This is a must-watch video if you are considering publication with Lulu. Keith Wheeler is very prompt and helpful with his responses to queries. I will be sure to leave another comment once I've successfully published with Lulu. Thank you, Keith Wheeler.
Thanks, Marvin. I'm glad you found the content helpful and thank you for the subscribe! I realize that time is a precious commodity, so when viewers like you choose to spend your time watching my videos and find enough value in it to subscribe, it means the world to me! Thanks again!
Thanks for the kind words. I try to alternate between short, concise content and content that’s a bit longer, but still chock full of helpful information.
Hi Keith Thank you for your useful videos. I’d be grateful If you answer these questions on publishing in Lulu: 1-Are there any Lulu word- skabelon , with premeasured size, so that one can add and format one’s text in?. 2-Are there any premeasured book-cover templates, as it is in Amazon? 3-Should one buy a certain amount of books in order to publish in Lulu
Thank you so much for the kind words. To answer your questions, Lulu does have some interior and cover templates available, but not like KDP. Lulu is always working to improve their site, so if you have suggestions be sure to submit them to them so they know. There is no minimum #of books needed to purchase. You can purchase as few as just one book from Lulu. I hope this helps!
Thanks for the video. I didn't get that easy path that you led us through. My book has spent the last two weeks stuck in the design stage unresponsive and no technical support. But I will open a new account and try again. Thanks again!
Best of luck to and great job not quitting. I know support right now is inundated with requests between the revamp of the entire site plus the pandemic has really spread their team out thin. I’ve reached out to my contact at Lulu to get an estimate on when supports turnaround time will improve. I’ll update you when I hear back.
This is absolutely great information ! I've only very recently became aware that books can be sold via print-on-demand, and since then have been watching a lot of videos on here, trying to bring myself up to speed. I have to say, I have looked at videos of other publishing platforms, but for some reason I really like Lulu. I will shortly be publishing a non-fiction book in a niche category. I do have a burning question, which I can't seem to find an answer for, hope you can help with it, as I'm sure many people have the same thought : We all know that while it's good to have your book available at various big name outlets, it's also true that having it on Amazon is really important (I think most people will directly search there first). So my question : What would be the difference in income per paperback book specifically from Amazon sales, if one the one hand, I would go with Amazon KDP and only publish it there (with my own ISBN) and a copy gets sold, vs doing it through Lulu (also with my own ISBN), and they make it available for sale on Amazon, and a copy gets sold on Amazon ?
That’s a great question. If you were to publish through Lulu and got a sale on amazon, your royalty will be much lower than if you were to publish directly through KDP, because you have the middleman(Lulu) That said, you can publish hardcovers through Lulu and the paperback through KDP.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thank you for the reply sir ! That's an important point, re the hardcovers, since I believe Amazon doesn't do hardcovers, and I was indeed thinking of having both versions, since the book I will publish will also have a market for hardcover. Hence, would it be possible to get a separate (own ISBN) for the hardcover and go exclusively with Lulu on the hardcover, and do the same exclusively with the paperback through Amazon ? Meaning therefore, that giving Amazon the full right to publish the paperback, will not bind me on the hardcover edition, and vice versa with Lulu on the hardcover, not binding me there on the paperback ?
That is 100% correct. You would have an isbn for the paperback and publish that through kdp(Amazon) and then a separate isbn for the hardcover and publish that through Lulu. Now, my suggestion is to NOT go exclusive with either company. Meaning your paperback will be distributed wide(multiple platforms)and your hardcover will be distributed wide. You’ll make a higher royalty from the purchases made on the original platform(KDP or Lulu), but you also have the chance to make additional sales(though smaller royalties) from the other platforms. I hope this makes sense.
@@KeithWheelerBooks That is golden advice, very much appreciated. To make sure I do understand the detail : Therefore, if let's say Amazon, does not have exclusive rights, but does sell the paperback through their own platform, the royalty would then be the same as it would've been had they sold it on their platform while having exclusive right ? And vice versa for Lulu ?
I can give tips but unfortunately, there really are no guarantees on getting books sales. It depends on the content of your book, the cover, the price, the book description and many more factors.
When saving from Illustrator to pdf what settings to save it as. For example when I save for my printer I have to save it with trim marks and bleeds. Also needs to be in print quality. Should I save it in high quality without trim marks?
Michelle Martin, another great question. Yes, you can do no content as well as regular books on Lulu. In fact, lulu also offers hardcover and spiral bound books which could be ideal for certain types of journals and other no content books. I hope this helps. Thanks again for your support.
I know this is an old video, but I still have a question. Would you suggest to stuff the title with keywords like they suggest to do on kdp? Like adding "for adults" such as "Themed puzzle books for adults" ?
Another great tutorial Keith. If I hadn't been scrolling your uploads, looking for Epub help, I wouldn't even have considered Lulu. Question for you: I was hoping to see guidance form on on either making a children's book Epub, from inside Epub software, or on creating one by importing either a Word formatted document, or PDF. Do you have any guidance? I have Googled my hide off the past few days, everything I try turns into an Epub nightmare. I am simply attempting to creating an Epub of my ebook. The ebook images are the standard 16:10 ratio for reading landscape orientation. The images fill the screen, and I have a LOW detail area for the text to stand out. However, everything I try. Regardless of the format I start with, or if I begin an Epub project new, the text gets stripped from the images, sometimes multiple images are put on a single page, and every time a table of contents is created..lol Who needs a TOC for a children's picture book? I even tried one online conversion site (Convertio) with the same result. On an upnote, my KDP Mobi looks great, as well as the digital proof of the POD. I'll see what the print copy looks like in 3 or 4 days. Oh yeah..thanks for the coloring book idea. You have the gears in my head turning on that one. I didn't realize that while I was illustrating I was also making a coloring book..just need to remove a few layers from the PSD, and blow some of the line art up.
Let me start off by saying thank you so much for the kind words! As for creating an ePub file, many times the issue comes down to just embedding the fonts and flattening the file, before you create the word or pdf file. These pod platforms do not like layers. That’s usually resolved the issues for me in the past. Glad to hear your mobi file turned out well.(fun fact KDP is moving towards ePub as well…lol) Glad I could open your eyes to coloring books. Best of luck!
@@KeithWheelerBooks I just finished it. I used InDesign to create a fixed layout Epub. It actually looks better than the Mobi I submitted to KDP, so I'm uploading there as well. Kids Kindle Book Creator is nice, but since I'm a graphics novice, I had no idea what I was missing by choosing such a basic tool to make my ebook. It's a nice software package once a person has clicked around enough to get a feel for it.
Dear Keith Wheeler, I published my novel on Lulu. I ordered a proof copy, but the page still has an alert asking me to purchase a proof copy. I published a selection of essays earlier, and have the same issue. Is it possible that the alert goes away once the order is shipped. On a poetry collection, however, there is a button asking me to approve the proof copy (even though it has not been shipped). I wonder if you have insights in this regard. I want you to know that your video was a big help as I went through the process of publishing. Without it, I'm afraid, the process would have been intimidating. Thank you.
With Lulu, if you choose worldwide distribution then you have to order a physical proof and approve it before you can publish. If you do not select worldwide distribution then you can just approve the digital version. It’s actually an Amazon thing. (Picking worldwide distribution includes Amazon and Amazon requires physical copies to be approved)
To the best of my knowledge, You have to be 18 yrs old. When in doubt, feel free to reach out to the platform to find out their policy. Just by having the manuscript in digital form, you have common law copyright, however, while this will be enough to deter most people from stealing your intellectual property, it’s not really enforceable in a court of law. If this concerns you, you can file for an official copyright through US Library of Congress and I believe it’s $35. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
What do you think that I should start working on lulu as a publisher? Is it like kdp? Because my account was closed twice for no reason, and I want to support Lulu. Is it a profitable field, or will I waste my time? I want your advice, please and thank you.
Lulu has great quality products. The biggest difference between KDP and other platforms like Lulu is that Amazon has a much larger organic traffic. With the other platforms, you’ll need to direct the people/audience to the platform.
