When I wanted to self publish a short story recently, I went to Blurb, my favorite online custom book publisher, to see what formats were available. I chose to do a 5" x 8" trade book. Here's what I liked about the experience:
1. Ease of the Bookmaking Process
Book wright is Blurb's free application for bookmaking, and I found it intuitive and a pleasure to work with.
2. Price
The price of these trade books is reasonable; in fact, before I factored in the shipping cost, it seemed almost too good to be true. The smallest of their 3 trade books, in soft cover, standard color, 24 pages, is $7.47 plus shipping, which varies depending on where you live. The shipping to me in Missouri was $5.99 (I think west coast residents get off a little cheaper) and the tax was $0.89, bringing the total to $11.74, which still doesn't seem bad considering this is a small run of a custom book. Additional pages are available for an additional cost per page.
You can see the price options here; the most economical option, Economy B&W, is $2.49 per book.
Blurb has volume discounts for as few as 10 books, with frequent other discounts on their website.
3. Quality
I chose Standard Color Printing, which uses a medium weight matte paper that allows little bleed through. The printed text is sharp and clear, and my black and white photos are of good quality. I have yet to try color photos.
(Blurb's photo books have more and better quality paper options; they are also more expensive.)
4. Responsive customer service
When I had a question about the process, Blurb's customer service via e-mail was quick, friendly, and easy to understand.
5. Ease of Setting Up Book Sales
Blurb makes book selling available online through their bookstore, which is easy to set up. These little books make great gifts, and even if you're not anticipating many sales, if you post it in their bookstore, you can make the book available for viewing online in a nifty page-turning format.
For those who are serious about selling their books, there are also the options of selling them on Amazon.com, Ingram, or Apple iBooks.
My book is a simple story of faith's beginning in the heart of one small girl. And that girl was me. You can see it here:
