James Drogan

For some time I had been wanting to collect the lecture notes I prepare for my classes into a single publication that I could place on reserve in our college library.  I reckoned the students would find some value in this.

I use FedEx Kinko's to produce my quarterly diary, but didn't feel that was satisfactory (standard paper size, coil bound, difficult to make multiple copies). 

I was googling online publishing and came across www.lulu.com.  After a tour through the site, I decided to give it a go.

I had been collecting my lecture notes into a single document in anticipation that I would find a suitable publishing mechanism.  On January 12, within a 15 minute period, I had uploaded the 169 page document to the publisher, chosen the size (6 x 9), picked the cover and binding, and placed the order.

The result:

The book arrives late in the afternoon of January 17.  Excellent quality, excellent service, excellent price ($7.92 plus $7.39 for shipping and handling).  Plus, if anyone wants a copy, easy to get.

Now it's not peer-reviewed, has not been gone over by an editor (other than me), isn't in the formal layout (front matter, etc.) one normally sees in a book, lacks an ISBN, isn't in the commercial mainstream, but it will do the job I want it to do quite nicely.  It's the outcome that matters.