I’ve been following a disccusion over at the CreateSpace Community called “How Does Lightning Source Compare to Lulu and Createspace?“ While the information has been very good across the board, I thought a recent post from someone called Penumbra Publishing contained a wealth of information that I’d share here…
Hi all, when comparing apples to oranges to limes, one must make color and texture adjustments for the differences in fruit. I have more experience with Createspace than with either Lulu or Lightning Source but have reviewed price specifications for print-on-demand contracts from Lightning Source, so I can tell you a bit about those costs. For the purpose of this discussion I will reference only print-on-demand services because I assume most people considering Lulu or Createspace are not planning on having thousands of books printed for warehousing purposes.
1. POD PER-BOOK COST. Createspace does small print runs via print-on-demand. They do not do offset printing for mass-market volume discounts. Lulu may offer discounts on volume, but I don’t know for sure. Lightning Source offers both POD and offset printing. For POD, the cost per book is virtually the same as the cost for producing the same book on CreateSpace under the PRO plan. Lightning Source does offer graduated discounts on bulk POD print runs, starting at 5% for 50 books. Last time I checked on Lulu three months ago, the per-book production price was consistently higher for the same product under any plan than the cost would be from either Createspace or Lightning Source.
2. TITLE SETUP. Createspace charges nothing for you to set up your title and provides an ISBN for free, but that ISBN marks them as the publisher, not you. With their PRO plan you can cut your per-book cost by about 1/3 by paying $39 upfront and annually thereafter to keep the book in print. Without the pro plan the book remains in print for free. You can provide your own ISBN under either plan with no extra charge and no discount. Lulu has a similar program and a distribution program that costs $99 or more the last time I checked. Lightning Source charges $37.50 for cover file setup and $37.50 for text (book interior) file setup, for a total setup fee of $75 for a book digitally uploaded for production. You provide your own ISBN. Also LS charges $12 annually to keep your book available. By far Createspace is the cheapest route to produce a book when considering startup cost.
3. PROOF & REVISION COST. Createspace charges the per-book production cost plus S&H to send a proof. Additional proofs after changes are the same cost. There are no revision or file replacement charges. Generally speaking a proof for a 300-page book would be around $12 or $13 including S&H. I don’t know what it would be on Lulu. On Lightning Source a proof copy is $30 including Express mailing cost. LS charges a whopping $40 per file upload, meaning if you make changes to your cover and upload a revised file, they’ll charge you $40. If you also make changes to the text and upload, that’s an additional $40.
4. SHIPPING CHARGES. Createspace since January has appeared to offer more options for shipping. The first proof I ordered was via UPS and cost over $6.00. By the time I had my second title ready for proof, USPS media rate was available at $3.85. I don’t know if those choices are now consistently available, but they were the last time I ordered a proof. I don’t know what Lulu charges for shipping. Via Lightning Source, they say they charge the ‘going rate’ for mailings of the book itself to you as the publisher or to distributors, plus you will be charged $1.50 handling fee per book. For a box of 50 books, that would include $75 handling fee above the shipping rate.
5. DISTRIBUTION. The one HUGE drawback to Createspace is that distribution is only on Amazon. Lulu and Lightning Source offer distribution on Amazon plus other channels. The biggy for LS is the Ingram catalog. Note Lulu charges a fee for distribution but then has some exclusions so that maybe foreign rights are not included. LS distribution for UK is included only if you choose that POD contract in addition to the US POD contract (you have several options you can mix and match).
So, let’s look at comparative costs to get ONE book done without any revisions. For comparative book cost between Lightning Source and Createspace, I will use Createspace PRO plan and no pro plan. Because I am not dealing with Lulu right now I will leave it out of the comparison. Their prices are available online, so you can check them out yourself. Just be sure you use the same page count for your book when making comparisons.
LS
$75 file uploads
$30 proof
$12 Ingram catalog annually
$40 cost of your ISBN if purchased in block of 10
TOTAL $157 for a small paperback
Cost per 360-page book ($0.90 + $0.013/pg) $5.58 direct to distributor (slightly higher if direct to you the publisher)
CS
$13 proof
TOTAL $12 for a 360 page book
Cost per 360-page book ($1.50 + $0.02/pg) $8.70
CS-Pro
$39 Pro fee
$9.57 proof
TOTAL $48.57
Cost per 360-page book ($0.85 + $0.012/pg) $5.72
Comparing the three pricing structures you can see that distribution via Ingram’s catalog you will pay about $110-135 showing you as the publisher. Add your ISBN to CS and that lowers the difference to $70-95. NOTE that just because you have the opportunity to reach additional distribution sources through Lightning Source, there is no guarantee that anyone will buy your book if they don’t know about it. So MARKETING is your number-one priority at this juncture. Note also that generally POD books are non-returnable, and if you opt with LS to have them returned to you, they will charge you a fee per book as someone else already pointed out.
Clear as mud?
-Penumbra Publishing
I shared this with fellow reviewer LK and she pointed out the issue some might also have as far as your ISBN is concerned: “CS has that one huge downside being linked ONLY to Amazon, which is why I went with Lulu for Misfit McCabe. Plus, they also have the other downside of owning the ISBN instead of you.”
So when you are choosing a direction for your book, ask yourself these questions?
