Re: Lulu?
I have several books on Lulu. Some are self-published under my
Metropolis Populous Productions, and some by
Wild Cat Books. Wild Cat is actually becoming a fairly successful operation using Lulu exclusively.
The bad thing about Lulu is you have to do all the work unless you want to pay them to do the editing, layout, cover design, marketing, etc. The other bad thing about Lulu is they don't have the traffic for readers up to the level of writers.
The good thing about Lulu is it costs nothing to post a book there unless you purchas the aforementioned extras. The other good thing about Lulu is you can buy one book, ten books, or a thousand books. You're not left being required to purchase a minimum number of books that could potentially load up your garage and never sell. Their ISBN deal is fairly nice, but as mentioned before, the back cover needs to be designed to ensure it will fit.
If you're going with a self-publishing route, it would be smart to go with Lulu even if you decide to go another route as well. Why not have your book available as many places as possible?
I spoke to a gentleman who posted his children's book on Lulu and eventually sold it to a professional publisher. He probably made some money in the meantime, and now has a book published. I don't think his story is unique, if it is likely rare.
Most of the stuff I have on Lulu are reprints of things other publishers printed of mine over the years. As far as calling it a 'vanity press', I think it's more like a print shop. They'll print what you bring them. There are some high-quality projects on Lulu, and an entire range beneath.
