It depends on what you're trying to do. If you do use such a service, remember that the only proofreading you'll get will be what you and your friends do with the copy. Lulu has a distribution package you can purchase for $100 that gets you an ISBN and on Amazon and other places, but it doesn't get you in the bookstore. BUT, you can go to bookstores and offer to do a reading there and have some sent in or bring some in, you'll have to prepurchase them yourself, and then you can offer to sign them. Larger publishers may not pick up your POD unless it looks like it's going to go somewhere, but depending on how it does, you could use that as a jumping board for the next time you submit to an agent or publisher. HOWEVER, that doesn't always work. Publishers like to see that you have gone through the process of being approved by objective editorial people before being published before they decided to spend time with you.

So, it all depends.

I was definitely under the impression it was not a productive route to take but the National Writers Union is featuring an article suggesting otherwise.

www.nwu.org/nwu/index.php

Got this in my mail today:


What Good Is a Traditional Publisher?

By Sallie Goetsch


A colleague recently put this question in the bluntest of terms:
"If publishers won't promote your book and they take a huge
percentage, what exactly do they do for the author?"

I wouldn't say that publishing houses won't promote your book, but
first-time authors get a very small piece of the marketing pie-and
publishers have smaller marketing budgets than they used to. They
have smaller everything budgets than they used to, which means less
personal attention, and that's one reason someone could
legitimately ask "Well, what good are they, then?"

Another reason is the increasing availability of print-on-demand
technology and self-publishing resources. No longer does a would-be
self publisher have to start a publishing business and spend
thousands of dollars to get into print. Authors have more options
than they did 20 years ago.

For many non-fiction authors (and even some novelists),
self-publishing and POD are valid options. There's no question that
authors who use these methods of publishing get to keep more of the
book's cover price. And there are still a number of small,
independent presses out there who provide more support to their
authors because they take on only a few books each year. But there
are still some advantages to getting your book published by one of
the giants.


They Know What Sells

Before you can get your book published, you have to submit a
proposal with an outline of your book and a marketing plan.
Acquisitions editors at the big houses know what's selling and what
isn't. If you get repeated rejections which all cite the same
problems, it's a sign that you need to retool your idea before you
go to all the trouble of writing the book. And if they accept your
proposal, it's because they believe there's a large enough market
for your book to justify their investment in producing it.


They Pay in Advance

Admittedly, the advance you get for your first book isn't likely to
allow you to quit your day job, since it's likely to be in the low
five figures. And it doesn't arrive the minute you sign the
contract, either. But that money can cover many of the costs
associated with writing and marketing the book, such as travel for
research, a local direct mail campaign, or the services of a
ghostwriter.


They Have More Resources

When you self-publish or use a POD house, you have to locate, and
pay for, all kinds of professionals, or spend extra time doing the
many jobs of publishing yourself. You may be the top expert in your
field and a good writer on top of it, but creating a book also
requires copyediting, book design, typesetting (though no actual
type is involved anymore), proof reading, and cover art, among
other things. Large publishers already have all these people either
on staff or working for them as contractors, and they've had
decades to learn things like which fonts are most readable and how
much white space you need on a page.

Many POD houses offer editing, book layout, and cover design
services, but they charge you for them. If you're truly
self-publishing, you have to find and pay all these people
yourself, in addition to your actual printing and shipping costs.
(And much as I admire self-publishing guru Dan Poynter, I don't
hold with his theory that you can use clip art for your book cover
and still look professional.)


They Get You into Bookstores

Very few self-published authors can get their books onto the
shelves of large chain bookstores like Barnes and Noble and
Borders. These companies have strict policies about which
distributors they deal with and require return policies which no
sane person would stand for.

And, of course, if a chain won't carry your book, it's not likely
you'll be able to hold an author event there. What's more, the
publisher takes care of shipping extra copies of your book to the
store when you do the signing, so you don?t have to drag books
around with you. (You do have to notify them that you're doing the
event and ask them to send the books.)

Publishers also have booths at major publishing conventions like
Book Expo America. Your book might not get star billing, but
they'll be pushing all their new titles.

So yes, traditional publishers do still provide their authors with
valuable services. And the "huge percentage" they take rarely
amounts to a huge profit: it goes to covering their very
considerable costs in preparing, printing, and distributing your
book (not to mention offering those killer return policies to the
bookstores). Despite the increasing ease and respectability of
self-publishing, pitching your book to Random House or
HarperCollins may still be your best option.

© 2007 Sallie Goetsch


www.worldwidefreelance.com/writing.htm

Personally, Im an impatient person...and waiting 20, 30 years tryig to find an agent or publisher for my book didnt sound appealing to me... and having them wating me to make changes to my story and all that... doesnt settle.
I didnt go with Lulu, but I went with Infinity Publishing for my book and I am very satisfied. The staff was helpful and they have an Author's Conference every year. They also gave me freedom to design the cover however I want and they have copyeditors if you want your book professionally edited before you publish. They have a lot of benefits as well such as adding a CD to your book or going with an audiobook. Sure you pay, but nothing good ever goes without an investment. And you have to self promote...but you'd have to do that with a big publishing company as well.