Help! I Need Advice on Self-Publishing

Summary

An author is seeking advice on self-publishing a collection of personal stories for family distribution, preferring Canadian services like Blurb and Lulu for their simplicity and reasonable pricing.

Abstract

The author has compiled a series of personal stories from their childhood into a manuscript totaling 122 pages, intending to edit it down to around 80 pages. The purpose of the book is not commercial but to preserve memories for family, with plans to distribute physical copies to immediate family and potentially offer it as an e-book to extended family. The author is exploring self-publishing options in Canada, such as Tellwell and Friesenpress, but finds them more suited to high-volume, profit-oriented publishing. Services like Blurb's creative non-fiction option and Lulu's paperback and hardcover book printing seem more aligned with the author's needs for a simple, bound book. The author is open to suggestions, especially from those with personal experience in self-publishing, and is considering local printing and spiral binding as an alternative.

Opinions

The author values the preservation of personal memories and stories for family over commercial success.
They are looking for a self-publishing service that is cost-effective and provides a high-quality, readable end product.
The author prefers to support Canadian businesses but is open to international options if they offer superior service and value.
They are considering both traditional book formats and more informal options like spiral binding.
The author is seeking advice based on others' experiences with self-publishing platforms, particularly those that cater to personal, non-commercial projects.

I welcome feedback on writers’ experiences.

I’ve decided to make a book of all the stories I wrote about ‘When I was a kid.’ There are a few; many short forms and a few longer ones. The memories came flooding back as soon as I started writing a year or so back.

Incredibly, stories by fellow writers still remind me of childhood memories I had completely forgotten about, so the wheels are still turning; the pages are still accumulating!

They’re precious snippets of little value to other readers besides providing hints to their past memories they may well have clean forgotten about. I’m sure no one else would be interested in reading the book, so it’s not to make money; instead, it’s a place to house all those stories in one place for my family.

I want to take a copy for my siblings and Dad when I head to Aussie in December. Maybe I’ll send a few to extended family or invite them to purchase or download it as an e-book — if that is an option.

Bottom-line is I want five copies by the end of November!

How many pages?

On my recent train trip home from Toronto, I transferred all the stories I’d written to date into a word document, and I was shocked to get to 122 pages! Admittedly, that was without any editing or considering text size and photographs. I’m not interested in including downloaded generic shots that were a must-have here on Medium, only the pertinent sentimental photos.

I’m sure I can edit that down to 80 pages, although I don’t want to skimp — each new story deserves a fresh page.

The options are varied.

I’ve browsed all the articles on self-publishing books — particularly in Canada — but most seem geared towards producing a high volume of books and earning dosh. Looking at sites like Tellwell and Freisenpress, they’re not exactly what I’m after.

I simply want my stories bound into a lovely book — or magazine style — with the idea that they are printed and thus more readable and accessible for my family.

Blurb seems to fit more with what I’m looking for. Their trade books, particularly their creative non-fiction option, seem right up my alley.

Lulu also looks a good fit; they also have various options for paperback and hardcover books in three different sizes at apparently reasonable prices.

Does anyone have any advice?

Have you published on Blurb or Lulu? Or do you know of other sites that fit what I’m looking for?

I prefer to go the Canadian route simply because the exchange rate hurts. However, if you can tout the praises of another company outside of Canada that is reasonable and fabulous, I’m not saying it’s a no-go. Lulu already looks rather appealing to me.

I welcome your comments and feedback from your personal experiences if you have published on similar terms as what I’m after.

The other option is recto-verso printing all my stories, going to the local print store, and having them spiral-bound…