Lulu
is an online publishing tool. In other words, it is a website where you can
publish your
material for free
or sell it. If you want to publish a book, for
instance, you have several options. You may want to print it or make it
available for download. You may do it for free or you may want to make a
profit. When a person wants to purchase a copy of your book, a copy is printed.
The price is calculated as the sum of the printing cost, the author’s profit
and the website’s
comission. On the other hand, an e-book has no printing costs
(obviously) but the website still gets a comission. If you choose to make your
digital
material free of charge, Lulu doesn’t charge the buyer for the
comission. The good thing is that the author decides how much they want to earn
per book. The key is that the author doesn’t have to pay unless he/she wants it
to be sold in bookstores. This is a whole other thing.
Lulu
is not only a place to sell or buy books. All sorts of digital files can be
published and are available to purchase. Images can be downloaded or bought as
framed posters. Sound files that may contain music or spoken words can also be
downloaded. The variety of digital material is impressive, and it is the result
of the combination of words, images and sounds. It is a good place for creative
people to start learning about copyright issues and all its options. You can
also get some perspective regarding how popular is your material. Keep in mind
that the only people that will be aware of your art are the ones that visit the
website. You may want to set some of your prices as low as cero to give the
buyers the chance to know your material. A free sample can be realy good
publicity.