Why I turned to Lulu

Why I turned to Lulu

Peter Rogerson 10 Feb 2007 12:41

It might be fascinating if we exchanged our reasons for turning to Lulu, and I'll kick it off.
I was a single dad of four children for what seems a lifetime. Anyone in that position knows it can be pretty soul-destroying and that the first thing to suffer might be the old social life. To a certain extent that happened to me, but quite early on (1985) I bought a computer for the children and with it came "free" word processing software. This reminded me that I was trying to write a novel in my spare time, using a portable typewriter and spending a silly amount of time retyping pages because of the inaccuracy of my typing. The computer was an Amstrad CPC 464, loaded via a cassette and the word processing software was pathetic. But I got going and very soon upgraded the software and bought a machine with a disc drive. Most of the stuff I've since put onto Lulu had its birth pains back then.
Over the years, and in a kind of desultory fashion, I tried to engage the interest of both publishers and agents, but with no success. Once or twice a few sample chapters were requested, but that was all. I got to the point of falling out with the entire industry because, I told myself, it's taken months or years for me to write something and they reject it with a brief impersonal note (the most offensive was two words, no thanks) that doesn't even give the impression that my synopsis has actually been read.
I stuck with my Amstrad CPC for years (the kids had moved on to better, faster machines) and the pile of texts grew. I stopped putting them onto paper because, frankly, it was too expensive (not in paper, but in ink!) The PC came along, and I transferred the whole kit and caboodle onto that. (I used a wonderful little free program called SANKO that saved my chapters as RTF that actually worked in MS Word.)
And that might have been that had I not been watching BBC Breakfast at the end of last year when Lulu was being promoted. The rest (to quote the old maxim) is history.

Peter

Re: Why I turned to Lulu

Vibracobra23 10 Feb 2007 13:22

I have been writing for many years now, and used to write songs (I was in a number of small time local punk bands in my youth) and poems from the age of about 14. The first computer I used was a Spectrum in about 1980, then BBCs, Amstrads, and the glorious Amiga 500, before moving on to PCs.

I began to write seriously on prehistory and history during the early 1990s and had a few articles and pieces published in local magazines. I started writing my place name index about two and a half years ago, primarily to help with my job which involves cataloguing of historical archives (often containing difficult to track down place names), and have been adding about 10,000 place name variants a year. The sheer size of the book, and it's obvious niche market status, meant that any publisher would not be likely to want to take on board such a project; the book would be very expensive to produce and sales would not be massive. Moreover, the index is freely available on my website and any publisher would surely insist that this free access was denied; and this would simply not be acceptable to me. It didn't take me too long to convert the html to doc and then to pdf and it hasn't actually cost me anything to produce the book, and for those who prefer the printed word to the electronic format then they can purchase the book at a modest fee; and if I should make a few pounds here and there then all well and good. The ability for anyone to publish their own work with no financial outlay at all makes Lulu the perfect option for those with a tight budget, or for those, such as me, who would be supplying a limited and specialist market.

I have a few more projects in the pipeline; mostly transcriptions of 16th-19th century manuscripts and a few new editions of out of copyright texts. I may also consider publishing the works of other local historians/archivists etc.

I too saw Lulu on the BBC Breakfast programme last year and it seemed like the simplest and most cost effective solution.

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"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." ~ André Gide

Re: Why I turned to Lulu

SusanatLulu 11 Feb 2007 09:46

Hello

I too have been writing for years. The first computer I used for writing was the Sinclair QL. Before that I had helped test the manual for the ZX80 (or it might have been ZX81) but I didn't find that of use for writing.

Before that I had managed to get work published, using a manual typewriter (and lots of tippex!!). The first was an article on wind up gramophones in Lady magazine (and a photo I took was used on the cover, I can't remember the camera I used but it was old and basic, a fiver from Boots sort of camera). I then had an article in New Scientist about poisonous plants in the States. And a weekly series on antiques in the Cambriidge Evening News. Those were all in the 1970s - after that I found it harder to get anything published. I did have a series in New Internationalist on word origins for a few years, and I still have another monthly etymology column that has been running for about ten years now. I have more than enough material for a book on etymology.

I have been visiting for Greece for over 25 years, and am working on book(s) about Greece. The trouble is each trip gives me a new idea for the main themes! I had tried getting "mainstream"publishers interested in my Greek books, and others, but with no success. Then in late 2005 I discovered Lulu. I have contributed to two books with a mainstream publisher - both law books.

Best wishes

Susan

Re: Why I turned to Lulu

(account deleted) 11 Feb 2007 15:14

Well, needless to say, because of my age my writing 'history' isn't very long. I only recently started trying to write a novel - my first failed attempt was in 2003 or 2004. I've been writing long before that but just very short stories. I tried another novel again in 2005, but it failed… again. Last year, I came up with the idea that I'm using now, and I spent over a year writing out the plot (because of laziness) and now I'm actually beginning on the book.

I created an account on Lulu some time last year, but gave up on it because it didn't have a £ conversion and I didn't know what I could put on it (I'd only written a few poems and a short story at the time). I came back to it a few months ago because I thought it might help in the future (or at least, that's why I think I went back to it. I don't remember very well). I'm glad to see that it's been helpful so far, for publishing the short stories I've made, and hopefully it'll help when I've finished my book. I'm still not sure if I should publish the book on Lulu or with a publisher, or both, but that's a long way off.

Re: Why I turned to Lulu

Taffybach 15 Feb 2007 14:34

Well I guess this goes here…. LOL

I didn't….turn to Lulu that is.

I wanted my PoD to provide more than Lulu actually currently give so I paid additional funds ($499) to have it professionally formatted, registered and listed on all major internet book sellers. It has cost me more but, in the long run, I am very happy and I can buy additional copies at very low prices for author discount or merely sit back and take 25% royalty when the PoD sells.

Lulu is cheaper and a viable solution but you have more leg work and higher after formatting charges.

taffybach