BOOKSURGE   LULU.com  LightningSource

and Other POD Summary Experience

Comparison in The Real World

Qualimage Printing Alternative

and

REAL Do It Yourself PUBLISHING

UPDATE  2011-2012

Before going any further allow me to share my experience with a local printer in Denver that I am now working with, Qualimage in Lakewood, Colorado  http://qualimageprint.com/

As a rule, I generally find that I get better customer service and faster response when dealing with small companies. This is certainly the case with Qualimage.

For the past several years I was forced to get my printing done in Tennessee by Lightning Source, which still remains the most affordable BIG company that I know of.  However, the technology has changed so that at least one local printer in my neck of the woods is not only competitive with that big corporation, but exceeds it in personal service, printing costs, and in customer service.

For my last two books, "Tickle Your Amygdala" and "Secret of The Dormant Brain Lab", Qualimage had gotten my books in just a few days-- beating Lighting Source by more than a WEEK with far less hassle.

I have found that Qualimage is providing me with BETTER service, better production turn around, at a better price, and the exact same professional standards of books.  They are my new printers.

I know the owner, Phil Bryant, from many years back, and I cannot tell you how PLEASED I am to be working with him again and to have his company taking care of all of my printing.

They are first class in every way.

They utilize exactly the same source files as everyone else, i.e. Adobe PDF cover and interior, as explained elsewhere on this site.

But unlike LULU and Lightning Source who continue to use 20 year old Xerox machines, Qualimage uses the very latest STATE OF THE ART Canon Printers resulting in a noticeably better quality book. And their printers are renewed and upgraded EVERY YEAR.

Qualimage uses better and heavier grade paper producing a better looking and feeling book for no extra cost to you.

Images produced by Qualimage are the best, with better definition and clarity, losing absolutely no detail from  your original source images.

Qualimage charges NO SET UP FEE.

They will also ship your books for you at cost as a customer service.

If you need small or large runs, please consider giving them a call.  Feel free to mention that you read it here.

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After about five weeks of trying to get my book published by BookSurge using their express service, I finally gave up after receiving a very poor quality proof of my book. I requested a refund and they quickly gave it to me. I can not recommend their services.

I then went to www.LightningSource.com and submitted the book to them, and very quickly received my proof, which was excellent quality.

In the end, LightningSource provided me with a better royalty than BookSurge, a better quality proof, better customer service, and the submission was easier (they stayed on the phone with me through the process).

And:

And HOW TO GET YOUR BOOK READY -

A METHOD THAT ACTUALLY WORKS:

#1- If you are an author, and figure you can print your own books and then get on Amazon through their Advantage program-- JUST FORGET IT. The take Amazon extracts in retailer discount (they demand a 60% discount), added to your print costs, added to your shipping (they don't pay your shipping costs) makes it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for the independent author, first to even navigate through the process, but more importantly, you will make so little money in this method, you would be better asking for spare change on the corner.

#2- You can get a distribution deal through one of several online POD services like LULU or Lightning Source,  and it is possible to make a little money-- between nothing and 25% of the retail price depending on what you do.

#3- There are many people who have sold THOUSANDS of books, if not more, through genius and/or hard work self-promotion, admittedly a lofty endeavor. I've sold about -I've lost count now after 13 years actually-  books through my website ALONE, and I didn't even have an ISBN on any of them, and wasn't on Amazon or any other online website book portal. There are many other good examples.

Granted, yes, the majority of writers that self-publish or go POD (Print On Demand), will sell next to nothing, and that's extremely common, but it's not cast in stone. Writing and making a printed copy is only the beginning. Some authors hit the Lottery Jackpot-- most of us must work at selling our book, just like everybody else has a job.

Okay, onward... YOUR PRINT ON DEMAND OPTIONS

ABOUT LULU.com

In any case, I've looked at LULU, and I have published a version of a couple of my books there for a year-- (see www.lulu.com/neilslade ) through the free set-up Lulu Marketplace, and get an astonishing 50% royalty (better even on digital downloads) IF I SELL ON LULU MARKETPLACE. I make between $200-$300 a month on my titles alone there.

Please take note: IF I sell on Lulu Marketplace I make money with LULU. This excludes their RETAIL setup.

Lulu also offers a RETAIL contract: You get and ISBN and they will distribute retail, through Amazon and others. Sounds great, right?

Hahahhah. Amazon takes a HUGE chunk from Lulu, and Lulu adapts, and you, the author, loses big time.

If you put your thinking cap on, you discover that although their retail agreement looks good on the surface, once you calculate the cost of any reasonably sized book-- say 300+ pages, the cost of the book skyrockets to above any reasonable purchase price, and your reduced retail royalty is absolutely absurd. Example: Make a 500 page book, the MINIMUM selling price is $24, and you make 31 cents.

This is NOT a typo. 31 CENTS royalty.

If you want a full $1, the cost of the book minimum is $25.50. A paperback 6X9. Black and white inside.

Lets say you want to make a 350 page paperback-- minimum Lulu retail cost: $19.50,
and you make $1.

Who pays $20 for a 350 page paperback? Man, you better have a GREAT Publicist. The newest Harry Potter Hardback is a 750 page book and costs $20, and was $35 on the day of issue.

See the reality for yourself:

http://www.lulu.com/en/includes/calc_retail_inc.php  and

http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=set_retail_price

So much for Lulu retail book publishing..

OKAY- ONWARD TO STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS-

See http://www.neilslade.com/myown4.html for details How-To-Do-It.

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