Great question, Jennifer. When you're done setting up your book and save, if you go to your My Projects. You'll see your Project List. On it will be your list of books, to the right of each book will an option that says "View/Buy". Click on that and you can purchase your proof copy. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Hi, Keith I wanted to say that I think you are an amazing instructor. I learned alot from this video. I have a few questions. 1.) How long does it take for lulu.com to create the digital preview of your book for you to proof on their system? 2.) I create my books with Powerpoint and create my PDF file off of Powerpoint. I noticed that on lulu they seem to have strong specifications for the PDF. Do you think I'll have any problem with uploading a PDF created off of Powerpoint. 3.) Also what kind of margin specifications do they have? I know KDP is a stickler for this. 4.) Also, I wonder if you could create a video on how to use the Book Cover creator on lulu.com. I noticed in this video you had created your own, but I would like to use their cover creator, so I don't know if you could create something like that. Thanks for your time.
ES Hart, thank you so much for watching and for your kind words. 1. I assume you're referring to creating an ebook. I have never done an ebook on Lulu, only hard cover physical books. For those, I've downloaded the print-ready files and then ordered a proof. 2. I create mine in PowerPoint too and never had a problem with them accepting my files.(Just make sure your fonts are embedded before you export to pdf) 3. The short answer to the margins question is, leave a .5 inch margin and a .3 inch gutter. The gutter will differ depending on the binding of your book. For example, if you do a coil bond book, the coils bite about 5/16 inches from the spine, but they suggest you set a 3/8 inch gutter, just to be safe. Here is a link to their FAQ page for more info. connect.lulu.com/en/discussion/352324/interior-formatting-faq 4. I've honestly never used their Book Cover creator but I can find some time to play with it and do a tutorial when I'm familiar enough. What I don't want to do is a tutorial where I'm wasting alot of the viewers time with me do trial and error. I hope this helps.
🤔 that’s odd. I’ve never run into issues with them accepting keywords. You may want to check their terms of service to see if there are any restrictions.
Hello I’m trying to upload the pages with text and images on lulu. But I’m getting a message which says; The uploaded file has an unsupported trim size. I used PowerPoint to create the manuscript and it’s a children’s book which has 8 pages. It would NOT allow me to choose book size and style etc...! What am I doing wrong? Could you please reply or send the appropriate link. Thank you
There are typically minimum pages allowed for a book. For most platforms, the minimum is 24 pages. That may be your issue as less pages would make the spine too thin to create.
Hi I have a question and it may sound crazy. But basically I want to publish my book to make it look more professional but I don’t want to sell it, like I just kind of want my one copy of it taht looks really professional but I don’t want to seep my book anywhere. Is that ok or possible?
That’s actually not uncommon. Your best bet would be to go thru Lulu. They have an option for Private publishing. That means they won’t publish it anywhere. If you want to publish it on KDP, you can go through the steps and publish it, then order an author copy, when you get it, unpublish it. I hope this helps.
Hi Keith, If I already have published my book on kdp and I'm using its ISBN, can I publish my book on Lulu and get also a free ISBN on Lulu? My book is not on the kdp select program. I'll appreciate your support. Thank you!
Interesting...i can not choose any distributer but Lulu. It does not prompt me to make an ISBN number...and stopped opening in the new window, stopped working after i uploaded my cover... 🤔🤔🤔
If you’re doing a hard cover, at this time those are only available on their website. The good news is that if you just educate your readers where to go to get the hard cover version, the royalties are pretty nice.
That's odd. I've never seen them limit the distribution options for paperbacks. There should be an option for worldwide distribution. This is the equivalent to KDP's Expanded Distribution. Now, you will get lower royalties from that avenue but it should still be available to you. If you still don't have access to it, I'd suggest reaching out to Lulu's support team and ask them to look into it. Let me know what you find out.
Yes they offer other languages. The languages they support change periodically, so your best bet would be to go to their site and check out the help forum.
I'm hard of hearing and the voice content is difficult to hear, much lower than typical videos, even after cranking the volume all the way up. When the "commercials" come in, they are much louder and easy to hear, however. Folks with sharp hearing may not experience a problem, however.
I’m sorry for the sound quality. I’m working hard on dialing it in so I can accommodate everyone. Hopefully you’ll find my future videos easier to consume. Thank you so much for your honest feedback. I strive to always get better. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Quick question: should I have to put dedication, acknowledge, preface, table of contents on the right side (odd page) of my non fiction/ non fiction paperback book?
Hi Keith, I have written a Chinese Tai Chi book ready for publishing. But kdp is not supporting chinese. Do you think lulu or smashwords, or both would be appropriate for ebook and paper back publishing? Please you advice would be most valuable.
勁太極-趙堡架, that is a great question. I’ve been doing some research and to the best of my findings, publishdrive is the only site that offers publishing in Chinese. While some people are saying to just use KDP and mark that it’s in English, I can’t recommend this as I don’t know what the repercussions would be. If you find a POD printer that prints in Chinese please let me know so I can share the info with the rest of the viewers. Best of luck to you. Thank you for watching and subscribing!
Keith, Thanks for ypur suggestion about Puslishdrive and your are really having a real heart of helping. Deeply impress. Might I ask whether if I could still upload Chinese taichi book with pdf format to lulu or smashwords? Thanks again in this great new world.
Based on Lulus website, it appears they do not publish Chinese books. I’m not familiar with smashwords so you’ll have to log onto their site and see if they handle Chinese. Let me know what you find out so I can share it with the viewers. Best of luck!
It’s been a while since I published on Lulu but I believe Lulu adds the isbn to the cover for you. As for trim options, unfortunately, the biggest downtown Lulu is their limited selection of trim sizes. If you’re looking to do paperback, I’d suggest KDP as they have the best selection of trim sizes I’ve found. If you’re looking to publish hardcover and need a trim size Lulu doesn’t have, I’d suggest checking into Barnes and Noble Press or IngramSpark. I hope this helps!
Sumud, great question. If you publish with Lulu you’ll need to click they’re global distribution option to get it on Amazon. To answer your question, yes you can have lulu request your book gets linked on amazon with your other formats, however, if you did the ebook or paperback with KDP, it will be much faster if you ask KDP to link the books. Since they’re a subsidiary of Amazon, they can typically get the books linked in a matter of 24-48 hours as oppose to Lulu who would have to put in a request with Amazon which can take much longer. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Then yes, I suggest publishing your hardcover with Lulu(I have a link in the description) and then once it’s live, go to KDP and ask them to link them up.
H iKeith, I'm trying to upload a children's book to Lulu hardcover. But i always recieve the following error "Transparency: We detected an element that may be transparent within your file. We strongly recommend flattening or removing any transparencies in your file." How to avoid getting this error ? I have saved all the pages as jpeg images with text. and I use MS Powerpoint to format the book.
1. Click the File tab and then click Options (it's near the bottom left corner of the window). 2. In the left column, select the Save tab. 3. At the bottom, under Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation, select the Embed fonts in the file check box. ... 4. Click OK.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Keith, There are 2 options, which one I should choose? 1) Embed only the characters ......................... or 2) Embed all characters
I don’t use scrivener but from what I’ve researched, you can go to Project/Project Statistics and it will show you the page count for the whole manuscript.
If you are writing your book in Wattpad, Inkitt, or Wordpress, is there any way to bring the content over to Lulu? Also, do you need to give Lulu a bank account to start or complete the process of publishing? Thank you.
You’d have to covert it from the platform to Word. You don’t need to set up your bank account to get started but you can’t get paid until you set it up.
