to Lulu.com after Createspace turned into a headache. I'm surprised Lulu lasted as long as it did before the headache started.

So, going by the past - we'll see what the future brings for Mybestseller - so far so good - :-)

Hmmm...
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Interesting update in an email from mybestseller: "It sounds crazy but Covid brought an enormous extra amount of authors, books and orders[...]"
I wonder how many of the extra authors are ex-Lulu?

A human. The biggest selling factor for me. They have wide distribution, correct? Is it free?

Mag2024 - they are like Lulu - all free, until you sell, of course (or buy your own books). As I'm retired, I don't have ISBN and distribution (never did with Lulu, either), which means my few 'self-indulgence' works are simply parked at Mybestseller, tho listed in their Mybestseller/Bookmundo/Sweek shops as I'm listing with 3 of their labels (the eggs-not-in-one-basket thing). All other books I had with Lulu (30+) are now with a publisher in Hamburg, and no longer mine - they all sell well on Amazon, now that a 'professional' is looking after them. I never had any inclination of becoming a business woman. Since my books are no longer available from Lulu (for reasons of 2020 fame), I've not bothered re-publizising them - they're now just for my own use.

I've not looked at their ISBN handling, distribution handling, taxation handling etc etc, for obvious reason, so cannot comment on that, but would say that they have to adhere to international regulations with those aspects.

Their cover designer is just like Lulu's new one - very basic; their template for the cover after you uploaded the text block is just the same as Lulu's, tho with much less rigmarole, as they do the 'background work' like adding a bleed for cutting trim, etc, without the author having to bother. Uploading my few books, including downloading PDFs from Lulu, took mere days.

Yes, human; I have thus far always received a reply when sending off an email asking a question (even questions not related to my own books). Their attention to delivering quality is wonderful - one of my books was a problematic size for its 'thinness', with predictable shipping problems - received 2 replacements before the packaging was adequate. The people who respond to emails are in Holland, the books I ordered were printed in and shipped from England. I'm very happy with them.

The planned Australian representation has been put back because of Covid ... but still intended. That's okay with me, I'm no longer in any hurry.

For easy of setting up, interface, communication, quality of books, and handling of issues, I can't fault them. If you have your own website where you point readers to, changing the link from Lulu to Mybestseller should not be difficult. That's what I've done on my website - left everything as it was, simply changed the individual links to the books from Lulu to Mybestseller. That's what I meant in another post somewhere with becoming independent from a specific cover wizard by learning how to make your own covers with the supplied template - once you know how to follow one template for making a full cover, you can make a full cover following anyone else's template, as the principle is the same.

Try it, it's free; I don't think you'll be disappointed