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Those who wish to self publish, be a solitary book, or just a few copies for immediate family and close friends, or a book intended for the masses, lulu.com is a logical destination.

Sometimes I like to browse through the Lulu marketplace, and check out the new editions. It is always interesting to see what self publishers are up to. Some are good, some atrocious, and some are good but appear atrocious.

Those good, but look bad, are normally the books that are well written, yet the presentation is so amateurish, that is difficult to get beyond the first page. I am a little stubborn, so sometimes I persevere, and keep on reading. (Lulu has a preview option, which allows browsers to read a certain number of pages).

One book I came across really drew me in. It was well written, interesting, and made me want to keep reading. Unfortunately, the author didn’t seem to take any time formatting her book. Maybe she didn’t know how. Had she read our Self Publishing Handbook, she would have better prepared for uploading her manuscript to Lulu.

Another thing I noticed, while browsing the Lulu marketplace, is the amount of books that are published with the Lulu default cover, which is really a very unappealing cover. I always imagined Lulu choose it for the default, because they wanted the authors to know they could design their own covers, or choose a more appealing Lulu image. Unfortunately, many did not get the subtle hint.

Why go to all that trouble to write and publish your book, and not spend a little more time on creating a unique cover?

If you have any questions about our Self Publishing Handbook, please feel free to use the Live Help button at the top of this page. Not sure how long we plan to have this option, we are currently trying it out. But, if it is still on the page, and you see we are in, feel free to ask your questions.