@@KeithWheelerBooks I watched your video again. It is very helpful. I have a few follow-up questions to my earlier question, to which your prompt response is greatly appreciated. I am considering publishing my novel at Lulu. The novel is in six parts. Must the entire novel be downloaded as a single file, or can each part be dowloaded separately? Once dowloaded, is it possible to work with format or setup (for example, division of parts of the novel), or does the download have to be submitted for publishing as is? You said in your video that a member of the review team will get back in a short time. What are they reviewing? Finished product, or submission following the steps indicated? Is it allowed/possible to publish here and in another platform? Are there any hidden fees? Once published, can people purchase the novel, or do I have to pay some printing or marketing fees ahead of the process? Per your video, once I complete all the steps, is the novel considered published? Thank you for your time and attention.
Thanks again for the kind words. To answer your questions: 1. Yes you want to upload all of your manuscript in one file. 2. You can upload your interior as a draft and go back and make updates and then reupload. Once you submit it for approval it will go live when/if approved. 3. Like I stated in the previous answer, if you submit to go live, your manuscript will be reviewed to make sure it meets all of Lulu’s guidelines. 4. Yes, you can absolutely publish on Lulu along with other platforms. 5. The only possible fees would be if you decide to purchase an isbn as well as if you decide to buy author copies of your book. 6. Yes, then technically, your book is published.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thank you so much for your prompt response and for answering all of my questions. If I may, I have two more questions. My novel has six parts to it. How does the system recognize the division of parts? Must I create the divisions in the original file, meaning page break, part two, and page break again? Also, I understand from my reading that pdf is preferred format. Is this true? If there are any other hints or suggestions that you can give me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Happy New Year. Regards, Ramnath
@@KeithWheelerBooks One more question, please. If there are formatting errors when the file is dowloaded and the submission is completed, will the system alert you to the problem? Will a previous few of the dowloaded material show how exactly the book with its pages will look, and will I have the ability to make any changes during the preview process? Thanks again.
@@KeithWheelerBooks do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about self-publishing call centers. Typically speaking, a traditional publisher will not reach out to you first. You’ll need to submit your work to them, usually through a literary agent. My case was a bit unusual because one of the publishers current authors told them to check out my book. Also, a traditional publisher will never as you to pay to publish your book. I hope this helps.
Great question. Lulu is free to use. Even for paperback it’s at no cost. They even offer a free isbn for your paperback if you want to use it. The only costs come in when you order your proof copy of your paperback. But for ebooks it’s absolutely free!
No, you should not have to pay to publish your book. There are plenty of platforms where you can publish your books for free. Sites like Lulu and KDP do not require an upload fee nor do they even require you to purchase your own isbn. I have videos that show how to upload and publish your books on both sites. Best of luck. Thank you for watching and subscribing!
WOULD YOU DO ME THE HONOR OF MENTORING ME PLEASE I HAVE A BOOK I HAVE WRITTEN ITS TITLED THE ENLIGHTENMENT I REALLY NEED SOMEONE TO MENTOR ME THROUGH SUCCEEDING IN PUBLISHING
I am honored. Unfortunately, at this time I am not taking on any coaching students. That said, there are numerous amazing authors/publishers in many social media groups and if you become an active member in the groups and ask thoughtful questions, I'm sure you'll find a great deal of feedback and support. Best of luck to you! Thanks for watching and subscribing!
This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing the steps. I have a question please. I noticed that you uploaded your own cover design. What would be the dimensions of the cover design? Thanks!
It depends on the dimensions of your book. You can go to lulus help section and search up cover templates and then download the template for your particular book dimensions.
thanks for this amazing vid dear KEITH I have a question if you plz? I publish e-books and paperbacks on KDP and e-books on DRAFT2DIGITAL, so if I want to publish my paperbacks as hardcover on KDP through LULU.COM is it legal? I mean I've already published my print books as paperbacks on KDP and want to publish them again as hardcover through lulu.com? is there any fee should I pay in advance? for hardcover / spiral? another question do you recommend publishing e-books and paperbacks through LULU and leave DRAFT2DIGITAL or publish e-books on draft2digital and the paperbacks through LULU? THANKS
I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. YT didn't show me this comment on the mobile app which is where I usually reply from. I hope I've already answered this for you, but just in case you're still wondering, yes, you can still publish a hardcover on lulu even though you've already published a paperback else where. Just be sure that you're using separate ISBNs for each version. Best of luck and thanks for watching and subscribing!
On Lulu, if you want them to distribute to amazon, then yes you will need to buy a copy before they will publish it. If you don’t care if it’s on amazon, then you can publish without purchasing a copy. (Although, I always love to have physical copies of my books)
Ebooks on lulu is a nightmare, I have put the same file into all the other platforms but lulu says it's not right. Also I heard you had to have a full pdf of your cover, in createspace you could upload them separately then their creator would put them together, I MISS CREATESPACE
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
@@jessicagonzalez3893 I am US too. These companies are in every country . They are called vanity publishing. You pay them thousands of dollars and they get your book into mobi for kdp, epub for some readers, pdf for print. Some are honest, like foundations, and most are not.
Unfortunately, this is 100% true. Unless you have a lot of discretionary funds available and are pressed for time, I highly suggest against hiring a vanity publisher. And to be honest, even if you do have a lot of discretionary funds I still suggest publishing yourself and use the capital you have to assist you with ads and promotion. I hope this helps.
Lulu will not help unless you pay thousand of dollars. They will refer you to other site that cost a monthly service fee. I noticed their physical books cost more than createspace did. I spoke to a service person and he told me I really didn't want to achieve because I didn't want to have a monthly bill. The site has stuff on it to help authors, and lulu has their stuff on that site.so if you wanted to learn stuff from lulu, you had to go to the author site, pay a monthly bill. The guy from lulu hung up on me, when he realized he wasn't going to make a sale.
That is so odd. I’ve had great experiences with their customer support. The only issue I had was that one of my requests took 2days to get a reply, but that was a unique situation as I usually get a prompt response. I’m sorry you had such a negative experience.
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. YT didn't show me this comment on the mobile app which is where I usually reply from. Please let me know if you need help with anything. I promise it won't take me another 2 years to respond. LOL!
When you start a new project, across the top you will see a list of product types(standard paperback, premium paperback, etc) When you choose your selection, the available trim sizes for that type will show up below it. Personally, I have found it easier to select standard paperback and then go down and select the size I want. Note: if you’re looking for a binding other than perfect binding you’ll need to select Premium paperback. This will increase your binding options, however, it will decrease your available trim sizes. I hope this helps.
You'll want to stick with only the supported languages, but they're always updating their systems so if they don't support your language now, send them a support message and perhaps they'll be able to give you an idea as to when your language will be available. Best of luck!
Hi I have another few questions. Should you write you liek a manuscript (story) on A3 or A4? And also can you write like a blurb at the back of the book?
Keith Wheeler Books sorry I meant A5 not A3, and if you want to make that book A5 should you still write a manuscript on A4. So when I send the A4 manuscript through will it automatically change to A5 for my book?
Thanks Keith.. on lulu they have a tax form but their is a variety of forms 🙈 do I print the form sign and upload to my PC or can it be done on the PC ? As you know I'm from SA and the tax form I'm yet not sure witch form to use then I wanted to use paypal to be paid if they ask for a paypal address do I give the email address I use?
You don't have to print the form. You can just download it to your computer, fill it out and then re-upload it to Lulu. As for setting up for paypal, when it asks for the email address, it wants the email that is associated with your paypal account.
Formatting for print looked to be such a time suck of a learning curve with KDP I paid someone $150 to do it. Is the formatting process any easier or more automated with Lulu or anyone else that you know of?
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
Yes. “Make available only to me” is mainly for if you’re publishing for your own personal purpose and you don’t plan on selling online. I hope this helps! Thanks for watching and subscribing!!!
Oh and a really important question. What if I live in Australia? I thought I saw a lulu.com.au last night but cant find it now. I want to buy a stack of my own books and sell them but the postage will kill me I guess? Do you know if there is a lulu in Australia?
I am not aware of an Australia entity of Lulu. Your best bet would be to contact Lulu and ask them directly. Sorry I couldn’t be more help. Feel free to share what you find out.
