BootsnAll Travel Community

So, I was reading an article and stumbled across a link to Lulu, a print-on-demand publisher that lets you create your own book, get an ISBN, and sell it on places like Amazon. I only found a couple, rather old, threads on here talking about POD in general, and was wondering what everyone thought of the self-publishing route. I know that I'm not going to make a fortune; at this point, I just want to put together a book of my favorite travel stories for friends and family and any sales on top of that would just be an added bonus.

The problem is, I am very interested in breaking into the travel writing field eventually. Does publishing like this hurt you? Will publishers look down on printing with a POD firm because "anything gets through"? If I print my stories now, does that blow any chances of getting them printed with an actual publisher, since they are already out there in print (I'm especially worried about this point, since I think the stories are written decently and don't want them to seem as if "they are so bad no one would pay for them")? If POD isn't a good idea, does anyone have publishers to recommend that I could eventually send manuscripts to? I really don't know much at all about how to break into the world of writing in general, so any help would be appreciated.

- Kristin

I don't think self-publishing will hurt you. You will have some published writing samples to show publishers. If you want to publish something new with a major publisher, I wouldn't self-publish the same material first. They want new, original material.

A good way to find a book publisher is to research Amazon.com for similar titles, determine the publisher, then check their website for their catalog and writer's guidelines. For magazines try a source like Writer's Market.

I know someone who self-published a book about parenting. This lady gets paid a couple thousand per speaking engagement and writes a column. She tried to get an agent to pick up her book and the agent told her that no one touch any of her books until she sells 3,000 copies of the one she self-published. After all, if she has a book and no one is buying it why would a publishing house want it.

Also, many of the major book chains (Borders, Barnes & Nobles, etc.) won't carry any print on demand books because they can't return them if they don't sell. I think if you're serious about the writing thing you should develop some of your stories into shorter pieces for mags, newspapers, and websites.

I do think it's fine if you want to make a collection of writing for family and friends. I just wouldn't market it or send it to publishers. Mom's always think that you're writing is great. They make great publicisits. But until you can show publishers someone is willing to pay you for your work, you'll have trouble getting picked up. At least that's what I've heard.

Good luck! Keep writing.

I published The World's Cheapest Destinationsthrough Booklocker, a POD publisher, and it went great. Sold several thousand copies and now I'm on the second edition, which is doing even better. After getting a ton of press over the years, I was able to sell another book to Travelers' Tales, a traditional publisher.

The key is, this was a non-fiction title with a very defined target audience. So it didn't matter much that it wasn't in bookstores. For a collection of essays, it would be tougher.

The upside is, you make far higher royalties on a POD book than you do on a regular one. You're going to do all the marketing and PR work yourself anyway.

It’s very easy to get a book published, you just spend your children’s inheritance.

Getting into book stores can be hard with self-published books, although it is possible if you get the right angle - a couple of years ago I helped a club I was part of get a collection of stories into a lot of local book stores (including big ones like Waterstones), but a percentage of the proceeds were going to a charity, which probably helped a lot.

If you just want to see your work in print, and will be marketting online mostly, then I'd say go for it.