LULU : free publishing: how good is this?

[mehran]

stumbled on this today..
http://www.lulu.com

like any other artist I also want my own art book published someday but like many other artist "I DON"T HAVE THE MONEY"..
anyway
I wanted to know how good is this service.. do people actually buy from this place, are there any legal pitfalls, ANYTHING...

regards
Mr. Mehran

[drummingpariah]

Lulu is a great way to go, actually. Of course, buying your own in bulk and publishing them yourself is the more efficient way to go, but you can always link potential customers directly to your book on Lulu, and in that way it works a lot like Amazon. It's a pretty killer service, really.

[Seedling]

Hmm. At a glance this looks like a vanity service. Which isn't to say it can't be used in a way that will promote your own business well as an artist. Just beware that like showing fine art in a vanity gallery, this sort of thing can result in spending money without making money.

[Smarty]

I used it to print off my college end of year project book. Something went wrong with one of the printers and i waited 5 weeks for my book to come, and they didnt communicate this to me at all, i had to follow them up! i missed my college deadline, and have to resubmit my work next year...

When the book actually came for the £6 i paid for it i was very impressed. it was about 50 pages long and looked like an off the shelf magazine.

[drummingpariah]

I used it to print off my college end of year project book. Something went wrong with one of the printers and i waited 5 weeks for my book to come, and they didnt communicate this to me at all, i had to follow them up! i missed my college deadline, and have to resubmit my work next year...

When the book actually came for the £6 i paid for it i was very impressed. it was about 50 pages long and looked like an off the shelf magazine.

That's horrible! Although I have had no problems dealing with them, I haven't had any reason to contact them, so I can't comment on their support service. I can comment on their quality control and can say that I've had nothing but good experiences with them (3 books, and one publishing deal I know of directly went through with no problems). Take that for what it's worth, I'm only one person :)

[mehran]

thnx for the replies everyone, I really needed them. getting your work out in print is a real pain in the ass. especially where I live. maybe one day I'll get my best work together ad make an art book out of it....

[artbiz]

I have heard good things about Lulu, but can't speak from personal experience. Since you don't have to order a lot at once, can't hurt to give it a go. Just start out small until you see how goes.

Deb