Hi! Thank you for this very informative video. I have 2 questions and I hope you can help me. First, does lulu sell books to the author like if I want to buy my own books from them and sell it directly to my friends. If yes, do they give a discounted price. Second, do they ship books in Hong Kong and the Philippines? Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for the kind words. Yes lulu provides discounted costs for authors copies. As for whether or not they’ll ship to your country, your best bet would be to search their help section as they’re always adding availability to new countries. I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks thank you. I have another question.. So I have read in Lulu website that one of the requirements in the book interior is to put the ISBN in the copyright page but I was wondering how will I be able to do that if I will only find out my ISBN when I get to the "ISBN stage" in create a book ? I dont know if im making sense. Sorry I am new to this self-publishing experience.✌
Yes that’s the same rule as KDP. On most sites the isbn page comes before you upload the interior, so you can click to get the free isbn and then take that number, add it to your interior and then upload the interior. For the few sites where you have to upload the interior first, I upload the interior. Select the free isbn. Add that isbn to the interior, and then I re-upload the interior. I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks this is clear. Thank you. Questions! 1. Does lulu charge you for the shipping of the books? 2. How do i go about telling lulu that my book had been published before. Because what happened was I terminated my contract with the old publishing house and now i am self-publishing it. 3. Any pros and cons in publishing with lulu? Thank you and sorry for bombarding you with questions🙏
@@KeithWheelerBooks questions again, 1. Any other website for self publishing? 2. I have seen that a few of their binding options are not eligible for retail distribution. Does it mean that a book cant be sold in...like amazon, barnes and noble etc. Is it correct? Thank you
Rosie, great question. Yes, you can do spiral bound books with Lulu and put them on Amazon. They’re one of Lulu’s expanded distribution options. I hope this helps.
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
Fevzi Karsili, yeah what most people don’t realize is that the percent they advertise is based on the sales made on their website. So, if you send people to your books page on Lulu you’ll get that percentage. Everything else, including Amazon, is essentially “expanded distribution” and therefore you get a smaller royalty because, amazon takes their cut too. I hope this helps explain things.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Honest one promises accordingly. If someone or another party does an unfairness that can not be an excuse for a honest person or company to do the same. Should not honest, lulu is very keen on extortion and usurpation.
I understand where you’re coming from but basically if you publish through lulu and the sale comes from another source like amazon, there’s less royalties left because amazon takes their fee. It’s the same as if you published on KDP and selected expanded distribution and your book sold on Walmart.com. You would get less royalties from the Walmart sale because Walmart needs their cut. But if you direct your readers to your lulu page, you will get the full royalties advertised. I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks what lulu promises on website is this, when Walmart.com sells your book on their site we will credit your account 1 USD but when this sale happens, lulu credits your account 0.8 USD. Not crediting your account an amount of 0.2 USD is a practice of extortion.
I'm creating a book just for my 4 friends (no intention to sell or anything). In this case what price do I set for the book? Does the book still need to be reviewed by Lulu and meet some criteria? I'm simply going to get 5 copies and then never try and sell the book or anything. Thanks!
That’s awesome. When you create your book on Lulu, there’ll be an option that says “Make available only to me”. If you select this, your book will not be distributed anywhere else. Only for you to buy author copies. If you have to set a price, just set the price at cost. I hope this helps. Best of luck!
Honestly, that’s hard to say because it depends on many factors. Trim size, page count, color interior vs black and white and book binding type(paperback, hard cover, spiral bound, etc) all play a part in the production costs. That said, keep in mind that with the more advanced covers(hard cover, spiral bound) you can typically charge more for the book, so that balances itself out a bit. Your best bet would be to get a free account and start uploading your book. On the very first page you’ll enter all of the elements above and will get an estimated production cost before you go any further. So you’ll know, right off the bat if it’ll be profitable for you. I hope this helps.
Wait u showed how to make the cover...how do I send in my drawings so they can turn it into a book...? Alsp what size am I supposed to draw my drawings in 2080 x 12700 🤣I’m lost
You need a digital version of your cover image. You can try scanning a drawing or some other way to get it to digital form. If you’re looking to make a physical book, then you need to make sure your images are at least 300dpi(dots per inch). I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Keith, your tutorials are easy to follow. very clear. straight to the point. Honestly, I love your tutorials.
Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m glad you’re finding the videos helpful!
This is a must-watch video if you are considering publication with Lulu. Keith Wheeler is very prompt and helpful with his responses to queries. I will be sure to leave another comment once I've successfully published with Lulu. Thank you, Keith Wheeler.
Thank you so much for the kind words! Best of luck!
What a WONDERFULLY informationally and value-FILLED explanation! You have made this profoundly simple yet simply PROFOUND!! Thank you!!!
Thanks, Marvin. I'm glad you found the content helpful and thank you for the subscribe! I realize that time is a precious commodity, so when viewers like you choose to spend your time watching my videos and find enough value in it to subscribe, it means the world to me! Thanks again!
Very clear and simplified video. I Appreciate the limited video length, "Not too chatty."
Excellent Vid
Thanks for the kind words. I try to alternate between short, concise content and content that’s a bit longer, but still chock full of helpful information.
Hi Keith
Thank you for your useful videos. I’d be grateful If you answer these questions on publishing in Lulu:
1-Are there any Lulu word- skabelon , with premeasured size, so that one can add and format one’s text in?.
2-Are there any premeasured book-cover templates, as it is in Amazon?
3-Should one buy a certain amount of books in order to publish in Lulu
Thank you so much for the kind words. To answer your questions, Lulu does have some interior and cover templates available, but not like KDP. Lulu is always working to improve their site, so if you have suggestions be sure to submit them to them so they know. There is no minimum #of books needed to purchase. You can purchase as few as just one book from Lulu.
I hope this helps!
Thanks for sharing this!
Barbara Kenney, my pleasure. I hope you found it helpful! Thank you so much for watching and subscribing!
Thanks for posting this
My pleasure!
Thanks for the video. I didn't get that easy path that you led us through. My book has spent the last two weeks stuck in the design stage unresponsive and no technical support. But I will open a new account and try again.
Thanks again!
Best of luck to and great job not quitting. I know support right now is inundated with requests between the revamp of the entire site plus the pandemic has really spread their team out thin.
I’ve reached out to my contact at Lulu to get an estimate on when supports turnaround time will improve. I’ll update you when I hear back.
@@KeithWheelerBooks I appreciate your response, and thanks for checking your contacts with the company! I hear great things about them.
My pleasure.
This is absolutely great information ! I've only very recently became aware that books can be sold via print-on-demand, and since then have been watching a lot of videos on here, trying to bring myself up to speed. I have to say, I have looked at videos of other publishing platforms, but for some reason I really like Lulu. I will shortly be publishing a non-fiction book in a niche category. I do have a burning question, which I can't seem to find an answer for, hope you can help with it, as I'm sure many people have the same thought : We all know that while it's good to have your book available at various big name outlets, it's also true that having it on Amazon is really important (I think most people will directly search there first). So my question : What would be the difference in income per paperback book specifically from Amazon sales, if one the one hand, I would go with Amazon KDP and only publish it there (with my own ISBN) and a copy gets sold, vs doing it through Lulu (also with my own ISBN), and they make it available for sale on Amazon, and a copy gets sold on Amazon ?
That’s a great question. If you were to publish through Lulu and got a sale on amazon, your royalty will be much lower than if you were to publish directly through KDP, because you have the middleman(Lulu)
That said, you can publish hardcovers through Lulu and the paperback through KDP.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thank you for the reply sir ! That's an important point, re the hardcovers, since I believe Amazon doesn't do hardcovers, and I was indeed thinking of having both versions, since the book I will publish will also have a market for hardcover. Hence, would it be possible to get a separate (own ISBN) for the hardcover and go exclusively with Lulu on the hardcover, and do the same exclusively with the paperback through Amazon ? Meaning therefore, that giving Amazon the full right to publish the paperback, will not bind me on the hardcover edition, and vice versa with Lulu on the hardcover, not binding me there on the paperback ?
