For this assignment, I chose from the Books category and then looked at lulu.com. This is in the used-to-be-known-as "vanity press" listing, and in some ways it appears things haven't changed. I say that because many of the books there looked quite dubious. In the religion area, for example, there were a number of books for the budding Satanist on your Christmas (or Samhain, or whatever) list--all kinds of wonderful titles that would last about two days on a library shelf before it disappeared--stolen either by said Satanist teenager or somehow disposed of by an enraged library patron who doesn't like to see his or her money spent on such books. (I think the latter more often "hide" them, but I'm sure more extreme measures have been taken too...)
OK, there are some good titles too--it's just that the Satanic ones were the first I saw. What got my interest more was the service for the reprinting of old (copyright free) books. This seemed genuinely worthwhile, and could be useful both for libraries who might own a rare OP book that they want to keep on their shelf, or even for individuals who want to reintroduce a title they love. For the latter, I was thinking it's time to reissue that wonderful, late career Huysmans' book "The Crowds of Lourdes", which I read a couple years ago. My copy, purchased online, was a rare find then (2004?) and even rarer now. It's only available in hundred dollar print-on-demand versions through Bookfinder. But who knows how many copies I'd sell?
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