Stop the press: Amazon creates rival to Lulu
A copy of my post to Storm Grant, who posted about the news at her LJ. * * * "I'm seeing this as Amazon going head to head with LuLu. I don't know that much about LuLu; am I right in this?" Looking at the Webspace of Amazon's company, CreateSpace, I'd say the answer is yes. Differences that I immediately notice: The pricing structure is hard to compare, but someone at the Lulu forums who ran the numbers concluded: "CreateSpace's pricing is almost always better than Lulu's for books sold on Amazon (sometimes by a lot), slightly better for color or very short B&W books sold on storefronts , and worse on longer B&W books sold on storefronts." Lulu books have the option of being sold through various online bookstores (and also brick-and-mortar bookstores, though that's unlikely, because of the pricing structure); for that option, you have to pay a fee. CreateSpace books can only be sold through the U.S. Amazon bookstore; you pay no fee for this. Both Lulu and CreateSpace have a "no porn" rule. Lulu has not applied that rule against textual erotica; it remains to be seen whether CreateSpace will. Lulu does a lot of optional hand-holding through such processes as creating a PDF file and creating a cover. I can't tell whether CreateSpace does, but it certainly doesn't have the quite valuable support forums that Lulu does. For more comparisons, see the second link above. Also, a Lulu member has already put together a comparison calculator between the two services. There's probably hidden ickiness in all this - there always is - but off-hand, it looks to me as though CreateSpace is a strong rival to Lulu. The good news is that neither company requires exclusive rights, so (provided that you buy your own ISBN, which costs a fair amount of money) you could upload your book to both companies if you wished.

Can I hope this means Lulu will at last give us print prices and shipping prices affordable to customers outside of the U.S. I shall watch and see.

(Looks at time stamps of above entries.) Man, what are you doing, lurking at this forum in the hopes that somebody will post here? :)

I'm on line because of a chat and never logged out of this forum, lol. I see alllll! *insert ominous music*

Running some numbers I've run before, but with CreateSpace added in, here's the breakdown in prices, using as an example a 300-page book that's priced at $15.99. * * * Lulu Storefront (sold only at Lulu site): $4.53 (cover and binding) + 2 cents per page + 20% of profit to Lulu. Author's profit: $4.91 Lulu Distribution (sold anywhere - realistically, only at online bookstores): $1.50 (cover, binding, and set-up) + 2 cents per page + 20% of profit + 50% of total to distributors. Author's profit: 30 cents. Added expenses: $100-150 for ISBN. Optional $80 fee for corrections. CreateSpace (sold only at CreateSpace site): $3.15 (cover and binding) + 2 cents per page + 20% of list price (not profit) to CreateSpace. Author's profit: $3.64. Added expenses: Optional $270 fee for ISBN (a block of ten - you can use the ISBNs for nine other books too) if you want to sell the book through other self-publishing services too. CreateSpace (sold at CreateSpace site and U.S. Amazon site): $3.15 (cover and binding) + 2 cents per page + 30% of list price to Create. Author's profit: $2.04. Added expenses: Optional $270 fee for ISBN (a block of ten - you can use the ISBNs for nine other books too) if you want to sell the book through other self-publishing services too. Lightning Source (sold anywhere - realistically, only at online bookstores): 90 cents (cover and binding) + 1.3 cents per page + 25% of total to distributors (you set your own percentage, but that figure is on the low end, for maximum profit). Author's profit: $7.19. Added expenses: $270 for ISBN (a block of ten - you can use the ISBNs for nine other books too). $95 set-up fee (for 300-page book). Annual fee: $12. Optional $80 fee for corrections. Summing up the profits: Lulu storefront: $4.91. CreateSpace storefront: $3.64. Lulu + online bookstores: $0.30 CreateSpace + U.S. Amazon: $2.04. Lightning Source (online bookstores): $7.19. Lightning Source remains miles ahead of its competitors in terms of profit. However, working directly with Lightning Source continues to be a hassle, because they're set up to work with businesses, not individuals.

"*hides cute, fluffy, stuffed animals and decorates desk with kinky toys, vibes and nipple clamps.*" Julian the Octopus is puzzled. He's wondering why you can't have both.

I saw nipple clamps for the first time the other day. I want them.

I'd like a fluffy-ish octopus for my body pillow actually.

"I'd like a fluffy-ish octopus for my body pillow actually." (Julian curls tentacles in delight at meeting someone with such good taste.)

Nice octopus. *kiss, kiss, kiss, smoooosh!* Whoops. Forgot I had the squish all things cute gene.

Julian doesn't mind. :)