My experience with lulu.com

I was first attracted to lulu.com because, like many people, I wanted a quick, easy, and independent/liberating way to publish my book and begin selling it.  The process seemed simple enough.  I signed up for a free account and started a new project.  After choosing the book’s properties (as a soft cover book with saddle stich binding at 8.5 x 8.5 dimensions and color printing), I uploaded my images (since my book is a children’s picture book, all of my pages were images.  I chose .png format at 300 dpi), uploaded my cover art, entered in a brief description of the book and its details (author, type of copyright, etc.) and voi-là!  My book was complete!

Before taking the leap to buy an ISBN number on it,  I decided to order one myself and see what type of quality lulu.com is offering.  And boy am I glad I did!

The first thing I noticed when I received the book in the mail was that the colors were all wrong.  They were entirely too dark and dull, and the contrast was much higher than it appears in my images.  The only place where the contrast didn’t appear to be high was between some of my blues and my cyan greens.  They almost seemed to run together in a highly monotonous way.  Aside from maybe the rich reds, which actually appeared somewhat orange, there was very little vibrance to the colors.

At first, I accused myself of wrong doing, noting that my images had been in RGB format.  So I accessed lulu’s live chat for customer assistance to see whether or not I should switch my colors to CMYK format.  They discouraged me from doing so, and only suggested I make sure my dpi was between 300-600dpi and read their help menu on .pdf formats (which told me the exact same things).  I began to discover that lulu.com’s live chat help service really isn’t all that helpful, but I’ll speak more on that later.

Anyway, there was no real solution at lulu that explained why the colors turned out the way they did or what I should do about it.  I even experimented with my files, and switched them as is to CMYK, but that still did not produce the same colors I was seeing on my printed copy of the book.

The second thing I noticed was this “book” did not feel like a book at all it felt like a pamphlet.  For starters, the soft cover is incredibly thin and too brittle for a book cover.   It would take practically no effort at all to place a permanent crease into the book, and “shelving” it seemed laughable.  I have magazine that seem to be more durable than this “book” was.  For as pricey as it was to produce and ship, I was very disappointed by the quality.  I am speaking only about the soft cover. saddle stitch books.  Mine was roughly 20 pages long.  I can’t speak for hard covers or novels.

The next thing I noticed was that the pages were not printed all the way to the bottom.  I worked hard to make sure that all of my pages were the exact dimensions that the site demanded, yet aside from my cover image, everything else turned out short.  Even if this problem does turn out to be my fault, lulu does not provide any (free) tools or safety guides for you to ensure your images are the correct size for printing.  So you must be extra careful about htis.

Finally, customer service is pretty lame at lulu.com.  The only upside is the speed and quickness in which they seek to assist you.  It seems any time of the day or night, someone is up and ready on stand by, waiting to answer your questions.  However, from the multiple encounters I have had with them, they seem only to be well versed in navigating the lulu.com website.  Responses seemed often to merely direct me a link on lulu.com, where the summaries are incredibly vague and general.  If you have hard pressing, specific, detail oriented questions about lulu’s printing processes, sottware tools/widgets, etc.,  be prepared to be disappointed.

If you are seeking to get your book “reviewed”, lulu offers expensive service packages where supposedly real experts will read and edit your work.  You can also rely on the community forums area for reviews and ratings.  This ultimarely seems a bit silly though, because all the reviewers can do is look at your cover image, description, and the few sample pages you gave them access to before they rate your book.  It practically is “judging a book by its cover”.

So what was good about lulu.com, anything?  Well, the production and shipping time wasn’t that bad.  Using the US Postal ‘media mail,’ I was able to receive this book faster than I expected.  But that’s about it for lulu.com.  I am going to remove my book from that site, and look for a literary agent to show me the ropes and help promote my book to publishers.

Hope that helps give you soome insight into lulu.com.   This was my experience, and other people might have had better ones.
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EDIT:  I was watching an online video or something where they are speaking about lulu and print-on-demand services.  They said that when these companies boast of placing your “book” in libraries, on book shelves, and stores world wide, what they are really saying is they will place a listing of your book in the databases of all these places.  However, the lulu’s of the world do not have buy back return policies with these stores, and thus are not taken too seriously,

EDIT 2:  If there is anything about this post that is unclear or has typos, it is because I was writing it at 3:3om in the morning.   Another edit will surely come after I get some sleep.

The Story of Henry and the Fat Prison

Henry and the Fat Prison
Copyright © 2008 by Scott C. Johnson

Four small carrots and a bowl of salad sat cold in little Henry’s plate. “Eat your vegetables” Mom said, “then you can have a cookie.” Henry frowned and folded his arms. “Come on sport!” said Dad, “Veggies are good for you. They’ll help make you strong and healthy.” Henry was not interested. He had waited all evening to taste one of Mom’s fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and now the only thing he had to do was finish his vegetables, but he really didn’t want to.

Henry sat there, hoping his parents would change their minds, or his veggies would disappear, or Chomper his dog would leap up on the table and eat the vegetables for him. None of that happened. However after a few long minutes, Dad left to finish work on the car in the garage and Mom left to answer the phone. Even Chomper left to follow Dad into the garage. Now Henry was all alone. It was just him, his vegetables, and Mom’s fresh baked cookies on the counter. Now was his chance!

Henry quickly grabbed the carrots from his plate, bundled them in a napkin, and threw them into the trash. The he rushed back to the table, scooped the salad into another napkin and threw it into the trash too. He was just returning to his seat when Mom came back into the kitchen. “Did you finish your vegetables?” Mom asked. “Yes” Henry replied. “Are you sure?” Mom said. “Yes” said Henry. “Ok then, now you can have a cookie.” Henry smiled with joy. Mom’s fresh backed cookies were the best! Mom placed a big warm cookie on a small plate and handed it to Henry. She then poured him a tall glass of milk. Just then the phone rang again, so Mom left the kitchen and Henry was all alone.

Henry took one bite of the delicious cookie. It was so soft and chewy! The big brown chocolate chips were rich and sweet as they melted in Henry’s mouth. When he was done Henry washed the cookie down with the cold glass of milk. “Yum” Henry thought. “That was so tasty I would love to have another.” Mom had not returned to the kitchen and Dad was still in the garage with Chomper. So Henry got up and walked over to the counter where the cookies were. “I’ll take one for now and another one for later” he told himself. So Henry grabbed two cookies and ran upstairs to his room. There, he ate both cookies and finished his milk before falling asleep on his bed.

The next morning, Mom packed Henry a lunch before he went to school. “Be sure to eat your apple slices and the celery I gave you” Mom said, as she handed Henry his lunch. “Yes Mom” Henry replied, and he walked outside to catch the school bus.

At lunch time, Henry sat with his friends outside and ate. Henry ate his sandwich first and his potato chips. He also ate a brownie his Mom had packed for him, so all that was left was his celery and apple slices. “Does anyone want to trade me for my celery or apples slices?” Henry asked. No one would trade Henry, so he threw his celery and apple slices into the trash. It was recess time now, Henry’s favorite time of the day! As he got up someone tagged his back from behind. It was Henry’s friend Jake. “You’re it!” Jake screamed as he ran off towards the playground. Henry jumped up and ran after him. Jake sped past the swing set and slide, and right by the girls jumping rope, but he wasn’t fast enough. Henry caught him in a dash. “Now you’re it!” said Henry and he ran off near the see-saw. Henry and Jake played tag for a few more minutes then Todd ran up to both of them with a message. “We’re choosing teams for basketball and I’m a team captain. Do you want to join?” “Yes” said Henry and Jake, and all three boys darted towards the basketball court.

Everyone knew Henry was one of the best basketball players in his class, and he was really fast. So Todd chose him first to join his team.

During the game, Henry scored 10 points, made two steals and hit the game winning shot!

“We won! Great job Henry!” said Todd. “Yeah nice job Henry” said Jake, “I wish you would be on my team next time.”

After school, Todd invited Henry to his house. On the way there, Todd’s Mom asked the boys if they were hungry. “Yes” they replied. Henry was even hungrier since he didn’t eat his apple slices and celery. “I’m starved! Can we get ice cream?” Henry asked. “Well Henry, I made you guys ants on a log. How does that sound?” said Todd’s Mom. “What are ants on a log?” Henry asked. “Oh, they are peanut butter on celery sticks with raisins on top. They are really good!” “I like them” said Todd. But Henry was not impressed. Not celery again! He had just thrown that away at lunch, and here it was again!

“But, it’s a sunny day and my Mom always takes us out for ice cream when it’s a sunny day.” Henry said. The truth was, Henry’s Mom would take him out for ice cream if it was a special occasion and a sunny day. But Henry decided to leave that first part out. “Well, we usually don’t eat a lot of sweets Henry” said Todd’s mom, “but because you are our special guest, I think we can do it this time.”

So Todd’s mom drove the boys to get ice cream shop, and Henry smiled with joy!

When they got to the ice cream shop, Todd’s Mom asked what they would like to order. Todd ordered a small strawberry ice cream cone, but Henry asked for a lot more. “I want that” Henry said, as he pointed to the #3 choice on the adult menu. It was 2 scoop chocolate brownie sundae with candy sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry. “Wow” said Todd’s Mom. “That’s on the adult menu, are you sure you can eat all that?” asked Todd’s mom. “Yes” said Henry “I can eat it.” So Todd’s Mom placed the order and Henry at his chocolate brownie sundae with candy sprinkles, whipped cream and a cherry. He ate every bite of it.

After they had finished their ice cream, Todd’s mom took them to the video store to rent a video game. Todd and Henry picked out a video game and Todd’s Mom checked it out. As they were leaving, Henry saw a candy bar that he wanted. So he grabbed the candy bar and took it to the counter.

An old man was working at the cash register when he saw Henry approach with the candy bar. The old man looked at Henry, and noticed he had a small bit of chocolate on his cheeks from the ice cream. “What’s that on your cheek?” The old man asked. Henry wiped the chocolate off of his cheek with the back of his hand. “Chocolate” said Henry with a smile. “We had some ice cream”. The old man looked down at the candy bar in Henry’s hand. “Ice cream?” said the old man “and now you want a candy bar too?” “Yes” replied Henry. “Too much junk food is not good for a boy, especially a strong boy like you.” said the man. “I have seen what happens to boys when they eat too much junk food” “What?” asked Henry. “They end up in fat prison.” said the old man.

Henry glanced outside to see Todd and his mom were busy talking by the car, so he turned back towards the old man. “Fat prison?” asked Henry. “Yes” the old man said. “In fat prison, you can no longer do some of the things you love to do, and even the people you know might not like you as much. I suggest you put that candy back and eat good things like fruits and veggies.” Henry didn’t like fruits and he really didn’t like veggies. He frowned at the old man. “No!” said Henry “I don’t like fruits and veggies, I want a candy bar.” “But what about fat prison?” asked the old man. “I don’t care” said Henry and he slammed his money down on the counter took the candy bar and ran out of the store.

“Where have you been?” asked Todd’s Mom. “We were worried.” “Nowhere” said Henry, stuffing the candy into his pocket. They all got into the car and drove to Todd’s house. Henry played video games with Todd throughout the evening, and he ate the candy bar when Todd left for to go to the bathroom. Then Todd’s dad surprised the boys with pizza and salad. Henry ate three big slices, but left his salad on the table.

In the evening, Todd and his mom dropped Henry off at his house. Henry’s Mom asked him if he wanted any dinner. Henry said he already ate, but he did ask for a cookie just before bedtime.

That night, Henry fell into a deep sleep and began dreaming. In his dream, he was back at school with all his friends. He was standing outside when Jake ran up and tagged him from behind. “You’re it!” he shouted as he sped off towards the swings. Henry went to chase after him, but this time something was holding him back

(to be continued…)

Myspace or WordPress?

That is the question.  As an aspiring author, I thought it best to set up a blog where I can write about topics relevant to my pursuits.  Whether I am writing about publishing or self publishing (ie: lulu.com), story book topics, other authors and illustrators work, updates on my own work, poetry, illustration, current events or whatever, I needed a place to go where I could get traffic (given that I generate good content), a friendly functional interface and great tools.  I’ve been a wordpress fan for a while now, and I dropped myspace years ago, when the functionality and pages seemed like garbage.

But myspace has come a long way since then, and now with it’s new(er) interface and blogging tools, I wondered if the social networking capabilities in myspace might give its blogging features a slight edge.   The jury is still out on that question, but until they return, I will be doing the next best thing.  Using both Myspace and WordPress blogs.  Therefore, whereever I feel like posting next will receive a post, and both blogs will contain different content.  Sounds silly, but it’s also an experiment I of sorts.  I haven’t googled on this yet, but I think I”ll seek to learn from first hand experience which site provides the best tools for aspiring authors.

To be continued…

EDIT: My myspace page can be found here.