That is 100% correct. You would have an isbn for the paperback and publish that through kdp(Amazon) and then a separate isbn for the hardcover and publish that through Lulu.
Now, my suggestion is to NOT go exclusive with either company. Meaning your paperback will be distributed wide(multiple platforms)and your hardcover will be distributed wide. You’ll make a higher royalty from the purchases made on the original platform(KDP or Lulu), but you also have the chance to make additional sales(though smaller royalties) from the other platforms.
I hope this makes sense.
@@KeithWheelerBooks That is golden advice, very much appreciated. To make sure I do understand the detail : Therefore, if let's say Amazon, does not have exclusive rights, but does sell the paperback through their own platform, the royalty would then be the same as it would've been had they sold it on their platform while having exclusive right ? And vice versa for Lulu ?
Correct! Your royalties remain the same whether exclusive or not.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Thanks
👍
Great video. Thanks
Thank you so much for the kind words!
good Keith .......but make a video how i sell alot of books
I can give tips but unfortunately, there really are no guarantees on getting books sales. It depends on the content of your book, the cover, the price, the book description and many more factors.
When saving from Illustrator to pdf what settings to save it as. For example when I save for my printer I have to save it with trim marks and bleeds. Also needs to be in print quality. Should I save it in high quality without trim marks?
Correct.
Is this also for no content books please Keith
Michelle Martin, another great question. Yes, you can do no content as well as regular books on Lulu. In fact, lulu also offers hardcover and spiral bound books which could be ideal for certain types of journals and other no content books.
I hope this helps. Thanks again for your support.
I know this is an old video, but I still have a question. Would you suggest to stuff the title with keywords like they suggest to do on kdp? Like adding "for adults" such as "Themed puzzle books for adults" ?
No, Amazon does not like keyword stuffing in their titles and subtitles.
Another great tutorial Keith. If I hadn't been scrolling your uploads, looking for Epub help, I wouldn't even have considered Lulu. Question for you: I was hoping to see guidance form on on either making a children's book Epub, from inside Epub software, or on creating one by importing either a Word formatted document, or PDF. Do you have any guidance? I have Googled my hide off the past few days, everything I try turns into an Epub nightmare. I am simply attempting to creating an Epub of my ebook. The ebook images are the standard 16:10 ratio for reading landscape orientation. The images fill the screen, and I have a LOW detail area for the text to stand out. However, everything I try. Regardless of the format I start with, or if I begin an Epub project new, the text gets stripped from the images, sometimes multiple images are put on a single page, and every time a table of contents is created..lol Who needs a TOC for a children's picture book? I even tried one online conversion site (Convertio) with the same result. On an upnote, my KDP Mobi looks great, as well as the digital proof of the POD. I'll see what the print copy looks like in 3 or 4 days. Oh yeah..thanks for the coloring book idea. You have the gears in my head turning on that one. I didn't realize that while I was illustrating I was also making a coloring book..just need to remove a few layers from the PSD, and blow some of the line art up.
Let me start off by saying thank you so much for the kind words!
As for creating an ePub file, many times the issue comes down to just embedding the fonts and flattening the file, before you create the word or pdf file. These pod platforms do not like layers.
That’s usually resolved the issues for me in the past. Glad to hear your mobi file turned out well.(fun fact KDP is moving towards ePub as well…lol)
Glad I could open your eyes to coloring books.
Best of luck!
@@KeithWheelerBooks I just finished it. I used InDesign to create a fixed layout Epub. It actually looks better than the Mobi I submitted to KDP, so I'm uploading there as well. Kids Kindle Book Creator is nice, but since I'm a graphics novice, I had no idea what I was missing by choosing such a basic tool to make my ebook. It's a nice software package once a person has clicked around enough to get a feel for it.
I’m glad you were able to get it straightened out. Great job! 😊👍
Dear Keith Wheeler,
I published my novel on Lulu. I ordered a proof copy, but the page still has an alert asking me to purchase a proof copy. I published a selection of essays earlier, and have the same issue. Is it possible that the alert goes away once the order is shipped. On a poetry collection, however, there is a button asking me to approve the proof copy (even though it has not been shipped). I wonder if you have insights in this regard. I want you to know that your video was a big help as I went through the process of publishing. Without it, I'm afraid, the process would have been intimidating. Thank you.
With Lulu, if you choose worldwide distribution then you have to order a physical proof and approve it before you can publish. If you do not select worldwide distribution then you can just approve the digital version. It’s actually an Amazon thing. (Picking worldwide distribution includes Amazon and Amazon requires physical copies to be approved)
Do u need to set a way for them to pay you
Also how old do you have to be
And do I pay for copyrights?
To the best of my knowledge, You have to be 18 yrs old. When in doubt, feel free to reach out to the platform to find out their policy.
Just by having the manuscript in digital form, you have common law copyright, however, while this will be enough to deter most people from stealing your intellectual property, it’s not really enforceable in a court of law. If this concerns you, you can file for an official copyright through US Library of Congress and I believe it’s $35.
I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
What do you think that I should start working on lulu as a publisher? Is it like kdp? Because my account was closed twice for no reason, and I want to support Lulu. Is it a profitable field, or will I waste my time? I want your advice, please and thank you.
Lulu has great quality products. The biggest difference between KDP and other platforms like Lulu is that Amazon has a much larger organic traffic. With the other platforms, you’ll need to direct the people/audience to the platform.
Hey can। Use next page of section break to write my next page instead of page Break?
Yes, the issue is that, if it’s a paperback, you want to be sure new chapters start on the right hand page.
Where in the process can we order a proof of our book?
Great question, Jennifer. When you're done setting up your book and save, if you go to your My Projects. You'll see your Project List. On it will be your list of books, to the right of each book will an option that says "View/Buy". Click on that and you can purchase your proof copy.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
The 6:21 mark is key for me.
I’m thrilled you found the content helpful.
Thank you so much for watching and subscribing!
Hi, Keith I wanted to say that I think you are an amazing instructor. I learned alot from this video. I have a few questions. 1.) How long does it take for lulu.com to create the digital preview of your book for you to proof on their system? 2.) I create my books with Powerpoint and create my PDF file off of Powerpoint. I noticed that on lulu they seem to have strong specifications for the PDF. Do you think I'll have any problem with uploading a PDF created off of Powerpoint. 3.) Also what kind of margin specifications do they have? I know KDP is a stickler for this. 4.) Also, I wonder if you could create a video on how to use the Book Cover creator on lulu.com. I noticed in this video you had created your own, but I would like to use their cover creator, so I don't know if you could create something like that. Thanks for your time.
ES Hart, thank you so much for watching and for your kind words.
1. I assume you're referring to creating an ebook. I have never done an ebook on Lulu, only hard cover physical books. For those, I've downloaded the print-ready files and then ordered a proof.
2. I create mine in PowerPoint too and never had a problem with them accepting my files.(Just make sure your fonts are embedded before you export to pdf)
3. The short answer to the margins question is, leave a .5 inch margin and a .3 inch gutter. The gutter will differ depending on the binding of your book. For example, if you do a coil bond book, the coils bite about 5/16 inches from the spine, but they suggest you set a 3/8 inch gutter, just to be safe. Here is a link to their FAQ page for more info. connect.lulu.com/en/discussion/352324/interior-formatting-faq
4. I've honestly never used their Book Cover creator but I can find some time to play with it and do a tutorial when I'm familiar enough. What I don't want to do is a tutorial where I'm wasting alot of the viewers time with me do trial and error.
I hope this helps.
Thanks, Keith for all your information. I greatly appreciate it.
ES Hart my pleasure!
He is an AMAZING instructor!
Awe shucks! Thanks again for the kind words.
For some reason, the link doesn't work. It says the link can't be reached. Do you know why?
Yes. Lulu discontinued that special. That said. On May 5th I’ll be posting another Lulu video, with a 15% discount code.
I have tried 3 times to put a epub file into lulu. They rejected it because of no TOC.its a kids book, there is none.
cbzombiequeen58, just reach out to their support team and they should be able to overwrite the issue.
