Introducing... Lightningsource.co.uk

This is the other major print on demand provider with a global presence. Just like lulu, they do exactly what you expect. They also offer access to the entire Ingram distribution network which is really valuable. But this comes at a cost. So let's look at the financial part first.

Cost per copy(100 page book): £1.70 doesn't look so scary, and at £1.28 less than lulu, lightningsource should win hands down, right?

Setup Charges: £42 suddenly evens the scores abit, but this is paid for with less than 40 copies sold.

Additional charges: £7 distribution charge per year and up to £21 per paperback proof copy. You can also get your book announced on publication with the Ingram advance program (£28) and you will also need to spend £105.75 on ISBN numbers (the current cost for 10 numbers from nielsen bookdata)

In pure financial terms, if you expect to sell more than 200 copies of your paperback book then Lightningsource will cost you less per copy than Lulu.That should be your yard stick.

The other essentials:

Layout Help:
Would be extremely useful as lightningsource insists on adobe distilled pdf files only, or quark, InDesign or postscript files for both the book block ( the content) and the cover. Help is readily available for this online, but beware that the cheapest guys are not the best. The lightningsource templates are not exact templates but rather design keys that describes how the book needs to be laid out.

Cover Artist Help:
Lightningsource provide a cover generator that you can use to create the pdf that you need to upload to their servers later. You should still consider to use help for the graphics. You don't need any help with the ISBN barcode as Lightningsource will automatically put one on the cover file when you use the cover generator.

Editorial & Proofreading:
As with all the other print on demand providers you still need to consider getting some help with this part. It would also speed things up with the publishing process.

Choice of Binding:
Perfect binding is really the main choice, but if required there are other options available for hard cover books or really small books.

Book sizes available:
The sizes vary from 5x8 (inches) up to A4 size.

The lightningsource Publishing Process

I must admit that even though we have an account manager with them, I don't fully understand how their process works. In essence it is all the same as all the other print on demand providers in that first you lay out the book block (that's the content to you and me), then lay out the cover ( a single file this time) and upload the files to the book project you have created on their servers when you registered.

I understand the mechanical steps and I think you are beginning to get the idea too, but I have no idea exactly how much everything will eventually cost me.

It doesn't help that the account options you have available to you depends on if you are a publisher, or an author. In fact if you are an author and not a publisher, lightningsource will turn you away.

I would say that on the website the most important links are "tutorials", "File creation" and "Book Design Essentials". For the purpose of this book that's all you really need to know. The best option if you insist on going with Lightningsource is to use professional layout artists that knows how to do book layouts for the lightningsource system.

Why Choose lightningsource?

In a word, Distribution. The vast Ingram distribution network is available to you with lightningsource.

It takes 3 days to set up the book and then a few more days to get the proof copy. You then have to take the time to read that and make sure mistakes are corrected and the new file uploaded to their servers. For the purposes of this project this obviously rules out lightingsource, and lulu beats them there.

As I mentioned in the introduction if you expect to sell more than 200 copies of a one hundred page book then overall the profit you make will be greater if you choose lightningsource. But if you are confident you will sell 200 copies, and you already know who they are, there's an even better choice coming up in the next chapter.

So is the process easy to use? Well relatively. Their setup encouraces you to use freelancers to do the things you don't know how to do. The cover is pretty straight forward do deal with, but the laying out does need expertise to complete.

If you are on a very restricted budget should you use lightningsource?

Well that depends. £202 will hardly break the bank, but you if you are confident you will sell more than 200 copies and you already have the buyers lined up you then there are better and cheaper alternatives out there.

In summary:
Not very user friendly setup but incredible distribution access could make the difference if you want to sell more books but do not quite know who your book buyers are. Lightningsource insists you use your own ISBN number. If this level of book market access is what you want then get someone to help you with the layout and the cover design. You can not use Lightningsource to self publish yourself.