In this episode, Matt and Lauren take listeners on a journey through self-publishing and traditional publishing. We’ll look at where those paths overlap, where they diverge, and what to expect on your publishing adventure.


Dive Deeper

💡 Jane Friedman’s The Key Book Publishing Paths

💡 Listen to These Episodes:

• Episode #2 → Is Self-Publishing the Best Path for Today's Creators?
• Episode #8 → Self-Publishing is a Team Sport
• Episode #20 → Do You Need to Hire Professional Editors for Your Book?
• Episode #10 → Marketing Your Book Pre-Launch, At-Launch, and Post-Launch

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• The Publishing Journey: Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing
• Understanding The Publishing Gatekeepers

💡 Watch These Videos

• Which Publishing Path is Right for You? | Publish Your Purpose Press x Lulu Webinar
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [10:17] “It used to be that if you said your book was self-published, or if people knew your book was self-published, they were just like, oh, that's got to be garbage. They did it themselves. It can't be a good book. These days, obviously nothing's further from the truth than that statement.”

🎙️ [23:10] “But the point is you don't have any control over that in traditional publishing, and in self-publishing you have total control over that.”

🎙️ [45:14] “All of this is only relevant in so much as what your goals are for the book itself.”

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Lauren & Matt dive into what makes a successful go-to-market strategy for your book. Learn how to pick the right launch date and products, choose the best sales and distribution platforms, and craft effective pre-launch and post-launch sales strategies.

Have a question about self-publishing, selling direct, Lulu, or any of the weird tangents Matt & Lauren like to meander through? Email us at podcast@lulu.com to submit your question for our upcoming AMA episode!


Dive Deeper

💡 Listen to These Episodes to Learn More About…

• Marketing Your Book Pre-Launch, At-Launch, and Post-Launch
• Determining the Right Retail Price for Your Book
• The Indie Author's Guide to Thriving Without Amazon
• Your 7-Step Guide to Building an Online Bookstore
• 4 Reasons Creators Don't Sell Direct (and Why You Should)
• Crowdfunding Your Self-Published Book With Kickstarter
• 5 Things to Know Before You Start Publishing
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [12:35] “Don't get too married to all this stuff in the beginning. When you're able to step back from this go-to-market plan and really take a look at it holistically, you might see some areas where you need to go back in and change a few things so that everything kind of works seamlessly and harmoniously together.”

🎙️ [29:04] “Having that sales and distribution and strategy laid out and understanding where and when each format and variation of that book is going to be released and sold is really important. And it'll extend the sales lifecycle of that book as long as possible.”

🎙️ [42:01] “Regardless of whether or not you're selling direct, no matter which sales and distribution platforms you're going to move forward with: customer data is invaluable. Whatever kind of customer data you have access to from these different sales and distribution channels, you're going to want some way to track it.”

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Lauren attempts to convince Matt (and the listeners) of the power of a well-written book description. Listen in to learn how to craft a compelling book description that will help you hook new readers.

Have a question about self-publishing, selling direct, Lulu, or any of the weird tangents Matt & Lauren like to meander through? Email us at podcast@lulu.com to submit your question for our upcoming AMA episode!


Dive Deeper

💡 Listen to Episode #13 | Earning Free Publicity for Your Book

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• How to Write a Book Description That Sells
• How to Earn Media Attention: Essential PR Tips for Authors

💡 Watch These Videos

• Lulu U | How to Write a Book Description That Sells
• Webinar | PR for Authors: Building Buzz Around Your Book

💡 Check Out the Books

• Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [11:14] “To Matt's point that you could use ChatGPT to write your book description for you if you want to. I'm going to say that you could, but you still need to know what to tell ChatGPT to use to write the book description.”

🎙️ [24:12] “It's a really succinct way to tell me who the book is for, what they're going to get out of it, and what goals you're going to achieve by doing it or by reading it, but without actually giving any of the information away. So I have to keep reading to learn more about what I'm actually going to get out of this book.”

🎙️ [34:15] “If people are like at a bookstore where you're not there, or online, they're browsing and they see your book the thing that's gonna catch their eye first is the cover. Your elevator pitch is what you're gonna do when you're talking to somebody in person.”

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.