Free Digital Publishing

Print on Demand (POD) technology has opened up a whole new world for those wanting to publish specialized books, booklets, reports, calendars or photo collections that might not be suitable for a conventional commercial publisher. Even though I have written three book-length projects under contract for a conventional publisher (University Press of Mississippi), there are several projects I have in mind that I want to publish that are better suited for the flexibility of POD publishing.

One such project is Building the Backwoods Drifter, which will consist of complete plans and instructions for home boatbuilders wishing to build their own version of this boat. I've had lots of inquiries about this boat over the years since I first designed it for Ernest Herndon, but many people who would love to own such a boat are put-off when they find out what it would cost to have it professionally built by me. I'm working on the plans and instructions now, and with POD technology, I can offer them in a bookstore-quality format, even though it is a limited-interest subject and I may need only a few copies at a time. (more about the Backwoods Drifter)

As POD came into widespread use in the past few years, many companies offering this sort of publishing were charging authors exhorbiant fees for setting-up their manuscripts, designing covers, assigning ISBNs, etc. Now it is possible for the author to take complete control and publish through a POD printer without spending a dime, other than for the copies of the book actually published. One such company that has made this possible is LuLu Press, Inc, (www.lulu.com). This company provides through their website all the tools you need to convert your manuscript to a print-ready PDF document, and to upload your custom cover art, assuming you can create it yourself in a design program like Adobe Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements. I found that I thoroughly enjoyed the book design process, from page-layout and typesetting to cover design. If you have a problem with any of the steps, Lulu has an active community of publishing enthusiasts on their online forums who can and will answer any questions and help you through the process.