Higher Quality — Higher Price — Quicker Turnaround — More Options
In a previous article, I discussed my motivation for creating low content books on the Amazon KDP platform. While a myriad of low content books have been created and sold on Amazon’s platform through their self-publishing KDP program, KDP was not meant to publish low-content books. The initial vision was to create those notebooks that I loved, which I could no longer acquire and one of the important characteristics of those books were that they were spiral bound, something that at the time of writing this post, Amazon does not currently offer.
Lulu on the other-hand does. I searched for a platform that would provide me the same opportunity to create my notebooks from cover to cover but provide this one key format — coil -bound. I took an interior that I had already created for KDP and threw together a cover with their cover creator. Created the book with their form and ordered a copy to see the quality. The result, the quality was better than Amazon’s.
The Differences
Binding: Lulu provides the same options as Amazon’s KDP: ebook, softcover, and hardcover. They also have Linen Wrap, Saddle Stitch (stapled), and the illusive Coil-Bound book binding options, as well as a separate format all together for calendars — wire coil-bound.
Paper: Amazon offers 55 pound paper weights and a 60 pound paper weight for full color. Again KDP was not meant for journals and notebooks or coloring books might I add, which is why the paper weight is what it is. Lulu offers 60 pound paper as the standard, up to 80 pound coated paper for color, with premium and standard black and white and color combinations. The quality is simply that much better.
Pricing: You miss out on prime shipping and of course the robust customer base. You can set your revenue goal on both platforms, but Lulu by default is more expensive for the purchaser, no free shipping, no prime, just a standard purchasing experience.
Preview and the Store: The Lulu Bookstore is pretty generic probably because the bookstore was “probably” not the primary goal of the company. Previews of books are simply a picture of the front cover that makes every book appear as a paperback. No preview of the content of the books, and unless you really dig, you would never know by looking at the single image if the book is paperback, hardcover, or spiral bound. They do offer an API for embedding your books into your webpage or store.
ISBN: You can request a free ISBN from the Lulu Bookstore but only for books designated for global distribution. They distribute on multiple platforms including Amazon, but everyone takes a cut off of your profit to the point that global distribution may not even be lucrative for the author.
The NoteBook pictured above would appear to resemble a standard paperback notebook but in reality as you can see under “specifications” it is coil bound. Lulu provides a lot more space for keywords, and up to three categories that you can list your book under. Preview of your work as you go through the publishing process is more robust than Amazon and quite frankly the experience and end product is better.
More importantly, they embrace low content book publishing with respect to notebooks, journals, and sketchbooks (as in blank pages not thicker paper). BUT if people can be successful publishing coloring books on Amazon, they can definitely publish better quality on Lulu just at a higher price.
I made a few books:
I created more books but those were for personal use and not made for purchase by the public, which is an option at Lulu. I wanted a Pusheen notebook, but no one made one quite like I was looking for — so Lulu allowed me to make my own for personal use. I created custom sketchbooks for my artsy daughter for Christmas, and a calendar for my mom who loves calendars… The calendar was personal to us with pictures that matter to us and not necessarily the public at large.
The experience with Lulu is exceptional and ultimately the plan is to transfer many of my KDP books onto the Lulu platform in a coil-bound format.
Lulu’s robust offerings may very well compel me to finally create a storefront for my books.
Follow my projects on https://Linktr.ee/QcBabe
