CreateSpace, Lulu, LighteningSource...preferences?

I've used LuLu & Createspace. I like Createspace better for price, quality & ease of use.

I use CreateSpace and I've been very pleased with the quality. They only do paperback, which is a shame, but I was actually surprised with the quality of the books. I have published two books through them and I am happy with both. I will be doing my third through them as well. The process is easy, they charge no upfront costs, and they send you a proof (I think its @ $5) to check before it goes live. They don't make it live until you have had an opportunity to review the proof copy. All in all, I've been thrilled with them.

I have used Createspace and was very happy with them.

Lulu is very cost prohibitive, I wouldn't really consider them. They are cheaper to set up than Lightning Source, but the per copy price is on the very high side. Also, I've heard that Lightning Source has begun moving the smaller publishers and self publishers to it's sister operation (I think it's called spark). Though, previous users who published their titles through them were grandfathered in. That doesn't mean you can't get accedpted to use LS, just depends on the represenative.

Createspace is probably the cheapest and best decision for self publishing. For one, the majority of online book sales take place at Amazon. If you want a hardcover edition, I would definitely choose LS over Lulu. The only problem there is that a screw up in your file will cost you, so you want to make sure you have your MS and cover formatted correctly to their standards.

I like CreateSpace.

I got my ISBN free through Createspace. I haven't had any issues.

I use both CS and LSI. The combination is perfect for my goals. CS has great customer service, but this last book I produced was the first one that came through appropriately. All previous books had errors. LSI is a better quality product, but you better make sure your files are perfect b/c making changes is not cheap. The cost for books through CS and LSI are nearly identical +/- a few cents.

I got my ISBN from Createspace & have had no issues. I just buy my own ISBN for my Ebooks.

Literateparakeet said:

On a related note, do you purchase your ISBN's or have them assigned by CreateSpace. I was reading a blog that said you should buy them because if they are "assigned" then CreateSpace or whomever is the publisher. That seems like a bit of semantics to me, I mean it's self-published either way. I'm not trying to hide that, but I do want to be as professional as possible.

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Createspace has a "custom ISBN" option (not free at the time I used it, but I think it was around $10) where you can list your publishing imprint. Since I already had a business entity set up, I chose to use it as the publisher.

Books published with this option list your imprint, not Createspace, as the publisher. The only disadvantage is that you can't sell to libraries, but I don't know of any libraries that will purchase self-published books anyway.

WriterBN said:

but I don't know of any libraries that will purchase self-published books anyway.

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Really? Have you researched this?

WriterBN said:

Createspace has a "custom ISBN" option (not free at the time I used it, but I think it was around $10) where you can list your publishing imprint. Since I already had a business entity set up, I chose to use it as the publisher.

Books published with this option list your imprint, not Createspace, as the publisher. The only disadvantage is that you can't sell to libraries, but I don't know of any libraries that will purchase self-published books anyway.

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Hi, just to interject here. I used the $10 custom ISBN option so I could have my own publishing imprint listed. My book is now in 28 libraries. (I can honestly say, it's coast to coast in the U.S. here.)

I did go with expanded distribution channels, so librarians haven't had an issue ordering it through the various retailers.

LP: I was very happy with the price and quality of my Createspace book.

I use CreateSpace, and it's been a great experience. The free ISBN hasn't (yet) created any issues for me. As far as libraries go, I just offer to donate a copy, and most of them happily accept. I figure it's a worthy investment!

etherme said:

I use CreateSpace, and it's been a great experience. The free ISBN hasn't (yet) created any issues for me. As far as libraries go, I just offer to donate a copy, and most of them happily accept. I figure it's a worthy investment!

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Just a small tip. Don't DONATE it. offer it for free if you want, but be very explicit that you are offering it for free so that they CATALOG it. Very important. Get them to catalog it. It will help sell to other libraries.

WriterBN said:

The only disadvantage is that you can't sell to libraries, but I don't know of any libraries that will purchase self-published books anyway.

