New Options for Self Publishing

     I've been trailing the net for years now trying to find some way to publish materials that I've written, but never really felt like going through the process of approaching publishers to get their attention.  But, as the internet begins to influence the real world more and more, the options for things like printing a book are becoming more varied as well.
     Through my searches, I found two options for immediate on-line publishing.  The first, which I will be publishing a novel through within the next year, is Amazon CreateSpace.  This service is a full service option, where you can publish CDs, DVDs, books, and even digital distribution.  They offer services for helping you design your packaging and cover work, and even marketing, for a price.  Create Space even has direct distribution to several national retailers, so your work can get where you want it to go.  The initial service is free, with an agreement to pay Amazon a certain percentage in royalties.
     The other service I discovered is Lulu.com.  Lulu deals exclusively with books, and has a very focused approach.  They will also print individual books if you need them for something like a yearbook or a family cookbook.  Like CreateSpace, you log in and upload your book as a .pdf or some other standard document format, then you design a cover, and then move on to publishing your work.  What I like about Lulu is the options for size and formatting in your book,  there are tons of different ways that you can build a book on Lulu.
     So, I hope that this has helped out any of you out there trying to get yourself published like I have been for years.  And best of luck to you.  Also, if anyone of you readers should get something published through one of these two services, please feel free to leave a comment linking to the product page of your published work.  I'm sure the rest of us would love to see your work.
     As always, I'll catch you on the flip side.