A Creative Year – this book is a treasure

I’ve been asked a lot lately about the print on demand book A Creative Year on Lulu that I made, so I thought I’d post kind of a FAQ here.

Hanna, can I buy your book online?
Yes, you can get your own copy and it is only available online as print-on-demand (POD) from lulu.com !

Where can I buy it?
Visit lulu.com to preview the first few pages – and buy it fresh from the printer!

But how do I buy a copy?
You click here, then the Add to cart-button next to the image of the book cover. Then you fill in your information and send your money to lulu via paypal or your account (using a VISA card). Thanks for asking!

Was it expensive to make?
To upload a book cover that you’ve designed and the content of a book (a manuscript) costs nothing at lulu.com. To make it available for others to buy costs nothing. I have bought one copy of my own book so far, and I paid just as much as everyone else gets to pay. The price is at lulu for everyone to view and consider! I make about 2 dollar from each book sold I think.

Have you checked out blurb.com too?
No, I had not heard of Blurb before I started this project. But now when I’ve viewed their prices and book sizes I think the prices are about the same but Lulu has more book options like different binding types and sizes of the book to choose from. My book is 6 x 9 inches (= 15 x 23 centimeters) and that was exactly what I wanted!

What the heck is POD?
POD is short for print-on-demand which means I don’t have a pile of books to sell or give away. I just can’t afford to get a stash of my own book! Instead Lulu prints a new copy for every order they get via their site. These costs a bit more for the buyer because the printing process is more expensive when they print one copy instead of 2000, but it makes it possible for a poor creative girl like me to make a book without taking a bank loan! I like that.

What do I get if I buy your book then?
My gratful thanks – and a beautiful 240 pages soft bound book filled with ideas, inspiration, projects and colour photos on almost every page! It would make a great Christmas gift…

Can I/anyone make a book?
I don’t know! It took a lot of time for me, and I’ve done both layout and design before, so it probably depends on how much time you have and how good you want your book to look. To upload a manuscript is not difficult at all and then the rest is easy, so if you want to have a book of your own I think you should go for it!

I had a good year last year, it was very unlike this one I’m working through right now. I’m glad I picked 2006 to become a book. I had so much then that I’ve now lost and miss greatly. And when life goes on constantly a book can be ended on a nice day where the future is bright. I really like that about a book, that you have the power over what to include and what to exclude, when to start and when to stop. I love books with a good ending so my ending is bright and glorious!

Diane has posted about my book in a blog post on her Craftpod Blog called Loving Hanna’s Book, where she writes:

Reading this book, I realized something: I’m a very distracted blog reader. I have an itchy trigger finger on the scroll wheel. Sitting at my computer, I’m always doing several things at once, and my attention is fragmented. I’m missing so much! Even though I regularly read Hanna’s blog, I loved the experience last night of being able to focus my whole attention on her writing and images, in a comfy space away from the computer. It was all so inspiring, and such eye-candy. Blog books! They’re the best!

I agree with her, books are the best. And next month she’ll post an interview she did with me over Skype last week! Then you’ll be able to hear my sweet voice… (sic!)

In her review of my book over at the lulu-site she wrote;

If you make things, or want to be more creative, this book is a treasure.

Isn’t that nice?

It was fun talking to Sister Diane even though I was so very nervous that the butterflies in my stomach were almost escaping! I was stuttering and forgetting words all the time, so I’ll be impressed once more with Diane’s show if she can edit my talk to sound nice. She asked a lot of great questions though that made me think and reflect on the book and why I made it.

If you have any questions please comment and I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge!

Thanks for your visit!

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