Well, I’ve done it. After years of trying to get my books published I’ve taken matters in hand and have gone the self publishing route.
Although that’s not as easy as you’d think. Some of the templates offered with some self publishing companies turn out to be completely unfathonable. Take Amazon for example. I just couldn’t get my head around their templates. Then again, perhaps it’s just me?
I eventually settled on a company called Lulu which has enabled me to set up my first self published book entitled ‘Crippen and the Covid Years’. The book is a collection of the blogs and their associated cartoons that I wrote about between 2020-23.
Lulu allows you to see how much it will cost to produce a book in a variety of formats, including hard cover, paper back, spiral bound, colour, black and white etc. Also, the cost of posting the book to different places around the world. I eventually decided on the paperback version, which at A5 is a handy size for a hundred page book and is relatively cheap to post. There’s no up-front costs as Lulu uses the money you spend on a book to cover the printing and postage, and then pays me a commission.
But how to sell the book? That turned out to be a completely different ball game. Again, there are quite a few ways of setting up an online store, especially one that links to your publishing company. I decided to follow the recommendation of Lulu and go with one of their associated companies called Wix.
Wix is actually a website builder which includes the option of creating an online store. It’s worth noting that there are some start-up costs involved here, such as the domain name you choose for your online store. It guides you through the process, showing you how to add things like a shopping trolly, how you want paying, etc. I found it relatively straight forward although I must admit to calling on one of their ‘experts’ at one stage as I just couldn’t get the link between Lulu and Wix to work! I’ve also kept the layout very simple as you’ll see.
I now have my first self published book available online at my bookstore. I’m already working on a second book in the series, but this time focussing on that machiavellian organisation the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). I’ll also be re-creating some of the books I presented as downloadable pdf’s from about 15 years ago.
Note: I’ve included hyper-links in this blog for both Lulu and Wix, and also my Bookstore which should help you find your way around the different sites.
Description of illustration for those using screen reading software
The illustration is the front cover of a book entitled ‘Crippen and the COVID Years – how the coronavirus pandemic impacted on disabled people in the UK (2020 – 2023). The book has a blue surround with a square white inset into which a Crippen cartoon is placed. The Crippen cartoon showing Boris Johnson playing cards with the Grim Reaper. Boris is saying: “I’ll raise you another two disabled people!”
Crippen Cartoons 