BellaOnline Forums Career Nonfiction Writing Self-Publishing

Many people are testing out self-publishing. Have you tried it? Have you done it on your own or used a service like Lulu? What is your experience?

Would you be willing or unwilling to self-publish and why?

Terrie,

I sthere a high cost to self publishing? Or what is the average cost?

When I am ready to publish the book I am writing I may self publish if I cannot find an established publisher.

Do you recommend self publishing?

Hi Vance and everyone - I'm an editor and help manager here at BellaOnline. I also self-publish successfully using lulu.com which costs nothing but my time and expertise in putting the parts together. I like their publishing process and the way the books are displayed.

I also published traditionally 20 years ago but I like self-publishing better because I am in control of all phases including the very important advertising aspect.

If you self-publish either get a dedicated URL of the book's title or a URL of your author name and add your book title as an ending on the URL.

Also on advertising, link a line about your book to every page of content you've ever written. I find the take rate on self-published books is about 1 in a hundred clicks.

Thank you, Susan. That was very helpful. I will definitely check out Lulu when I am ready.

Wow, Susan, those are good take rates! I just looked over your books and see some keys: Professional looking covers, very professional book descriptions (most on Lulu aren't well-done) and specialized topics.

Places like Lulu and BookSurge make this much easier to do than when you had to pay a vanity press. The one thing to be aware of is that few bookstores will carry self-published books, so you have to be very comfortable and motivated about marketing and selling on your own. There tends to be an assumption that self-published books won't be good, because many aren't, and so you have to overcome that perception with professional behavior and work. But some self-published books do go on to success, so if you have a unique topic, it's a good choice. I'd take a book there that is specialized in nature.

Thanks, Terrie! Yes, they are specialized topics and I advertise heavily on my own web pages.

I was fortunate with the Dutch book. The library system in The Netherlands asked to review it - it has a Dutch ISBN. They accepted it into their system and have placed an order. I feel very good about that.

Wow - Susan your books must be very good! Congratulations on all your self-publishing successes - I can relate to comments from both yourself and Terri. She is right about some of the book presentations being unprofessional.

The problem is that until your book is a certain length it only qualifies for chapbook or pamphlet presentation (as mine does) That is why I am concentrating on adding to mine before marketing it properly.

However, I also agree with your point about loving Lulu for its simplicity and ease. I am fond of it too.

I must say I have ordered a few of the cheaper styles I have discovered there, because I was so impressed with the writing quality - little gems such as 'Memories of Ranelagh' poems (not mine!) Better than Bookshops - but maybe Im just eccentric! - I gave them as presents.

Interesting topic!

In today's cnn.com/WorldBusiness there's a great article called "Web a Novel Way to Get Published" that talks about self-publishing being great for the niche market. It discusses the work of lulu.com and others including CreateSpace on Amazon.com.

Thanks Susan - yes I did thorough research of Amazon, Book Surge, Create Space etc - plus another very new one which escapes me - But .... guess what ? - I kept pining for dear old Lulu !

The others had various drawbacks including involved uploading processes (Cafe Press), high cost (Amazon) and low appeal - (Create Space) - for me anyhow!

I am intending to take another look at Cafe but think I will probably stick with Lulu.

I have another book on the go too "My Life with Gorillas/ er... I mean Teens (joke ! - it will be finished in August.) Really, its about the joys of bonding with your teen before he leaves home.

Oh for more time ...... ! I expect you find the same time pressures?

That's great news Susan! Congratulations