by Carol Housel Marketing Communications Specialist
March 16, 2010
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Focus: eBooks

In Author Spotlight, Holiday reading material, Lulu News — Tagged: , , , , , ,

You may have noticed that eBooks are quickly becoming a very popular option for readers. They offer instant gratification and can conveniently be read on portable eReaders, computers, and in some cases, even on your smart phone. eBooks are a great option for authors too, sometimes even allowing for higher royalties. Some authors even use eBooks to market their print books by providing a free sample of their work – a great technique sure to get new readers hooked.

One of the reasons I love Lulu eBooks so much is the content. Without a doubt, we have a unique selection that can’t be found anywhere else. Below, I’ve chosen a few that caught my interest. Take a look at my top eBook pics for the week!

Fight On! #7 Fall 2009 PDF VersionFight On! #7 Fall 2009

Deep under the misty mountains, the proudest and toughest keep Fighting On! Join us in those days of blood and plunder by picking up a copy of issue 7, dedicated to M.A.R. Barker and featuring EIGHT adventures, tables, settings, reviews, encounters, monsters, spells, magic items, new classes, non-canonical expansions to Empire of the Petal Throne, and much, much more!


The Crochet Dude's Flying AfghanThe Crochet Dude’s Flying Afghan!

Download version – As seen in the Accord Crochet Pattern-a-Day Calendar, here are all the patterns you’ll need to create this sampler afghan by The Crochet Dude. In no time you will have a wonderful gift (perhaps for yourself).

Included are the instructions for twelve large squares and sixteen small squares. Mix and match to create your own layout! Oh, and you also receive the Dudessembly instructions to put it all together!

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by Sherrie Wilkolaski Lulu Publishing Consultant
March 14, 2010
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Lulu VIP: A New Level of Service

In New Features — Tagged: , , ,

John Edgar Wideman’s decision to join the Lulu community has gotten quite a bit of attention. Stories have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly and the Huffington Post. And all that coverage has generated quite a bit of interest in our new Lulu VIP Services program.

Mr. Wideman is the inaugural customer of this program, which provides white-glove service to premiere authors. It’s our most customizable offering, executed by industry-leading professionals who have helped drive the success of A-list authors. Each title receives the highest level of attention and each author retains complete control over the process, from cover design and editing to online marketing and media relations.

Indeed, our new VIP Services program provides everything a traditional publisher can offer. We launched the program to help authors gain more control over their own publishing process and recruited an experienced team of professionals with traditional and bestseller experience to lead the way. We’re extremely honored that Mr. Wideman decided to use Lulu for Briefs and that our VIP Services are part of his journey.

Our goal is to expand the visibility of authors’ works and maximize their success through red carpet treatment, personalized attention, and quality, publishing-house services at their fingertips. We’re confident that authors and agents alike will find comfort in the professionalism of our VIP Services program.

Email us today at vipservices@lulu.com for a free consultation.

by Carol Housel Marketing Communications Specialist
March 14, 2010
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Guest Author Blog: John Edgar Wideman

In Author Spotlight, Lulu News — Tagged: , ,

Today, Lulu is proud to welcome John Edgar Wideman to Lulu and pleased to present a very special guest author blog. Mr. Wideman chose Lulu after a distinguished career of 40+ years in the traditional publishing industry for many reasons, among them his desire to connect more intimately with his readers and to embrace the opportunity our platform provides for creators to retain complete control over their work. For Mr. Wideman, who has never used a computer, venturing into online publishing and the blogoshpere is an intimidating but exciting event! He’s eager to kick off a conversation with the Lulu community by sharing an introduction to his new work, and asks for your patience as he learns to respond and engage in a brand new forum.

