Today we move on from the opening topics that answer the question “What Exactly are online publishing sites like Lulu and CreateSpace?”, and discuss topics 3, 4 and 5–How these sites make money, and how the online process generally works. This is all part of our publishing “First things First” series…

3. Don’t worry, these sites still make money.

As stated in the previous topic, all of these sites let you use their basic online publishing tools for free. You, the author, generally have nothing to lose (other than your time) by trying out these free publishing tools.

(Side note: Because you publish for free, authors (at least in the early days of Lulu) were skeptical and apprehensive about online publishing. It’s understandable actually, because authors have been the focus of all kinds of scams over the years–whether it’s about getting published, paying to get a good book review, or paying to participate in writing contests. I’ve received a plethora of emails from concerned authors thinking that Lulu was a scam, that we were going to steal their manuscript, steal their credit card, sell their email addresses, or hit them with some exorbitant fee requirement that we purposely buried deep inside our Member Agreement. Fortunately, as more and more authors began to successfully publish and sell by utilizing our free tools, Lulu built a credible reputation that helped it earn the trust of authors all over the world.)

It’s nothing complicated, but the online publishing sites let you use their free tools in hope that you’ll provide them a revenue stream from subsequent sales of your published book.  That’s what’s sometimes referred to as “making money on the back-end,” a common practice in the Internet world. For example, if you do successfully publish your book with these free tools you’ll most likely want to buy a printed proof to review. This isn’t required–but it’s a common and responsible practice–and that’s where these sites will earn some revenue. They simply layer on an additional fee on top of the actual printing and shipping costs in order to make their business model work. Furthermore, when and if you sell your book to a buyer the site may also pull in some additional revenue. All of these sites explain the printing costs in their “Help” sections and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), and it’s critical that you understand the print costs and pricing methods before you publish. The last thing you want is a published book that costs too much for you–much less your audience–to buy.

In addition to making a little money on each book that’s printed (sold either to you or someone else who buys your book), most of these online publishing sites offer value-added services to their users. Whether it’s editing, formatting, cover art creation, illustrations, distribution or marketing services–there’s big business in providing these services to authors that were unsuccessful with the DIY approach or simply want to pay for having their book optimized and published for them. It’s a clever “win-win” business approach, since a quality book is more likely to sell and provide revenue for the site and for the author.

4. Because these sites are “online,” your book documents must be digital.

It may sound redundant, but it bears repeating that when publishing through an online site your documents must be in a digital format. For example, your finished manuscript should reside on your computer in Microsoft Word, or maybe a PDF. As you go through these publishing steps you’ll be prompted to upload your book manuscript file (certain sites require specific formats) and your cover art file. Some sites let you upload individual graphic image files for your front and back cover, while others will let you upload a single PDF cover file. With any of these online publishing sites, if you’re going the DIY route you’ll want to review the file type requirements before you register and begin publishing.

5. There’s more to online publishing than uploading documents.

By using these online tools to publish your book, you’re actually “building” your book online by uploading your digital manuscript and adding cover art. But uploading files is just the beginning since these sites offer various publishing choices. You’ll be faced with several options and questions as you proceed through these publishing steps– What size book do you want? Do you want it to be full color or black and white? Do you want a softcover book or a hardcover book? If softcover, do you want perfect binding or coil binding? If hardcover, do you want a dust jacket or case wrap? Do you want an ebook version? Again, it’s a good idea to review the site’s Help sections in advance so that you know what you want ahead of time.

Next, assuming that you’re satisfied with the research you did on printing costs you’ll want to add a “royalty” to the cost of the book. Not all online publishing sites use this specific term, but you’ll want to set a (higher) price for your book than what you’re being charged to print it. This enables you to make money when someone buys your book. You’re a published author, by golly, and real authors get paid when their book is bought! You’ll want to know how often you’ll get paid, too–some sites pay monthly, some quarterly.

Also, note that when buying your book for yourself–in bulk, for example–you won’t pay the higher price that you set. There’s no need to pay yourself a royalty when you buy your own book.

Lastly, as you reach the last steps of the publishing process you’ll have the opportunity to review the final digital file that the printers will use to print your book. Take your time and look that over in detail before you proceed, and remember–your account and files aren’t going anywhere, so you can come back at any time and proceed where you left off.

If you’ve stayed with me this far you’ll really want to hang on for tomorrow’s post, where we discuss:

6. The miracle combination–online publishing sites and POD (Print-on-Demand).
7. You finished publishing. Congratulations! (but let’s keep it quiet for now…).
8. Rinse. Repeat.

Stay tuned, and till next time–Keep Publishing!

Tags: author, authors, Blurb, book, books, Createspace, DIY Publishing, Lulu, online marketing, online publishing, POD, self-publishing, traditional publishing, Vanity press, Wordclay