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?

1. Do you want to own your ISBN?
2. Do you care about getting your book into bookstores?
3. Do you want your book available through other channels than Amazon?
4. How much money are you willing to invest in the project up front?

Although my Success tab at the top of this page has been extremely slow (hint…hint), it’s been nice to hear from some of you personally about the success of your Lulu books. When asked for advice, I seem to be saying the same thing over and over again…If you haven’t done so already, buy an ISBN for your book! It is the easiest way to improve circulation of your book through all major channels (Amazon.com, B&N.com, Abebooks.com, Books in Print, etc), and it’s the quickest way to get your foot in the door of bookstores. And for those of you shying away in the corner because you may not know what an ISBN is, listen up…

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It’s basically your book’s social security number. It’s also the key to getting your book in the system in most bookstore databases. B&N uses a system called Bookmaster. If your book has an ISBN, then it’s listed in Books in Print. This gets your book into the Ingram database which then gets your book into the Bookmaster system, which means a B&N store could order your book. I work for a medical book wholesaler by day, and the ISBN is the first thing we ask for when people call us looking for a book, next to author and title. Now that doesn’t mean you have to memorize and know it. Bookstores can definitely find you by author and title, but they won’t find your Lulu book in their system without the ISBN.

Recently, you’ve probably noticed two ISBNs listed under the product details of a book online or possibly even on the back of a book. There is an ISBN 10- and an ISBN 13-. The 10 and 13 are not part of your ISBN. Those numbers only tell you how many digits are in that ISBN that follows. ISBNs were once only 10 digits. Last year, the ISBN 13- went into effect because publishers were running out of 10 digit numbers. A quick fix was to just put 978- in the front of the old number. By doing this, it changed the last digit of the ISBN which is known as a check digit. But the middle numbers are the same. This has caused some confusion in the industry because people think you can just drop the 978 and the number will still work. It won’t…unless your system’s search features are that good at finding half a number. Here’s an example of the two ISBNs for one book with the like digits highlighted in red…

• ISBN-10: 1413401031
• ISBN-13: 9781413401035

Here’s how to get started with your ISBN. Sign into Lulu and go to the My Projects tab. Click on the Promote star next to your project. You’ll be taken to a great page that offers all kinds of fun stuff including “Buy” buttons which you can post on your own blogs and websites, bookmarkers, postcards, business cards, etc. But look in the menu down the left side. Under “Marketing & Distribution,” you’ll see a link called ISBNs. Lulu offers two packages, both for $99.95. One is called “Published by You” and one is “Published by Lulu.” But both offer ISBN assignment to your book. Lulu even formats the barcode and ISBN number onto the back of your book for you.

It does take a few weeks for your book to become ISBN ready. There are some steps for you to follow to editing your manuscript for approval (nothing too serious). And overall, it will take a few weeks for the book to start showing up on sites like B&N.com and Amazon.com, but it is truly the best investment you could make in getting your book out there to readers!

But you don’t have to take my advice! After all, I have NOT purchased an ISBN for my own book on Lulu. Why, you ask? Because I mainly used Lulu to publish a 2nd edition of my book which would be more affordable than the 1st edition which I published with a different POD publisher. The first edition already has an ISBN, for both a hardcover and paperback copy. And besides, that book has been out since 2003. I am getting ready to publish a 2nd book with Lulu though, and I will definitely be purchasing an ISBN for it. Here is a link to a website I found which also offers some other great advice about Lulu set-up, especially with creating your own book cover:

Self Publishing with Lulu

Also, Mick Rooney, a UK Lulu author, has a great post on his author site about his adventures with Lulu.

So, that’s about it. I have four reviews already lined up for the month of May. Thanks to all who have continued to support this site on a regular basis, and thanks to the Lulu authors who have posted their books on the “Pick Me!” page. Keep them coming!