- Do you want to own your ISBN?
- Do you care about getting your book into bookstores?
- Do you want your book available through other channels than Amazon?
- How much money are you willing to invest in the project up front?
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The poster mostly knew about CreateSpace and LSI–she didn’t say much about Lulu. Wonder how long she’s been there.
Dawson
Love the boxing glove as the pic for this piece. It says it all.
although I have yet to publish, I have collected the fee info and have set up accounts for Lightning Source and Createspace — it should be noted that Lightning Source charges $1.50 per order for processing – not per book as your article states – true about the $40 revision price – ouch!
Hi Mike-
You are actually correct, and Penumbra corrected this in the CreateSpace community forum today.
Regards,
Shannon
LLBR
One thing about ISBN that Canadian authors s/b aware of. Each of us can create an account FOR FREE with the Canadian government and get all the ISBN’s we want/need, again FOR FREE. Visit http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/isn/index-e.html for more info.
When I got my ISBN I was also surprised to get a bar code included in the price …again FOR FREE! My buddy who bought his bar code privately paid over $40 for it.
Love it when I see my tax dollars working for me!
Gwen McCauley
http://www.ouicoach.com
Follow me on http://www.twitter.com/gwenmccauley and http://www.linkedin.com/in/gwenmccauley
Lightning Source also occasionally offers special deals, so keep an eye out for those through their website if you choose them.
Where do you see that a block of 10 ISBN numbers is only forty dollars? I checked on the Bowker site and a block of 10 costs way more… like in the hundreds. A single ISBN from Bowker, without the barcode, is said to cost $120. Does Lightning Source offer a cheaper ISBN package? Or was that merely the Bowker price at the particular time?
Hi Brandon-
This is information cross-posted from the post from Penumbra Publishing in June. Follow the link in the article to be redirected or contact Penumbra Publishing directly.
Thanks,
Shannon
LLBR
A newbie here: can people order single issues that will be shipped to them from Lightning source? I am assuming they don’t have a webpage like other pod’s do (Createspace and Lulu) where you can send people to buy your books. If I set up my own webpage for people to order the book will Lightningsource ship say a single book to them? And if so how would I link up the my webpage to Lightningsource to do this?
There is a cover generator with the ISBN number where they ask for the price.. how do I determine the price. I didn’t see a price calculator (for my fee, Lightning sources fee and retail mark up) on the website so how do I know what to put on it? Do they have a price calculator or list?
When you have a price for your ISBN bar code (however I get that? see above…) do you put the price for that you pay on it, and then amazon will add their price to it, or do I put the total retail markup on it?
Can they put a barcode on with the price for you?
And, I can’t figure out the PDF submissions. I have a color cover and all color insides, do I make one PDF that has the front and back called cvr,pdf? And then what is the middle called?
I also don’t know what to pick for retail discount, I read if you go to low they won’t pick you up. How do I choose and when does Lightning source ask for this.
P.S. if my book is 7×10 and it’s a graphic novel that I want to print all the way to the edge, what information do I put in for trim etc.? It is exactly how I want it right now at 7×10…
P.P.S. if I want to sell through Ingram, amazon all retailers, library exposure and individual sales do I pick this one? http://www.lightningsource.com/print_to_publisher.aspx
Thank you! Gina
Hi Gina-
LS is a heavy distributor which mainly services other heavy distributors like Ingram. I don’t think they offer any of the services you are inquiring about. The best bet would be to invest in stock yourself and set up your own site and take payment using Paypal. Or have a paypal link on your author blog. Or send people to Amazon. Amazon is still the most trusted source for online book buying and a name that readers recognize.
The perks to LS is it can get your foot in the door of traditional bookstores without you having to do much of the foot work. It also makes your book returnable, which is important to bookstores. They hate to invest in stock that they’d be stuck with if it doesn’t sell.
Keep in mind that using LS is indeed a time and financial investment. Give it serious thought. It may not be right for you.
Thanks,
Shannon
LLBR
I want to include- this that I noticed in Create space-Pro
$39 Pro fee
$9.57 proof
TOTAL $48.57 Cost per 360-page book ($0.85 + $0.012/pg) $5.72.
But if you do pro fee transaction separately first
Then your proof copy would be $5.72 and not 9.57
Even with volume Lulu cannot match cs pro on price (for pod create space is very low on price)- I give comparison 6 x9 full color book 97 pages
LULU
Retail Print Your Revenue $5.36 (cost 40.13) Price $45.49
Print Your Revenue 17.27 (cost 28.22) Price $45.49
For quantity order of 50 books 8 – 15% discount currently
CS $13.27
CS Pro $7.57 pirce same $45.49
selling through amazon total cost 31.47/ pro 25.77
CS E-store total cost 22.37/ pro 16.67
Hope this is helpful
I dont know how to get into libraries, as I own my isbn- it is not possible in cs pro
Hi Raj-
Thank you for your comments. The extended distribution CS now offers came available after we posted this original post in 2009. I have to admit I have not investigated, nor heard from any authors, how it is working out or if it works at all.
It is practically impossible to get any POD book into a library unless you work with your own local branch, possibly set up a signing there, and/or donate copies of your book to them.
-Shannon
LLBR
I forgot to mention cs price is for 7 x 10 that is more value