Keep me abreast of how it goes.
Hi, why don't they accept any keyword I use?
🤔 that’s odd. I’ve never run into issues with them accepting keywords. You may want to check their terms of service to see if there are any restrictions.
Hello I’m trying to upload the pages with text and images on lulu. But I’m getting a message which says;
The uploaded file has an unsupported trim size.
I used PowerPoint to create the manuscript and it’s a children’s book which has 8 pages. It would NOT allow me to choose book size and style etc...! What am I doing wrong? Could you please reply or send the appropriate link. Thank you
There are typically minimum pages allowed for a book. For most platforms, the minimum is 24 pages. That may be your issue as less pages would make the spine too thin to create.
@@KeithWheelerBooks thank you
My pleasure!
Do you have to pay the money for each copy of your book to print or you just pay like the 10$ once and you have tons of copies made?
You pay the production cost of the copies you want to buy.
Hi I have a question and it may sound crazy. But basically I want to publish my book to make it look more professional but I don’t want to sell it, like I just kind of want my one copy of it taht looks really professional but I don’t want to seep my book anywhere. Is that ok or possible?
That’s actually not uncommon. Your best bet would be to go thru Lulu. They have an option for Private publishing. That means they won’t publish it anywhere.
If you want to publish it on KDP, you can go through the steps and publish it, then order an author copy, when you get it, unpublish it.
I hope this helps.
Hi Keith, If I already have published my book on kdp and I'm using its ISBN, can I publish my book on Lulu and get also a free ISBN on Lulu? My book is not on the kdp select program.
I'll appreciate your support.
Thank you!
You sure can. It’s not ideal to have multiple isbns for the same format of a book(ie. Paperback, etc.) But, yes, it is allowed.
Interesting...i can not choose any distributer but Lulu. It does not prompt me to make an ISBN number...and stopped opening in the new window, stopped working after i uploaded my cover...
🤔🤔🤔
If you’re doing a hard cover, at this time those are only available on their website. The good news is that if you just educate your readers where to go to get the hard cover version, the royalties are pretty nice.
@@KeithWheelerBooks i am working on a coloring book, soft cover
That's odd. I've never seen them limit the distribution options for paperbacks. There should be an option for worldwide distribution. This is the equivalent to KDP's Expanded Distribution. Now, you will get lower royalties from that avenue but it should still be available to you. If you still don't have access to it, I'd suggest reaching out to Lulu's support team and ask them to look into it.
Let me know what you find out.
Is there any option to publish in foreign language e.g. Bengali?
Yes they offer other languages. The languages they support change periodically, so your best bet would be to go to their site and check out the help forum.
I'm hard of hearing and the voice content is difficult to hear, much lower than typical videos, even after cranking the volume all the way up. When the "commercials" come in, they are much louder and easy to hear, however. Folks with sharp hearing may not experience a problem, however.
I’m sorry for the sound quality. I’m working hard on dialing it in so I can accommodate everyone.
Hopefully you’ll find my future videos easier to consume. Thank you so much for your honest feedback. I strive to always get better.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Quick question: should I have to put dedication, acknowledge, preface, table of contents on the right side (odd page) of my non fiction/ non fiction paperback book?
Yes, typically those would be on the right hand page of a printed manuscript. If it’s for an ebook, it doesn’t matter.
This looks better than createspace.
There are pros and cons to all Print On Demand Publishers, but Lulu definitely offers many options that the others do not.
Hi Keith, I have written a Chinese Tai Chi book ready for publishing. But kdp is not supporting chinese. Do you think lulu or smashwords, or both would be appropriate for ebook and paper back publishing? Please you advice would be most valuable.
勁太極-趙堡架, that is a great question. I’ve been doing some research and to the best of my findings, publishdrive is the only site that offers publishing in Chinese. While some people are saying to just use KDP and mark that it’s in English, I can’t recommend this as I don’t know what the repercussions would be.
If you find a POD printer that prints in Chinese please let me know so I can share the info with the rest of the viewers.
Best of luck to you.
Thank you for watching and subscribing!
Keith,
Thanks for ypur suggestion about Puslishdrive and your are really having a real heart of helping. Deeply impress. Might I ask whether if I could still upload Chinese taichi book with pdf format to lulu or smashwords? Thanks again in this great new world.
Based on Lulus website, it appears they do not publish Chinese books. I’m not familiar with smashwords so you’ll have to log onto their site and see if they handle Chinese. Let me know what you find out so I can share it with the viewers.
Best of luck!
@@KeithWheelerBooks Surely will. I might try the only option Publishdrive.
Sounds good. Keep us posted on how it goes.
Hi Keith ! Is Lulu's paperback books are good ??
Oh yes. The paper options are thicker than what you get with KDP as well as the color saturation.
Thanks how do we put our ISBN on back cover. They don't have a 5x8 option
It’s been a while since I published on Lulu but I believe Lulu adds the isbn to the cover for you. As for trim options, unfortunately, the biggest downtown Lulu is their limited selection of trim sizes. If you’re looking to do paperback, I’d suggest KDP as they have the best selection of trim sizes I’ve found. If you’re looking to publish hardcover and need a trim size Lulu doesn’t have, I’d suggest checking into Barnes and Noble Press or IngramSpark.
I hope this helps!
Can I use a visa gift card buy my lulu book?
It should work just like a normal Visa card, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Keith
If I publish my book in lulu; do they link the book to amazon product page ? ( paperback and hard cover)
Sumud, great question. If you publish with Lulu you’ll need to click they’re global distribution option to get it on Amazon. To answer your question, yes you can have lulu request your book gets linked on amazon with your other formats, however, if you did the ebook or paperback with KDP, it will be much faster if you ask KDP to link the books. Since they’re a subsidiary of Amazon, they can typically get the books linked in a matter of 24-48 hours as oppose to Lulu who would have to put in a request with Amazon which can take much longer.
I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
@@KeithWheelerBooks Yes I have published ebook and paperback with KDP. now I want to publish hard cover.
Then yes, I suggest publishing your hardcover with Lulu(I have a link in the description) and then once it’s live, go to KDP and ask them to link them up.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Okay. Thanks Keith :)
My pleasure. Best of luck!
Does Lulu ship to Canada?
To the best of my knowledge, yes.
H iKeith,
I'm trying to upload a children's book to Lulu hardcover. But i always recieve the following error
"Transparency: We detected an element that may be transparent within your file. We strongly recommend flattening or removing any transparencies in your file."
How to avoid getting this error ?
I have saved all the pages as jpeg images with text. and I use MS Powerpoint to format the book.
You need to go into pdf and embed all fonts
@@KeithWheelerBooks how to do that ?
1. Click the File tab and then click Options (it's near the bottom left corner of the window).
2. In the left column, select the Save tab.
3. At the bottom, under Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation, select the Embed fonts in the file check box. ...
4. Click OK.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Keith, There are 2 options, which one I should choose?
1) Embed only the characters .........................
or
2) Embed all characters
Embed all
how do i know how many pages my book is? its in scrivener...how do I format for hardback?
I don’t use scrivener but from what I’ve researched, you can go to Project/Project Statistics and it will show you the page count for the whole manuscript.
If you are writing your book in Wattpad, Inkitt, or Wordpress, is there any way to bring the content over to Lulu? Also, do you need to give Lulu a bank account to start or complete the process of publishing? Thank you.
You’d have to covert it from the platform to Word. You don’t need to set up your bank account to get started but you can’t get paid until you set it up.
@@KeithWheelerBooks I watched your video again. It is very helpful. I have a few follow-up questions to my earlier question, to which your prompt response is greatly appreciated. I am considering publishing my novel at Lulu. The novel is in six parts. Must the entire novel be downloaded as a single file, or can each part be dowloaded separately? Once dowloaded, is it possible to work with format or setup (for example, division of parts of the novel), or does the download have to be submitted for publishing as is? You said in your video that a member of the review team will get back in a short time. What are they reviewing? Finished product, or submission following the steps indicated? Is it allowed/possible to publish here and in another platform? Are there any hidden fees? Once published, can people purchase the novel, or do I have to pay some printing or marketing fees ahead of the process? Per your video, once I complete all the steps, is the novel considered published? Thank you for your time and attention.
