Web-based Self-Publishing Explodes

Consider: The way Lulu.com works is, prospective authors pick a layout out of a bunch available on the site. They then place their text into the layout and hit publish. Voila! The book is available for purchase via Lulu.com or, as the case may be, through Amazon.com. Whenever a customer buys a book, Lulu.com’s software automatically takes care of fulfillment (the printing, the mailing), so the book is never touched by a human hand. Then, Lulu.com — which also publishes music and movies — takes a 20% cut of the profit.