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profen4 said:

Really? Have you researched this?

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A lot of libraries won't buy self-published books. There are several reasons.

Quality is a big issue. Many (probably most) self published books are not very good books; and most self-published print editions are POD, and they can't withstand the physical demands library stocks have to endure.

Then there's readership. Libraries have to stock books their patrons are going to want to read. Most self published writers don't have any established following, so their books sit on the shelves and take up space which might be more usefully given to more popular books.

And distribution is an issue too: libraries depend on a specific chain of reviews and distributors to find and buy their stock, and if a book isn't included in the listings they might not be able to add it to their catalogues, or put forward a purchase order. Often individual libraries won't have the control they need to do this for themselves and will have to send a request further up the command chain: and bearing in mind how many self published books there are out there, and how many requests they get to stock them, they just don't have the time for it: and so they have blanket policies where self published books are concerned, which are very difficult to change.

profen4 said:

Just a small tip. Don't DONATE it. offer it for free if you want, but be very explicit that you are offering it for free so that they CATALOG it. Very important. Get them to catalog it. It will help sell to other libraries.

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I guess I don't quite understand the difference, but I will say this: about a week after I send a copy to a library, I check their online "catalog" and it does show in their inventory (and sometimes already checked out). It's ended up in 9 libraries so far, so it seems to be all good.

But thanks for the heads-up--if nothing else, maybe when I send them out (from here on out) I will change that wording, just to be safe.

Mclesh said:

Hi, just to interject here. I used the $10 custom ISBN option so I could have my own publishing imprint listed. My book is now in 28 libraries. (I can honestly say, it's coast to coast in the U.S. here.)

I did go with expanded distribution channels, so librarians haven't had an issue ordering it through the various retailers.

LP: I was very happy with the price and quality of my Createspace book.

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Good to know. I assumed it couldn't be done, based on this footnote on the Createspace page for the custom ISBN option:

† Not eligible for distribution through the Libraries and Academic Institutions channel.

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profen4 said:

Really? Have you researched this?

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Only a limited sample of librarians but they basically all said the same thing: if it's not in Booklist or reviewed in Library Journal, they won't order it. Some libraries will order a book if enough patrons request it, though.

WriterBN said:

Good to know. I assumed it couldn't be done, based on this footnote on the Createspace page for the custom ISBN option: "Not eligible for distribution through the Libraries and Academic Institutions channel."

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WriterBN, I was actually worried about that too. In my book's case, I'd already chosen the custom ISBN option then was contacted by Library Journal shortly after my book's release. (This in itself is unusual; the timing and my book's subject happened to fit into the category of books they were reviewing in that particular issue.) I panicked thinking that librarians wouldn't be able to order it. I posed a question in the CS community forum and was basically told: the expanded distribution option through libraries is only one source. The libraries have many other options as far as ordering books, and if they're interested in your book, they'll order it. And so they have.

LP: Sorry for the derail!

Six books printed through CS so far with several more on the way in different stages.

If you choose Expanded Distribution you may as well choose all three choices. The cost is the same (nothing). However, the minimum price CS will allow goes up by $2-$3.

Several people say their POD books have ended up in libraries. Really? Post a link to those libraries catalogs if so & tell us which books they are, please. I'm very doubtful. I'd love for this for my books, but I don't see any way that can happen for most libraries.

Laer Carroll said:

Several people say their POD books have ended up in libraries. Really? Post a link to those libraries catalogs if so & tell us which books they are, please. I'm very doubtful. I'd love for this for my books, but I don't see any way that can happen for most libraries.

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Laer, here's the link for my book regarding its availability in libraries.

Book purchased by library

This is by a friend of mine. Published on Createspace. She is a teacher and also very experienced in working with libraries. They did buy this book for shelving; I believe she might have donated copies to the "book bag" program.

I know others have tried, but she succeeded. The book looks (and feels) very professional.

LINK