How to Make Your Dreams of Being a Published Author Come True

Not so long ago before the advent of Print on Demand publishing, getting a book published was a dream that not many were able to achieve. In a world where only a select few got their foot in the door, publishing, unless you were willing to pay thousands of dollars to pay a printer to print hundreds of copies of your masterpiece, remained only an unfulfilled dream for most. That is until the computer age caught up with the publishing industry with Print on Demand technology.

While Print on Demand made publishing a bit more accessible, it was still expensive. I had a close friend who paid nearly $2,000 to get her book published with one of the larger Print on Demand publishers. As far as I was concerned paying that kind of money was out of the question. One I didn't have it, and two even if I did, no way was I going to spend it. There were better things to spend my money on, like say necessities. So, I began surfing the internet for a Print on Demand publisher that didn't want you to pay an arm and a leg to get your book published. I didn't hold out much hope that I was going to find one, but I had to at least make the attempt. Imagine my surprise when not only did I find a low cost POD publisher, but I found one that I could publish with for free!

Lulu Press Inc. is the POD publisher that I chose to publish my first three books with, and there has been no going back since then. The beauty of Lulu is that you can publish with them for free in both print and e-book format, and no product is created until someone orders it. Another great thing about Lulu is that they don't just publish books, you can publish brochures, CD's, DVD's, photo books, and calendars with them as well!

Now, while all this is great, there is a downside as well. The downside is that if you want to have your book offered on Amazon and or Barnes and Noble you will have to pay a fee in order to get it listed in Ingrams, the catalog used by bookstores to choose which books they are going to carry. Unfortunately, paying the fee is not a guarantee your book will appear online at Amazon and other online booksellers. However, most books listed do make it onto the Amazon and B & N online bookstores. I have yet to hear of anyone say their book didn't show up there when listed in Ingrams.

Another nice thing that Lulu has is the option to be Published by Lulu, meaning you sell your books through Lulu and through online stores such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Or you can choose the option Published by You which gives you the option of being the publisher named on your book, but of still selling through Lulu and the other online stores. The first option costs $99.95, and the second costs $149.95. Personally, for me I'd choose to keep the extra $50 for marketing or something like that. But some people like the option of being able to use a publisher name that they themselves chose.

A second downside is that you have to do your own cover art, or find someone who can do the cover art for you. Lulu does offer some generic covers, but personally I don't use them because I don't want my covers to look "generic." Still it's nice that they offer this, and if you really have no idea how to put a cover together, or know anyone that can do it for you for a reasonable price or help you do it, at least you still have options.

Lulu offers other optional services and products as well, some free, some not. They can put you in contact with people who will do a professional cover for you, help you market your books, edit your book and create marketing materials. Most of these have additional costs. However, they also offer free e-books on how to market your book, and information on how to write a press release for example.

In addition, Lulu has finally made the store fronts really user friendly! It used to be a real pain to set up and edit your storefront, and it took me several tries to get mine the way I wanted. However, as always Lulu keeps looking for ways to improve their website and make it one where authors want to be. So, this latest upgrade now has a storefront that you can drop and drag sections around the page until you have them the way you want them. You can add a picture to the header, and you can change the color of fonts and backgrounds! All of which make Lulu's storefronts that much easier to both navigate and edit until you get the look you want.

Finally, Lulu's download interface is very easy to use, and you don't have to create a PDF file for your document first, the interface does that for you which makes for a very quick and easy publication process.

I have been publishing with Lulu for the last two years, and I'm happy to say that my experiences with them have been nothing but positive. Due to the experience I gained by publishing with them in both the writing, marketing and book cover creation arena, I recently signed my first book contract with a traditional publisher. So, if you want to be published, and you thought you had to wait until a traditional publisher picked up your book look no further because Lulu is the answer to your publishing dreams. I know it was the answer to mine!