I think the price we pay as authors for our own books is a bit high. The one positive I've found with lulu is that friends are more willing to buy from there so I get the better royalty amount than I would at other places. Now that I'm in the process of writing the sequel to my first novel, I'm rather reluctant to go with lulu again. I'd like to see some major changes to how the site is run. Starting with a better rotation of featured books. As far as marketing goes, I have to rely on word of mouth and my amazon reviews,etc. because I can't afford the cost of marketing. I know I'm not alone when it comes to lack of funding.