How to Self-Publish a Book Online

Screen shot of Lulu.com's Website

Publishing a book is a major milestone for every writer. The Internet has made it possible for all writers to be able to publish books online without having to gain approval through a traditional publisher. Lulu.com is one of the major online book publishers in the marketplace enabling writers and artists from more than 80 countries to publish books, music and other Internet media. In addition to providing a self-publishing environment, Lulu also provides the means for writers to also sell their books, register for an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and sell their writing through other Internet retailers such as Amazon.com. InstantPublisher.com and CreateSpace.com are two other online book publishers that offer similar services as those found on Lulu.

Things You'll Need

• Internet Access

Instructions

1. Register for a free account at Lulu.com. You will have to choose a store name for the uniform resource locator (URL) for posting or selling your book once published. The name chosen will be the prefix that comes before lulu.com. For example, http://mystorenamehere.lulu.com.

2. Select the "Paperback or Hardback" menu button to start a new book project.

3. Enter a working title for your book as well as the author name. Pen names can be used and both entries can be changed prior to publishing the book.

4. Select one of the following options: 1 - Keep the project private, 2 - Make the project public to sell in the Lulu Marketplace, 3 - Make the project public to sell in bookstores such as Amazon.com as well as Lulu. Once this choice is made, select the "save and continue" menu button.

5. Configure the book project options by selecting the paper type (Publisher grade or Standard Grade), Paper Size (8.5 x 11, 6 x 9, 9 x 7), Binding (Perfect-bound, Coil Bound, or Saddle Stitched), and Color (Color Cover only or Full Color). Select the "save and continue" menu option once the book options are chosen.

6. Upload the book files. The accepted manuscript formats are Word Documents (DOC), Rich Text Format (RTF), Works Documents (WPS), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Postscript (PS). The permitted image formats are JPG, GIF, and PNG.

7. Publish your book after final preview.

Tips & Warnings

• Order a copy of your book to proof for errors that you did not find in final editing before initiating widespread marketing for your book.

Resources

• Lulu's Home Page
• Instant Publisher's Home Page