JohnWideman_newBriefly, since these remarks introduce a book titled Briefs, I’d like to share a few thoughts about why and how I’ve been working the past three years on a volume of very short stories. My first novel was published in 1967 and I’ve been in print since, so my writing career’s far from brief, but brief an accurate, merciful word to describe a parcel of time which has rushed past so swiftly, stealthily, brutally, it feels some days like I just got here and it’s nearly time to go already. The micro-fictions in my collection are about losing time, saving time, enduring time, fearing and escaping time.

About the ubiquitous, silent pulse of time and how people learn to dance to it or not, to stumble through or find themselves graced by time or ignored or get their asses kicked.

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by Jonathan B. Cox Marketing Communications Manager
March 13, 2010
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Why Wideman’s Here

In Author Spotlight, Lulu News, Promotions — Tagged: , , ,

briefsOur press release said it best: John Edgar Wideman is a literary lion. He has more than 20 traditionally published works to his name and a catalog of accolades — including two Faulkner Awards for Fiction. He has received much critical acclaim in his career and can command significant royalty advances.

But he’s not satisfied with where the traditional publishing model has taken him. He doesn’t know his readers. And too often he’s been left in the shadow of blockbuster titles that get publishers’ attention.

So, for his latest work, Briefs, Stories for the Palm of the Mind, he decided to experiment. He published the book, which goes on sale today, exclusively on Lulu as our inaugural VIP Service client. I talked to him recently about his decision to publish with Lulu, what he makes of the current state of the industry and what his goals are for this project. An edited transcript follows.

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by Ricci Wolman Product Marketing
March 12, 2010
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Publish an ePub. Win an iPad

In Contest, Lulu Blog, Lulu News, Marketing Tips, Promotions — Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

iPadContest_BlogBannerThe time to get in on the gold rush for ePub books has never been better.  From now until March 22, 2010, simply publish an ePub version of your book, and you’ll be automatically eligible to win one of three Apple iPads.  Yep, that’s right – just create an ePub book and you could score a brand new iPad…on us.

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by Sherrie Wilkolaski Lulu Publishing Consultant
March 12, 2010
Comments (8)

Ready to join the ePub boom?

In Lulu Help, Lulu News, Promotions, Tips and Tricks, Walkthroughs — Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lulu now offers ePub conversion services to take your book into the future.  Get your book ready for the iPad, Sony Reader and other electronic devises with our ePub conversion service.  We offer three service packs depending on the number of pages  in your manuscript.

Our ePub service includes the following:

  1. Tagging and linking of the Table of Content (TOC)
  2. Proofing of the illustrations to make sure they’re resized properly
  3. Removal of the original page numbers and page headers (to prevent them from appearing in the middle of the page)
  4. Re-flowing of the text by chapter and re-pagination of the entire book

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by AJ McDonald Public Relations
March 12, 2010
Comments (15)

How to Make an eBook Anyone Can Read with ePub

In Contest, Events, Howto, Lulu Blog, Lulu Help, Lulu News, Marketing Tips, Promotions, Tips and Tricks, Walkthroughs — Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In a recent post I talked about how all of you would-be eBook authors should know your file formats, or at least be somewhat familiar with the most commonly used ones.  As an author, you want to make your work as accessible as possible, which means making your content able to be read on as many devices as you can.  Since it is Read an eBook Week, and Lulu is giving away three Apple iPads, I thought it might be useful to provide a how-to tutorial for the most universal eBook format: ePub.

Many new authors might make the mistake of thinking that if they have a portable document format (PDF) of their book it means that it can be read on an e-reader or other mobile device.  While in many cases the PDF can be opened, the text is far too small because it is a static or unchangeable image.  ePub makes it so your text is resized to fit the screen of any given device.  Since the text in ePub format can be changed in terms of size, font and color, reading an ePub book becomes a much more personal experience for the reader.  Sounds great right?  But how do you make an ePub book?

You really have three options:  let Lulu do the work for you with our conversion services, use a conversion program like (Adobe InDesign, eCub, Calibre, Google ePub Toolkit, etc.), or you can do-it-yourself.  If you decide to do-it-yourself, I’ve added some great directions I found over at jedisaber.com.