Thanks again for the kind words. To answer your questions:
1. Yes you want to upload all of your manuscript in one file.
2. You can upload your interior as a draft and go back and make updates and then reupload. Once you submit it for approval it will go live when/if approved.
3. Like I stated in the previous answer, if you submit to go live, your manuscript will be reviewed to make sure it meets all of Lulu’s guidelines.
4. Yes, you can absolutely publish on Lulu along with other platforms.
5. The only possible fees would be if you decide to purchase an isbn as well as if you decide to buy author copies of your book.
6. Yes, then technically, your book is published.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thank you so much for your prompt response and for answering all of my questions. If I may, I have two more questions. My novel has six parts to it. How does the system recognize the division of parts? Must I create the divisions in the original file, meaning page break, part two, and page break again? Also, I understand from my reading that pdf is preferred format. Is this true? If there are any other hints or suggestions that you can give me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Happy New Year. Regards, Ramnath
@@KeithWheelerBooks One more question, please. If there are formatting errors when the file is dowloaded and the submission is completed, will the system alert you to the problem? Will a previous few of the dowloaded material show how exactly the book with its pages will look, and will I have the ability to make any changes during the preview process? Thanks again.
where are they based when they contacted you to publish your book?
They're based in the US
@@KeithWheelerBooks where exactly in the US are they located?
It really never came up in the conversation, but after doing some research, it appears they are located in Indiana.
@@KeithWheelerBooks do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about self-publishing call centers. Typically speaking, a traditional publisher will not reach out to you first. You’ll need to submit your work to them, usually through a literary agent. My case was a bit unusual because one of the publishers current authors told them to check out my book.
Also, a traditional publisher will never as you to pay to publish your book.
I hope this helps.
How much does it cost to publish and distribute an e-Book via Lulu?
Great question. Lulu is free to use. Even for paperback it’s at no cost. They even offer a free isbn for your paperback if you want to use it. The only costs come in when you order your proof copy of your paperback. But for ebooks it’s absolutely free!
@@KeithWheelerBooks Great. About to upload my first eBook to Lulu. Thanks!
Woohoo! Best of luck!!!
HOW CAN I PUBLISH MY BOOK AND GET SALES,.,.DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE PUBLISHING?
No, you should not have to pay to publish your book. There are plenty of platforms where you can publish your books for free. Sites like Lulu and KDP do not require an upload fee nor do they even require you to purchase your own isbn. I have videos that show how to upload and publish your books on both sites.
Best of luck. Thank you for watching and subscribing!
WOULD YOU DO ME THE HONOR OF MENTORING ME PLEASE
I HAVE A BOOK I HAVE WRITTEN ITS TITLED THE ENLIGHTENMENT
I REALLY NEED SOMEONE TO MENTOR ME THROUGH SUCCEEDING IN PUBLISHING
I am honored. Unfortunately, at this time I am not taking on any coaching students. That said, there are numerous amazing authors/publishers in many social media groups and if you become an active member in the groups and ask thoughtful questions, I'm sure you'll find a great deal of feedback and support.
Best of luck to you! Thanks for watching and subscribing!
THANKS
AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR TIME
My pleasure!
This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing the steps. I have a question please. I noticed that you uploaded your own cover design. What would be the dimensions of the cover design? Thanks!
It depends on the dimensions of your book. You can go to lulus help section and search up cover templates and then download the template for your particular book dimensions.
thanks for this amazing vid dear KEITH I have a question if you plz? I publish e-books and paperbacks on KDP and e-books on DRAFT2DIGITAL, so if I want to publish my paperbacks as hardcover on KDP through LULU.COM is it legal? I mean I've already published my print books as paperbacks on KDP and want to publish them again as hardcover through lulu.com? is there any fee should I pay in advance? for hardcover / spiral?
another question do you recommend publishing e-books and paperbacks through LULU and leave DRAFT2DIGITAL or publish e-books on draft2digital and the paperbacks through LULU? THANKS
I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. YT didn't show me this comment on the mobile app which is where I usually reply from.
I hope I've already answered this for you, but just in case you're still wondering, yes, you can still publish a hardcover on lulu even though you've already published a paperback else where. Just be sure that you're using separate ISBNs for each version.
Best of luck and thanks for watching and subscribing!
Do I need to pay for anything like do I need to buy a copy of my book for them to sell it?
On Lulu, if you want them to distribute to amazon, then yes you will need to buy a copy before they will publish it. If you don’t care if it’s on amazon, then you can publish without purchasing a copy. (Although, I always love to have physical copies of my books)
@@KeithWheelerBooks so the only I pay is for the copy
@@KeithWheelerBooks I was looking up ratings and it was like 2 stars is it legit
With Lulu, yes. If you use KDP, then you don't need to buy your book either.
@@KeithWheelerBooks for lulu do they give u a discount on ur own book and 1 last thing how do they pay you
Ebooks on lulu is a nightmare, I have put the same file into all the other platforms but lulu says it's not right.
Also I heard you had to have a full pdf of your cover, in createspace you could upload them separately then their creator would put them together, I MISS CREATESPACE
I hear ya. I miss Createspace too! Hopefully, KDP will bring back some of the features that CS use to have. 🤞
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
@@jessicagonzalez3893 I am US too.
These companies are in every country
. They are called vanity publishing.
You pay them thousands of dollars and they get your book into mobi for kdp, epub for some readers, pdf for print.
Some are honest, like foundations, and most are not.
Unfortunately, this is 100% true. Unless you have a lot of discretionary funds available and are pressed for time, I highly suggest against hiring a vanity publisher. And to be honest, even if you do have a lot of discretionary funds I still suggest publishing yourself and use the capital you have to assist you with ads and promotion.
I hope this helps.
Lulu will not help unless you pay thousand of dollars. They will refer you to other site that cost a monthly service fee. I noticed their physical books cost more than createspace did.
I spoke to a service person and he told me I really didn't want to achieve because I didn't want to have a monthly bill. The site has stuff on it to help authors, and lulu has their stuff on that site.so if you wanted to learn stuff from lulu, you had to go to the author site, pay a monthly bill. The guy from lulu hung up on me, when he realized he wasn't going to make a sale.
That is so odd. I’ve had great experiences with their customer support. The only issue I had was that one of my requests took 2days to get a reply, but that was a unique situation as I usually get a prompt response.
I’m sorry you had such a negative experience.
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
Is lulu trustful for self-publishing books??
Yes. In fact, most people don't know this, but Lulu was the first POD(print on demand) platform available. (yes, before KDP)
@@KeithWheelerBooks Ok.. Can Lulu Ship To Pakistan?
Honestly, I don’t know. You’ll have to check their website, just to be sure.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Ok... Thank You !
You’re very welcome! 👍
Hello I need help using lulu for placing my manuscript. Please let me know if u can help
I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. YT didn't show me this comment on the mobile app which is where I usually reply from.
Please let me know if you need help with anything. I promise it won't take me another 2 years to respond. LOL!
Thanks I only see 6x9?
When you start a new project, across the top you will see a list of product types(standard paperback, premium paperback, etc) When you choose your selection, the available trim sizes for that type will show up below it.
Personally, I have found it easier to select standard paperback and then go down and select the size I want. Note: if you’re looking for a binding other than perfect binding you’ll need to select Premium paperback. This will increase your binding options, however, it will decrease your available trim sizes.
I hope this helps.
Hi, can I publish in any language in Lulu or only supported language is allowed?
You'll want to stick with only the supported languages, but they're always updating their systems so if they don't support your language now, send them a support message and perhaps they'll be able to give you an idea as to when your language will be available.
Best of luck!
So you have to pay for publishing on Lulu? That's the part I never understand.
