A Self-Publishing Adventure: What We're Made Of
I am gathering up a lot of the creations I have made over the years (poetry, short essays, artwork) and compiling a book. I have chosen to use Lulu to self-publish my book, which will be titled What We’re Made Of. I’ll be writing these entries periodically to document my work. Hope you’ll all enjoy the journey with me.
I chose Lulu over Blurb for one simple reason, concerning marketing. As of now, there is no way to easily purchase an ISBN through Blurb, while there is a way through Lulu. Having an ISBN will enable me to sell through international bookstores more easily.
In terms of creating the book itself, Wikipedia’s entries on book design, as well as the books on my shelves, have proven very helpful in designing What We’re Made Of, thus far. The book will be a square paperback, and I have chosen a nice sans serif font, Delicious, created by the Exljbris Font Foundry as my header font and one of the usual serif fonts, Palatino Linotype, for my content.
To create the book’s pages, I am using Photoshop and uploading them individually. This gives me greater detail control through Lulu’s file management system. Images are in lossless PNG format to ensure high print quality.
The hardest part right now is deciding what order to place my work in, what work should be included, etc. I have a solid set of poems to go into the book, and have chosen a few art pieces, but I have yet to decide what short essays I should include. I also plan to create several new pieces, which will only be released at a later date online, as sort of a form of cross-promotion.
I have not decided whether or not I will do this as part of my project course or not (probably not, however), but I am considering also making a CD of various people, including myself, reading my work. Could be fun!
Personal Website:
Random Selection of Work:
The InnerNorth...
which do you think has better print quality ? blurb or lulu?