Review: Lulu.com On Demand Book Printing
As a Christmas surprise for my cousin Carol, who is not only a licensed social worker but also a children's book author. I had her first book William, The What-If Wonder On His First of School, with an updated cover, and her upcoming release William, The What-If Wonder & His Sleepover Worries printed in hardback through Lulu.com.
Getting her books printed in hardcover is special because her books are usually published with a soft cover through Amazon's Createspace, then distributed via Amazon. While the printing is nice through Createspace, the softcover just doesn't feel as professional as it should. There is something special and more 'real/official' about a hardcover book. Also, hardcovers just scream children's books to me.
I did a lot of research before finally settling on trying out Lulu.com for the printing of the books. There are a lot of companies that offer on-demand printing of books - hardcover and softcover. But most of them were super expensive to print a 35-page full-color book, I'm talking like $50+ a book. On Lulu.com it was only like $15 a book. Of course, with such a low price I was concerned about the quality. I mean you get what you pay for, usually.
But, I made sure to look into reviews both on blogs and on Youtube. Honestly, most of the reviews I had found weren't glowing, some said they were just ok and others said they were a scam. But the one consistent thing throughout the reviews was that most of it had to do with not understanding how to format & set up a book for print and not choosing the correct paper options. As a designer with a lot of print experience, I knew what the best options for paper and how to format everything in InDesign. So I felt like I could get something really nice from Lulu due to my background. So, I decided to just order 2 copies of each book, one for myself and one for my cousin. The ‘First Day of School’ book I ordered with a glossy cover and the ‘His Sleepover Worries’ I ordered with a matte cover - so I could see what the difference was. What's the worst that could happen?
I ordered the books on November 20th, on December 4th the books shipped, and finally, on Dec 7th I received the books in the mail. The shipping was fairly quick and when they arrived they were packaged nicely with no damage to the books. Only a little bit of glue on the covers but it cleaned off nicely and didn’t leave any residue.
As you can see from the photos; the colors are bright, everything is aligned correctly, there is no color bleeding aka you can’t see the art through the pages and the binding is really nice. There was a tiny bit of warping/wavy pages with a few pages of the ‘The First Day of School’ book but after having the book underneath a heavier book for a few days the wavy-ness went away. The interior of the books is clear and crisp and all the colors printed accurately. The covers, as I stated above, look amazing. The glossy cover of the ‘The First Day of School’ really brought out the colors and made the yellows and blues grab your attention. The matte cover for ‘His Sleepover Worries’ looks just as good, maybe a little flat but that's not surprising at all. The colors are still vibrant and the art is just as crisp as the glossy cover.
If you are looking for an affordable on-demand service I fully recommend using Lulu.com. I also recommend finding a designer/professional to help you set up and format your book, or whatever, to upload. It will help you get the most out of the service and give you a top-notch final product that you can be proud of and want to show off.
About the Books:
Author: Carol Wulff
Illustrator: Clare Willett
Contributor: Margaret R Mauze
Layout, Design, and Lettering: Alex Lucas of Oh The Raven | ohtheraven.com
William the What-If Wonder Book Series
The William the What-If Wonder book series is designed to help children with anxiety learn how to navigate their worries when faced with the uncertainty of new situations. Every story focuses on a common childhood experience that may be overwhelming to a child with anxiety and begins to teach the child ways to manage that anxiety. William struggles with many anxious thoughts that dominate his day, but he uses different strategies such as problem-solving and cognitive reframing to see these situations in a new way. These strategies remind him he has the power to find positive solutions to his perceived problems.
By following William’s journey, children and families can learn useful strategies to conquer their own anxiety and take control of their anxious thoughts. A Note to Parents and Caregivers section, written by a board certified pediatric psychologist, is at the back of each book to further help children and families generalize these strategies to their own lives.
Book #1: William, the What-If Wonder on His First Day of School
Book #2: William, the What-If Wonder and His Sleepover Worries
