I am looking at print-on-demand publishing services like Lulu.com and Createspace.com. Both of them offer services which mean that you can turn a pdf file into a book manuscript which can then be printed off as a book. These can be printed when required so rather than printing a thousand books and watching them gather dust in cardboard boxes, it is possible to print off individual copies as required at an economically viable cost.
Now, unless I am much mistaken, some detailed research suggests that Lulu is probably a better service if you are based in the UK, because the other service (which is owned by Amazon) only prints in the US.
There is also the option to produce books through both services, although this might be somewhat cumbersome. Any views on the two services are welcome – just post a comment on this post.
I’m going to use this service in the next few weeks to produce the first couple of books. This is a real move forwards for my publishing press (bluewater books), which until now has only produced hand-printed chapbooks. I’m looking forward to experimenting, and will blog about the progress with it over the coming weeks.
I am in the middle of a few hours working on the ‘Archetypes at Work’ manuscript. I have pushed the word count up to 18,000 words which is really encouraging.
Do you ever buy tickets for something, think it’s a good idea at the time, then have serious second thoughts as the date looms? I saw this event recently – the Poet Laureate for the UK appearing at a reading in the Wirral. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss. But on the night, I was wondering whether there would be a tiny audience. Poetry readings can be tedious to say the least!
Regular readers of my blog over the last few years will know that I love the music of