Lulu is still Number One

Here’s a little story from the Buckeye Book Fair a couple weekends back. I’m sitting there, signing copies of my Everything Cartooning Book book, and a guy comes up and mumbles some sort of half-hearted comment about always wanting to learn to draw cartoons and shoves a slip of paper into my hand.

It’s an advertisement for his book-publishing business.

See… all you have to do is give him a CD with your Microsoft Word document on it and he’ll print some perfect-bound books for you.

All for only $469. Plus Ohio sales tax, if applicable.

That’s right. Four hundred and sixty-nine dollars. Plus tax.

Holy freaking moley! That’s ridiculous!

I can upload a MS Word document or a PDF to Lulu for free and start selling beautifully-printed-and-bound books immediately. No charge at all. The most I have to shell out is a single proof copy of my book — at cost. I haven’t spent more than $15 for a proof book yet. Including sales tax.

Four hundred and sixty-nine dollars.

Unbefreakinglievable.

Do you know how high you’d have to price the fifteen books he prints for that amount before you could make a profit?!