What You’ll Need:

* A text editor (like Text Edit or Notepad) that can edit text files, HTML, and XML.
* A program that can create .zip files (which should be built into OS X or Windows).

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by Allison Casey Services Coordinator
March 8, 2010
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A Bibliophile’s Love of eBooks

In Lulu Blog, Lulu News — Tagged: , ,

eBookI still write letters instead of emails, buy my albums on vinyl and shoot photos with film. I don’t own an mp3 player and my cell phone is so old I often joke about needing MS-DOS codes to check my voicemail.

Yet, I am a firm believer in the power of the eBook and digital content. After all, I work at Lulu where gadget specs get thrown around the break room like sports stats.

There is a constant debate among writers and bibliophiles who abhor the thought of giving up paging through a smelly old book. Books have a culture with which they are associated and eBooks allegedly threaten that culture; but print books and eBooks do not have to be at war with one another. Instead, eBooks are able to act as the perfect supplement to a print book. In fact, authors who offer both sell 30% more print books.

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by Carol Housel Marketing Communications Specialist
March 4, 2010
Comments (5)

Talking about the Lulu Community

In Howto, Lulu News, Marketing Tips, Tips and Tricks — Tagged: , , , , ,
talktalk

by PinkMoose

We’ve recently revealed our shiny new forums and support platform for all to see. Now, while we’re actively tweaking them and improving them to be the best based on your feedback, I’d like to highlight a few conversations you might be interested in.

Waiting Room Copies – Has Anyone tried This Yet? – This discussion is focused around a particularly creative approach to marketing your work. EelKat says “On the table along side the usual stacks of magazines was a book. On the Cover of the book was a large round sticker which read: ‘Waiting Room Copy – to Order Your Own Copy Please Go to www—–’”

Participants Wanted – Julie Dawson is requesting submissions to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Julie states, “As many of you know, each year I sponsor a charity writing contest.  I mentioned in a previous post that I was thinking about giving away an Amazon Kindle for the grand prize this year.  After reviewing everything, I have decided that we will definitely be doing this.”

So… where’s the line? – In this discussion, Elmore Hammes asks, “When do you call it “literature” – is it just when the book doesn’t fit firmly in a genre such as science fiction or romance? Or does it have to elevate to a higher level of writing to be deemed such?”

How do I make something available as a free download? – The title says it all!

So, head on over to the forums and get to know other Lulus!

by Carol Housel Marketing Communications Specialist
March 3, 2010
Comments (4)

Focus: Independent Art

In Author Spotlight, Lulu News — Tagged: , , ,

Sure, Lulu has a lot of great literature. Fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, the list goes on and on. But did you know that we also have a plethora of independent artists? Lulu is attractive to indy artists for the same reason it’s attractive to indy authors: control, audience, quality and opportunity.

I encourage you to check out my top Indy Art book picks of the week.

POSTMARK L.A.

POSTMARK L.A.

by Teresa McFayden et al

Embark on an artful adventure between a group of friends! Join Rebecca Sower, Pam Garrison, Teresa McFayden, Charlotte Lyons, Carolyn Peeler and Amy Hanna as they attend a fabulous vintage art party, and tour Los Angeles with an artful eye. This book is filled with their Los Angeles inspiration! In Postmark, L.A., the friends continue on to provide several projects, some with templates just for you. Enjoy interviews, frivolity and so much more. Vintage inspiration awaits you…

Pasticcio Quartz Issue 8

Pasticcio Quartz Issue 8

by Angela Cartwright, Sarah Fishburn

The fabulous, phenomenal, oversized Winter ‘09-’10 issue of Pasticcio Quartz is finally here. It’s new; it’s NOW! Art, eats, etsy, fashion, history, holidays, pets, plaid – totally wrapped up in the prettiest package ever, and tied with a big red bow. Come to think of it, you’d better grab a few extras to give as gifts to those you love the BEST! 72 pages in brilliant color!

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