We’re on for another 7pm self-publishing meetup tonight at Caribou Coffee, and this time we’ll walk through the free book publishing sites like Lulu and Createspace.  We’ll also touch on the latest in ebook publishing.

Lulu Engineers Working Their Magic

As I’ve often stated in this blog, self-publishing may be rocket science–but you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to self-publish. The engineers and developers that I worked with at Lulu were the best in their field, and our goal was to build a site that the casual Internet user could use to self-publish their book. Over the years that dream has become a reality, and sites like Lulu and Createspace have brought free self-publishing to the masses.

Easier publishing, however, doesn’t necessarily correlate with publishing success. I liken the publishing revolution to the online stock trading phenomenon of the late 90’s, in that anyone could buy and sell stock with the click of a mouse. Did these improvements in online trading technologies make us all richer? I don’t think so, and in fact the reverse might have been true.

The benefits of success, whether it’s in self-publishing or in online trading, come to those who think, ponder, weigh, research, and plan far in advance of that final “click.” Just like an ill-conceived stock trade might cause you to lose several thousand dollars, a book with bad editing, disjointed presentation, confusing layout or a slap-shod cover can kill your chances for publishing success.

None of us want that, and your readers deserve better.

In our previous meetups we’ve covered some of the critical decisions and activities that can maximize your self-publishing results, including pre-publishing and document formatting. In tonight’s meetup we’ll discuss some of the specifics about Lulu and Createspace–how they work, their advantages (and disadvantages), and what you should know before you decide to use them.

I hope you can make it! If you’re not local, just try to catch one of my free online webinars listed on my site, PublishandSell.com.  Still have questions? Just shoot me an email at hhutton@publishandsell.com or give me a call at 919-247-1832.

Until next time–keep publishing!

Henry Hutton
PublishandSell.com
hhutton@publishandsell.com
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