Published by deborah.woehr on 24 Oct 2006 at 05:58 am
The First Sale
I logged onto my Lulu account this morning and found out that someone has bought a copy of the anthology yesterday. 
I’m not going to get too excited yet, but I am hopeful. I’ll consider this project a success if I’m able to sell at least 50 copies.
Why such a small number? Because this is my first attempt at publishing and marketing a book. I read somewhere that the average first-time author is lucky to sell 500 copies of their book, and that’s when they publish through the traditional route.
9 Responses to “The First Sale”
John (Syntagma) on 24 Oct 2006 at 6:52 am #
Sorry, Deborah, I’ve been remiss. I’ve been meaning not only to buy a copy - which I’ll do right away - but also publicize it on the network.
I’ve been so busy I totally forgot, bit I will make up for it.
John (Syntagma) on 24 Oct 2006 at 6:54 am #
Oh, and the site looks awful in IE7 … but you know that.
Jim on 24 Oct 2006 at 7:53 am #
And from what I understand, vanity press is an incredibly difficult way to publish a book. The statistics I’ve seen would indicate the 50 sales through Lulu would be a raging success.
fred charles on 24 Oct 2006 at 9:04 am #
No matter what happens, you will learn something about the process. Maybe your next book can be a tutorial on how to self publish through Lulu. You seen to know a lot about it.
Marti on 24 Oct 2006 at 3:40 pm #
(Marti bristles at having Lulu called “Vanity press”- LOL)
I’ve seen people on the Lulu mesage boards who have sold thousands of copies, using various methods, like taking them to book fairs etc. I wish you all the best, Deborah…I hope you sell a bunch!
deborah.woehr on 24 Oct 2006 at 4:31 pm #
John: Thank you.
I’ve been shopping around for a new theme for this site, but haven’t found anything that I like yet.
Jim: Lulu is not a vanity press, however many writers consider it to be because of the POD stigma.
Fred: Thank you. You’re right. I’ve learned a lot about this process.
Marti: Thank you for the encouragement.
Jim on 24 Oct 2006 at 5:13 pm #
I see the subtle differences - vanity press publishers charger authors a fee to print books where POD does not, correct? In the end, though, doesn’t it amount to about the same thing? Excuse this one’s ignorance on this subject…
deborah.woehr on 24 Oct 2006 at 5:33 pm #
Correct. The only time you pay is when you purchase a copy of your book. I’ve always considered companies like Authorhouse and iUniverse vanity presses because they charge authors an expensive upfront fee for very little.
With Lulu, the only things you pay for are the ISBN number and the cost of the galley proof. It can get expensive if you have to order more than one proof (to correct typos and rearrange the blank pages). So, it’s best to make sure you have everything right the first time.
John (Syntagma) on 25 Oct 2006 at 8:46 am #
Lulu uses POD but is not synonomous with it. Lulu is a publisher, but you can go to many printers, like Lighning Source, and pay to have your book printed using POD — this saves you from having to store thousands of books in a warehouse.
POD is simply a new print technology utilizing modern computer methods. It really shouldn’t be seen as “vanity publishing” because it’s not. Many trade publishers use it nowadays for books that have to be continually updated.