Have you even blown up a hard drive, lost all your files, spent time on something and lost it for good, or had to recreate it from the hard copy?
By the time I needed to reprint Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, all the files were lost. They were pretty terrible anyway - in format. They were Professional Write turned into Word Perfect for DOS turned into RageMaker (aka PageMaker).
Rewriting the book was good for me, especially under the lash of my gruff but likeable editor.
However, now that I am gathering material for publication, I see how slapdash my storage methods have been. One advantage of Lulu is that files are stored for free and can be downloaded if all the fail-safes fail. I know that Internet backups and external drives and such are better, but this is one of extra benefits.
The main advantage is publishing for everyone, free, 24/7. I studied web design last century to do that, and I am glad. I still teach web design and education technology. I use HTML gimmicks every day.
Once I finish a work in MS Word, I can get it print ready in about 30 minutes, most of the time spent fiddling with the cover. I am cover-certified now, I hope. I will redo the Angel Joy cover, which is a disaster.
A ready-made cover and the text turned to a PDF will take about 10 minutes. The finishing work will take a few minutes more. Lulu will provide an ISBN number (origin - WELS) for free, which is essential for all book sellers.
I put some of Norma Boeckler's art into the latest works. The colored works came through perfectly in the PDF.
Lulu has many kinds of publishing, including music CDs, but I want to focus on what theologians do.
Let's say the Intrepids have a really good series on some topics, or a group of good articles. They can be gathered, published, and distributed for no cost.
I promise that the best articles will be buried and hard to find on Intrepid or any other blog. Publishing has permanency and a little more gravitas.
Printing can be low-cost (never free) or with a built-in profit.
