After bringing up a discussion with a friend over the positives and negatives of self-publishing, we both came up with Lulu.com, which seems to be a leading self-publisher. Before we could conclude one way or another, I offered to publish a short story with them. This way we can determine what the reality is of their process.
I cleaned up my 10K manuscript of "Curse of the Wolf" and set it up on Lulu. My initial thoughts about Lulu are very positive. Sign up is free. The website is easy to navigate. It's also easy to set up a store front to list all you have available. The uploading process takes only a few minutes. The author is given almost absolute control over the details. I was able to easily upload my own cover art. The site also allows for offering a blurb and a preview of the work.
So far, I only see a few things that I see and down sides including... The pricing of the print books is quite high because of printing costs. The base price for a 300 page book is over 8 bucks even before the author adds on any for a royalty. I know some people may still be willing, I'm not likely to buy a self-published book that costs more than one published by a NY publisher. The only other negative that I see right now seems to be the sales and marketing. The author is completely responsibility of marketing the work.
Well, time will tell, just how good or bad an option Lulu.com will be.
Shannon
I'm thinking about what story I would like to finish next and maybe post to Lulu...
ReplyDelete'Season of Blood' is close to ready. All it should need is one last run through and a beta read.
Since I already posted 'Curse of the Wolf', I probably should finish 'Oath of the Wolf' that continues Vali and Deltinica's story. I'm still not feeling like I have a grasp on that story. What I need is a good brainstorming session to work the kinks out of the plot. Then maybe I could finish it and move on to 'Daughter of the Wolf'. Once I get those three done, I might even offer them together in print.
Still thinking...
Shannon
writing to: dark side of the moon
Posted another short story to Lulu. Check out Season of Blood. Cost is only a buck. I'd love to get feed back about it.
ReplyDeleteNow, I have roughly 24 hours to finish my entry for the Sharp Synopsis contest... I was hoping to enter 2 different entries, but I think I will be lucky to get one ready.
Shannon
writing to Queens Reich
I did get both entries off to the sharp synopsis contest. Father of the Wolf and Forgiven are both entered. I haven't even gone so far as to check out the final announcement date. I am looking at another contest coming up. The final round judge, I think, would be good for DMNs, but I'm not sure that one is ready to start entering yet.
ReplyDeleteI did finish my story "Misplaced Fate". I posted it to Lulu. It's too short for much of anything else.
Now I am working on finishing "The Promise" which tells the story of what went wrong between Kita's parents, Katy and Micael. At the same time, I've begun editing "Forgiven". Mom still swears that she loves it, no matter how much red the ms currently wears.
I am still hoping to begin work on Vali's Oath, real soon. I decided to rename the stories in that group to Vali's Curse, Vali's Oath, and Vali's Legacy. When they're done, I want to get them in print as an anthology. I might also add in Vali's Shadow, which tells about the first Shadoman.
I'm beat and plan to turn in early tonight.
Shannon
Writing to some pretty mellow tunes. They fit my mood.