Very cool! I'm definitely passing this on to a few friends.

As soon as I get home I'm checking this out and sending the link to friends - thanks!

This would be good for many NaNoWriMo participants, and people who want to write family histories and such. As for myself, I'm trying to get my stuff published by someone who actually pays me.

How much do I have to pay them to have people read my novel? Just kidding. But it would be nice for us aspiring novelists to see what that fantasy book would look like in the flesh! Thanks for this, Geek!

GREAT LINK GEEK THANKS!

I was wondering how they were making money and found this

"We make money through the goods and services we provide in our Services Store, such as the Softcover Channel Distribution and ISBN, cover or interior design services or promotions and marketing materials. We also make a very small percentage when a book is purchased by our authors or through our online Bookstore."

Thanks geek . I will definitely look in to it once I'm finished with my novel .

I'm a little skeptical, not only because I work in this industry, but because I've seen self-published books and so far the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL series has been the only self-published book I've seen that has done really well in initial print runs.

I just looked at the site ... it sounds like you would have to PAY a lot of money for services that publishers do for their authors anywayz, including insurance for any lawsuits that might arise which Wordclay doesn't seem to cover.
It sounds great if you just want to print out a couple copies to hand out to friends, but I don't think I would go this route if I wanted to make any serious sales.

Um, I had to pay for the internet to see the site...
not free

It's not free. Nothing ever is. You still need to pay for the cost of them to print your book. I used to be a print estimator and it would be cheaper to use an official company instead of one like this that's going to shove advertising all over your back cover anyway!

I did a little internet research, and it sounds like (1) there are hidden or unexpected costs associated with signing on with Wordclay; (2) Wordclay's privacy policy says that they will market your information to other companies.

Yikes, I would stay far away from this.

And bengalspice is right -- very few self-published books really hit big. And no vanity press book has made the NYT list.

I would suggest if you want a book deal, to find a publisher who will pay you for your hard work and creativity, rather than the other way around. If you want to self-publish, good for you, go for it -- but watch out for vanity presses who just want your money.

I would suggest checking out websites like preditors and editors or the writer beware blog to help you avoid schemes and pitfalls.

wow! awesome! I always want to write a book, like children's books but never had the chance, but now I think I will pursue that dream. Thanks for sharing!

I appreciate all the comments here giving me the pros and cons! THANKS everyone.