Promotions

Why Wideman’s Here

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.

Publish an ePub. Win an iPad

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.

Ready to join the ePub boom?

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

How to Make an eBook Anyone Can Read with ePub

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).

The only thing more difficult than getting started is finishing

I’m a Lulu team member responsible for the Lulu Publishing Services Division where we provide the publishing services you need to help make your book a reality. As a published author (courtesy of Lulu) I understand what it takes to produce a top-selling book and have very high hopes that this blog will help you in your quest to produce your own. Although I still love to write, I have discovered another passion, too: Helping others experience the wonderful feeling that comes with successfully becoming published.

When I began writing many years ago, I found that the complexities, trials and tribulations of publishing distracted from the joy of writing. Like most authors, I began my quest to get published long before I actually finished writing my first book. Cover design, editing, formatting, ISBNs were all new to me, and although they were essential topics, I often wished that the publishing system was simpler. I just wanted to finish my first book and get started on my second. I was fortunate to stumble across Lulu in my search for publishing help and still remain thankful. I was rescued from the deep abyss of “I’ll never get published.” Working with Lulu truly empowered me as an author by reducing frustration and minimizing distraction that consumed so much of my creative time. On a very practical level, Lulu also helped me get published much quicker and allowed me to sell quite a few books. In turn, this allowed me to eat something besides Ramen noodles and tomato soup. I so enjoyed the experience that I actually came to work at Lulu in August ‘09 so that I could help others.

Lulu pays your shipping on 10 paperback books

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Hey everyone. I just wanted to shout out an offer that Lulu is running this weekend only.

This Saturday and Sunday only, order 10 paperback books and Lulu has setup a coupon that will discount you the equivalent of your shipping cost up to $15.24 (for about 99% of orders of 10 paperbacks, that should cover the full cost of shipping).

Now,  since  the discount is subtracted from the cost of your books, we can’t “technically” call it free shipping, but it’s pretty much the same thing.

To take advantage of this discount just use coupon code MAILSHIP10 at checkout.Again this offer is good this weekend only  from 12/5/09  thru 12/6/09.

How did this discount work out for you?  Let me know.

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you soon.

-Adam

Lulu Black Friday Sale Starts Now!

The Lulu Black Friday Sale
Happy Black Friday!
Take advantage of these door-buster savings right now by redeeming one of the coupon codes below. Hurry! Coupon code quantities are limited to the quantity listed in the table below. Only a lucky few will be able to take advantage of these great savings.
Paperback & Hardcover
- Orders up to $50 -
(before tax & shipping)
- Orders over $50 -
(before tax & shipping)
Discount
Amount
Coupon
Code
Available
Coupons
Discount
Amount
Coupon
Code
Available
Coupons
50% OFF BFBOOK1 3 50% OFF BFBULK1 3
40% OFF BFBOOK2 5 40% OFF BFBULK2 5
25% OFF BFBOOK3 25 25% OFF BFBULK3 25
15% OFF BFBOOK4 100 15% OFF BFBULK4 100
Photo Books & Calendars Publishing Services
Discount
Amount
Coupon
Code
Available
Coupons
Discount
Amount
Coupon
Code
Available
Coupons
70% OFF BFSTUDIO1 3 40% OFF BFSERVICES1 3
50% OFF BFSTUDIO2 5 35% OFF BFSERVICES2 5
35% OFF BFSTUDIO3 25 25% OFF BFSERVICES3 25
30% OFF BFSTUDIO4 100 15% OFF BFSERVICES4 100
Missed Out On Black Friday Savings? Don’t Despair!
Sign up to receive our special email promotions and never miss another deal. Just go to your Lulu account preferences and select “Specials, Sales & Promotions” from the choices of email notifications and we’ll be sure to keep you informed of special savings in the future.
Coupon Not Working?
Once a promotion is sold out, you’ll receive the following message:

“The promotion code has expired.”

What Should You Do?
Simply move down to the next promotion, and enter that coupon code to your cart.
If you’re prompted the expiration message again, try the next code down.
What If None of the Codes Are Working?
Then you’re probably a little late to the party! We anticipate these codes to be used up fast.
But don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with great holiday deals on our Holiday Gifts page.
Check out our holiday deals, from now until December 24th:
* Disclaimer: Coupon cannot be used to pay for, nor shall be applied to, applicable taxes or shipping and handling charges and cannot be applied to any previous order. No exchanges or substitutions allowed. Only one valid promotional code may be used per account. Orders must be paid in U.S. Dollars.
Coupon codes are limited in quantity and are on a first come, first serve basis. Lulu.com reserve the right to change or revoke this offer at any time and offers no express guarantee of coupon availability at the time of this promotion.
Maximum discount for each coupon code:
Coupon Max Discount Coupon Max Discount
BFBOOK1 $25.00 BFSTUDIO1 $30.00
BFBOOK2 $20.00 BFSTUDIO2 $25.00
BFBOOK3 $12.50 BFSTUDIO3 $20.00
BFBOOK4 $7.50 BFSTUDIO4 $10.00
BFBULK1 $250.00 BFSERVICES1 $1,800.00
BFBULK2 $160.00 BFSERVICES2 $1,575.00
BFBULK3 $62.50 BFSERVICES3 $1125.00
BFBULK4 $15.00 BFSERVICES4 $675.00

Black Friday Sales Preview

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This Friday morning at 8am (EST), right here on the Lulu Blog, we’ll be posting a limited number of discount codes good for big savings on a wide variety of Lulu products.

Although we can’t give away too many details on our Back Friday sale until the big day, I can tell you that, with a wide variety of savings on a number of different published products, there is something for just about everyone. In addition, a few lucky users who are the first to use their codes will be eligible to take advantage of savings of up to 70% off a select purchase.

Again, as is typical of Black Friday sales, discount codes are limited and on a few come, first use basis. So come back to the Lulu blog this Friday morning at 8am (EST) sharp and be the first to get one of our limited door-buster discounts.

-Adam

Create A Calendar and Get a Second One Half Price

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Offer expires on 11/16/09 at 11:59 PM EST. Orders must be in U.S. Dollars. Lulu.com reserves the right to change or revoke this offer at any time. Void where prohibited.

Update: Weekly Author Q&A

I am so happy with the response we’ve had to the Weekly Author Q&A! To date, we’ve featured 13 authors and just started our 14th Q&A today with Dr. Bill Misner, author of What Should I Eat? A Food-Endowed Prescription For Well Being.”

The wonderful thing about these Q&As is that you get to ask Lulu authors anything! You can ask them about their writing styles, marketing techniques, cover design, anything! Lulu authors are so diverse that there is never a boring moment. The discussions are rewarding because you talk about the things that are important to you.

If that sounds fun, maybe YOU would like to be one of the featured authors too! If you are interested in your very own Weekly Author Q&A, email me at chousel@lulu.com and let me know. Be sure to include a brief introduction, highlighting any accomplishments, accolades, or even personality quirks! Send me links to your websites, too!

I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know all of you better!