No, you can publish on Lulu for free. They offer free isbns.
Hi I have another few questions. Should you write you liek a manuscript (story) on A3 or A4? And also can you write like a blurb at the back of the book?
A4 is more standard. For the paperback, yes, it’s ok to have blurb on the back cover.
Keith Wheeler Books how do you write a blurb on the back? Thank you as well for answering my question!
Keith Wheeler Books sorry I meant A5 not A3, and if you want to make that book A5 should you still write a manuscript on A4. So when I send the A4 manuscript through will it automatically change to A5 for my book?
When you have your cover made, have them add the blurb to the back. If you’re using the cover creator, then you can add it on in there.
You want your manuscript to be in the same trim size as the book you want to print.
Cant hear--speaking volume low
That's odd. Were you able to hear any of my other videos? I only ask because no one else has made that comment. Thanks for watching and subscribing.
What do you recommend for editing?
In regards to software, I use grammarly, but this shouldn’t replace an editor!
Thanks Keith.. on lulu they have a tax form but their is a variety of forms 🙈 do I print the form sign and upload to my PC or can it be done on the PC ? As you know I'm from SA and the tax form I'm yet not sure witch form to use then I wanted to use paypal to be paid if they ask for a paypal address do I give the email address I use?
You don't have to print the form. You can just download it to your computer, fill it out and then re-upload it to Lulu.
As for setting up for paypal, when it asks for the email address, it wants the email that is associated with your paypal account.
@@KeithWheelerBooks thank you so much I really appreciate your help a lot your my inspiration!!!!! 💚💙💜💜❤❤
@@easyfoodchannelsa My pleasure. Thank you so much for the kind words.
Formatting for print looked to be such a time suck of a learning curve with KDP I paid someone $150 to do it. Is the formatting process any easier or more automated with Lulu or anyone else that you know of?
From my experience, KDP was the easiest when it comes to formatting. I recently did a video on how to format an ebook for kdp.
@@KeithWheelerBooks I used your video to format 2 ebooks, it's the print books that scared me into paying someone else to do it.
I’m glad my videos helped. I will have to do a kdp paperback formatting video in the very near future.
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
Hey Keith, what happens when you choose "make available only to me"? Can I buy as many books so that I can sell them on my own? Thank you.
Yes. “Make available only to me” is mainly for if you’re publishing for your own personal purpose and you don’t plan on selling online.
I hope this helps!
Thanks for watching and subscribing!!!
Oh and a really important question. What if I live in Australia? I thought I saw a lulu.com.au last night but cant find it now. I want to buy a stack of my own books and sell them but the postage will kill me I guess? Do you know if there is a lulu in Australia?
I am not aware of an Australia entity of Lulu. Your best bet would be to contact Lulu and ask them directly. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Feel free to share what you find out.
how does lulu pay for your book
I’m not sure I follow your question. Your royalties are paid typically via direct deposit.
@@KeithWheelerBooks that ok
👍
Thanks you so very much..keep an eye out, I'm hoping this book will save our world!! "Agen-duh" by Aimee Osmulski
I will keep my eyes on high alert!
Hi! Thank you for this very informative video. I have 2 questions and I hope you can help me.
First, does lulu sell books to the author like if I want to buy my own books from them and sell it directly to my friends. If yes, do they give a discounted price.
Second, do they ship books in Hong Kong and the Philippines?
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for the kind words. Yes lulu provides discounted costs for authors copies. As for whether or not they’ll ship to your country, your best bet would be to search their help section as they’re always adding availability to new countries.
I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks thank you. I have another question.. So I have read in Lulu website that one of the requirements in the book interior is to put the ISBN in the copyright page but I was wondering how will I be able to do that if I will only find out my ISBN when I get to the "ISBN stage" in create a book ? I dont know if im making sense. Sorry I am new to this self-publishing experience.✌
Yes that’s the same rule as KDP. On most sites the isbn page comes before you upload the interior, so you can click to get the free isbn and then take that number, add it to your interior and then upload the interior. For the few sites where you have to upload the interior first, I upload the interior. Select the free isbn. Add that isbn to the interior, and then I re-upload the interior.
I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks this is clear. Thank you. Questions!
1. Does lulu charge you for the shipping of the books?
2. How do i go about telling lulu that my book had been published before. Because what happened was I terminated my contract with the old publishing house and now i am self-publishing it.
3. Any pros and cons in publishing with lulu?
Thank you and sorry for bombarding you with questions🙏
@@KeithWheelerBooks questions again,
1. Any other website for self publishing?
2. I have seen that a few of their binding options are not eligible for retail distribution. Does it mean that a book cant be sold in...like amazon, barnes and noble etc. Is it correct?
Thank you
Thank you. It real helps. I was looking for a spiral bound option. Do they put the books on amazon.com too?
Rosie, great question. Yes, you can do spiral bound books with Lulu and put them on Amazon. They’re one of Lulu’s expanded distribution options.
I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks great thank you it helps
You’re quite welcome. I’m glad you found it helpful!
do you happen to know where are these self-publishing call center companies located because they keep contacting me to publish my book with them. do we have the same experience? I am from the US.
I just responded on the other thread.
Contrary to their publicly announced royalty rates (the rates on lulus web page) they DO NOT PAY the amount they promise.
Always less.
Fevzi Karsili, yeah what most people don’t realize is that the percent they advertise is based on the sales made on their website. So, if you send people to your books page on Lulu you’ll get that percentage. Everything else, including Amazon, is essentially “expanded distribution” and therefore you get a smaller royalty because, amazon takes their cut too.
I hope this helps explain things.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Honest one promises accordingly. If someone or another party does an unfairness that can not be an excuse for a honest person or company to do the same. Should not honest, lulu is very keen on extortion and usurpation.
I understand where you’re coming from but basically if you publish through lulu and the sale comes from another source like amazon, there’s less royalties left because amazon takes their fee. It’s the same as if you published on KDP and selected expanded distribution and your book sold on Walmart.com. You would get less royalties from the Walmart sale because Walmart needs their cut.
But if you direct your readers to your lulu page, you will get the full royalties advertised.
I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks what lulu promises on website is this, when Walmart.com sells your book on their site we will credit your account 1 USD but when this sale happens, lulu credits your account 0.8 USD. Not crediting your account an amount of 0.2 USD is a practice of extortion.
I'm creating a book just for my 4 friends (no intention to sell or anything). In this case what price do I set for the book? Does the book still need to be reviewed by Lulu and meet some criteria? I'm simply going to get 5 copies and then never try and sell the book or anything. Thanks!
That’s awesome. When you create your book on Lulu, there’ll be an option that says “Make available only to me”. If you select this, your book will not be distributed anywhere else. Only for you to buy author copies.
If you have to set a price, just set the price at cost.
I hope this helps. Best of luck!
How much can we earn from lulu?
Honestly, that’s hard to say because it depends on many factors. Trim size, page count, color interior vs black and white and book binding type(paperback, hard cover, spiral bound, etc) all play a part in the production costs. That said, keep in mind that with the more advanced covers(hard cover, spiral bound) you can typically charge more for the book, so that balances itself out a bit.
Your best bet would be to get a free account and start uploading your book. On the very first page you’ll enter all of the elements above and will get an estimated production cost before you go any further. So you’ll know, right off the bat if it’ll be profitable for you.
I hope this helps.
Wait u showed how to make the cover...how do I send in my drawings so they can turn it into a book...? Alsp what size am I supposed to draw my drawings in 2080 x 12700 🤣I’m lost
You need a digital version of your cover image. You can try scanning a drawing or some other way to get it to digital form. If you’re looking to make a physical book, then you need to make sure your images are at least 300dpi(dots per inch).
I hope this helps.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Do you know if Lulu deliver books to prisons? I'm trying to tap into that vein.
Great question. Honestly, I don’t know, but you can email support and I’m sure they will be able to help you.
Please let us know what you find out.
@@KeithWheelerBooks thank you. And I did enjoy the video