Chris A. Baird | November 5, 2020
Is Lulu Self Publishing Any Good?

You may not be so familiar with Lulu but I can tell you more about it based on my experience. Learn more about self-publishing and whether or not is Lulu self publishing any good.

Today's question has three answers and you are going to want to stick around for the third answer. Because it's a secret as to in what areas Lulu is a perfect place to do self-publishing.

So, let's get into it. The question that was sent to me today was, is Lulu self publishing any good? This is a question that many self-publishers are wondering about when you are first getting started.

There are so many places that you can publish your books. You are trying to figure out which one will be right for you. But not only that, which types of books should you use these different services to get the best results.

One of the biggest problems that we experience though is that we can spend so much time trying to make the correct choice the first time. That we simply don't jump in and just publish somewhere.

The pain that is experienced when we do this is actually high. We begin to feel a little bit like a failure because we are spending so much time studying and researching to figure out what is the perfect location to do something.

Check out this related article: Where To Self Publish eBooks?

We simply have decision fatigue and we end up publishing absolutely nothing. One of the first rules is if we are not shipping a product like your books onto the market, then you're going to be losing.

We feel that researching a lot and learning about all of the different options that somehow counts as performing and getting your product onto the market and it does not but it is a very painful experience.

I for one have fallen into this specific trap. I know that feeling of realizing, wait for a second all of this training and learning that I'm doing counts for nothing if I don't put it into action.

But before we get into today's answers, check out my completely free Self-Publishing Secrets Checklist. It will make sure you are not skipping in any of the important steps necessary to win at self-publishing.

Let me tell you a little bit about my own story. I wanted to create a course and this was because I had spent so much time self-publishing that I thought of getting it onto the market.

But the problem was I chose a branding that was completely off. It did not match what I was trying to do. It wasn't so much related to self-publishing but maybe more towards like passive income or something along those lines.

It's The Cheapest Route

I didn't realize that in the process, I was no longer targeting a specific market. That was a huge mistake with regards to what I was doing. The problem is that what was at stake was I would not be making any sales and just failing at it.

I came in contact with somebody from the story brand company who was able to show the model to me and pointed out that I was going to need to completely rebrand. That was going to be a real pain but I understood that in the long run, it's very important.

This is true also with your books. Making sure that they are also branded and it's coming along if you are going to break off and do a separate secondary title or brand. Then you are going to want to ideally create a secondary pen name.

But this was a mistake that I was making, it was completely off. The thing is I've rebuilt my entire brand which you now see under selfpublishingmadeeasynow.com. I have seen the sales expand as a result of that decision.

I other words, I can help a lot more people when I'm focused on just self-publishing and not so much on the other stuff. About how to set up a business and how to structure these sorts of things.

But looking at the self-publishing aspect of it and then the rest flows out from there and that was a big lesson for me. Sometimes, we need to make mistakes but have to jump in and try. When it comes to Lulu, this exact lesson applies.

Is lulu self publishing any good? Is it the right place for you? That's what we're going to answer today. But at least jumping in is a very key issue here.

Check out this related article: Where Can You Find A Lulu Self Publishing Coupon Code?

So the first answer is yes when it comes to Lulu, it is especially the best place on the internet to publish your hardback books. There are some reasons for that exact reason.

The second answer is it's the cheapest route. They will supply you with the ISBN that you are going to need to get your book out onto the market as painlessly as possible. So, you don't have to buy the ISBN which costs $150 each, we can just skip that right from the start.

Another one is your proof copy. You will have to pay for that but it's only about $18 to $20 for each proof copy for your hardback books. Then the templates are very straightforward when you're doing the covers for your books on Lulu.

If you are not familiar with Photoshop there is also a free software called GIMP. You can use that to grab a template that they have. Then you just simply move your items around until everything is lined up properly and you can submit your book cover on that particular route.

It does take a little bit of practice and that is a skill set you are going to want to figure out. You need to figure out how to do in terms of making the covers yourself for your paperback or hardback books.

We Can Diversify

The final one is you can reuse your paperback PDFs so the ones that you made for KDP Print and even Ingram Spark, you are going to be able to reuse those exact copy of books. Those things can be used directly when it comes to your hardback books, you don't need to reformat anything.

This is something that many people don't know. Even though this is only the second answer, that's a secret. It is that most people don't realize you can just reuse the files over and over and over. Then they are on all of these platforms distributing your books very widely.

The important thing here is that your books also will be on Amazon. But the secret answer of the day is that we use each publishing service for whatever it is best at.

We can diversify so if an account is under threat or if one of these companies decides to drop our royalty rates, we have plenty of money coming in through our other accounts on these other services. So we should use each service for what it does best.

But remember when you put your Lulu books out onto the market, you can ask Amazon to link it up to your paperback, eBook, and audiobook formats. These will all link together smoothly so that you're making sales on Amazon.

Check out this related article: Self Publishing Lulu VS Amazon?

So, if Amazon were to freeze your account, the money will continue to come in through Lulu, Ingram Spark, and these other places. The diversification makes it a very very powerful site.

Now, it is true that you can also use Lulu to doing things like your paperbacks. You can also do your eBooks and a whole series of other things on Lulu. But I would not suggest that because at the end of the day, these other services are better at a lot of these things.

Lulu is the clear winner when it comes to hardback books. If you are going to give it a go and that is what I would exactly recommend for you. The final question I have for you is, have you published on Lulu yet?

I would like to know so I can help you out even better. Can you write the word "Yes" below in the comments if you have published it on Lulu? Write "No" if you have never tried to publish on Lulu.

I just want to know. I'll be able to help you out a little bit better with that. Check out my other blogs and videos for more answers to your self-publishing questions.

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