Articles tagged "Lulu"

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 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 Nuno Gomes Senior Designer
February 25, 2010
Comments (34)

Help us with a home(page) remodel

In New Features — Tagged: , , ,

We like to keep things fresh here at Lulu. But lately, we feel like our home page is getting a little stale.

So we’re ripping up the floors and bringing out the paint … or at least the wire frames and graphics. Our goal is to make Lulu.com a better experience for both of our customer groups: content creators and buyers. We want to highlight the diverse selection of content available on Lulu.com, help our creators sell more and make sure we remain a first stop for anyone publishing or buying books.  As with any remodel, we need some ideas. So help us out!

What should we keep on the Lulu.com homepage?
What should we take away?
What should we add?

If there are sites that you think are particularly well designed, let us know that, too.

We love the creativity of our community, so give us your thoughts. And stay tuned. We expect to have an updated look this spring.

by Nick Popio Community Architect
December 11, 2009
Comments (8)

Create A Customized Calendar

In Howto, Tips and Tricks — Tagged: , , , , ,

It may be a little late in the holiday season, but there’s still time to create a personalized gift on Lulu. One of my favorites are our calendars. With our Flickr, Facebook, Sugmug and Photobucket photo integration you can easily find and add 12 photos your friend or family member will love. Add some custom dates like birthdays, anniversaries and the like, and you’re ready to go! Select one of our faster shipping options and you can probably get in time for the holidays. If not, then you can always use them as a belated gift.

This year, I imported a bunch of photos from Flickr to make a calendar for my Mom.  Shh…don’t tell my mom.

Get started before it’s too late!

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by AJ McDonald Public Relations
November 13, 2009
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Lulu Takes Manhattan! – Sponsors Self Publishing Book Expo

In Events, Lulu Blog — Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

November 7th Lulu sponsored and attended the first annual Self-Publishing Book Expo (SPBE) at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers.  While the event drew a modest crowd, SPBE offered a great chance for Lulu to speak with the community both one on one and through our various workshops and executive-led panels.  All of the Lulu staff involved were proud to be a part of something that inspires creativity while informing authors of all their options.  Even our CEO Bob Young made it out to the event to discuss Lulu’s exciting transition into open-publishing!

Lulu had a great presence at SPBE.  We had a sizable booth space, and passed out reusable tote bags.  At one point, people in the hotel lobby asked where they could get one of the “cool orange bags”.  We had a contest and gave away some bose in-ear headphones and a Primer Publishing Pack.  From 9:30 am – 5:00 pm, Lulu staff manned the booth to field questions, educate people on the Lulu process, and offer demonstrations.  Nick and Harish gave a well-attended panel on how social networking will change self-publishing.  I think everyone learned a lot from the experience on both ends.

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For me, the event reinforced why I work at Lulu.  At its core, Lulu is about sharing ideas and spreading knowledge.  We understand that you’ve worked really hard to get your content out there and you want to get it in front of as many people as possible.  Things like Lulu’s non-exclusivity and extensive distribution options are things that should go hand-in-hand with self-publishing.  When I explained all the things we currently do and plan on doing to help make an author’s self-published book more visible, people’s jaws honestly dropped! It was a great feeling, and I look forward to more opportunities to interact with customers face-to-face.

We got some great ideas in New York while introducing people to the idea of open-publishing.  Lulu hopes to continue to be a part of events like SPBE that give us the opportunity to just talk with people.  If you have suggestions of events or community gatherings you think Lulu should be a part of, please don’t hesitate to send them in!

by Harish Abbott Chief Product Officer
November 4, 2009
Comments (9)

Building Selection to Boost Author Success

In Lulu News, New Features — Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dan Brown. Malcolm Gladwell. Emeril Lagasse. They all have something in common with you: They’re on Lulu.

You’ll now find their works — and about 200,000 other eBook titles from traditionally published authors — in the Lulu Marketplace. We’ve added them through agreements with Ingram and other distributors to make their public catalogs available on our site.

It’s a significant shift for Lulu, but one rooted in a strategy to maximize author success that has guided us from the beginning. To sell more books, you need more exposure. We’ve long provided distribution choices to help you reach customers in myriad stores, including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. We’re continuing to expand those options, and we’ll have more to share soon.

But that’s not enough. The time has come for a better marketplace. Like many of you, we’re discouraged by some trends in the industry and what they might mean for the future of books. Here at Lulu we champion books, and the people who create them, because of what they represent. Books are conversations between generations that convey our best thinking and help move us forward. They deserve appreciation. And authors deserve success.

The open marketplace we’re building will have the broadest selection. It will be a one-stop shop with content from all authors, in all styles and in all formats, paper and electronic. The goal is to give readers access to the best knowledge, ideas and entertainment and to give authors access to the best audience for their works. We believe the increased choice offered by increased selection will attract more readers. And as we attract more readers, we will have more opportunity to get Lulu authors in front of people most likely to buy. In fact, we’ve invested in recommendation technology to help with that by steering readers based on their browsing patterns.

Adding 200,000 eBooks is just the first step in a journey that will unfold over the coming months, one intended to bring more success to Lulu authors every day. As always, I welcome your suggestions and feedback as we move forward.

by Daniel Wideman Senior Product Manager, Lulu Marketplace
November 3, 2009
Comments (22)

New Lulu eBooks are Here!

In Lulu News, New Features — Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Last summer, while sitting in a team meeting reviewing numbers (bear with me, it gets better), an intriguing stat caught my eye: 70% of our authors make their print books available as downloads, and those authors sell 30% more books than those who offer print editions only! Even without a “real” eBook publishing option, Lulu authors were flocking to make digital files available, and succeeding in increasing their sales. Since then, we’ve been on a mission to provide a better eBook option. Today, I’m pleased to announce, new Lulu eBooks have arrived!

Why publish an eBook? The simple answer is it makes sense for both authors (universal distribution, more sales, and higher royalties) and readers (cheaper than print, instant delivery, and mobile access). How can Lulu help? By providing features to support a wide range of scenarios: give eBooks away for free as a marketing tool, automatically link eBook and print editions to enhance discovery and provide more options to readers, and offer optional copy-protection (DRM) to prevent piracy and unlicensed distribution.

Beginning today, Lulu supports all of these options, and more. With multi-device support, readers can access your eBook on a Mac, PC, iPhone (Stanza), Sony Reader, and many others. You can now upload files in the popular EPUB format, which is quickly becoming the industry standard (see recent announcements by Barnes & Noble and Sony). Concerned about losing sales when you make unprotected digital content available in the marketplace? You can now apply DRM to your eBook, and sell a licensed version which can’t be freely copied and distributed.

To support enabling these features for more than a million Lulu authors, Lulu has adopted a new pricing structure for eBooks and print downloads.  As always, it’s still free to publish, and if you choose, you can continue to give away your digital content for free. For authors who want to sell eBooks and downloads, we’ve added a fixed $1.49 base price to cover our credit card processing and hosting expenses. Applying DRM (optional, eBooks only) adds $.99 to the base price to offset the fee charged by our DRM provider.  To reiterate, authors never pay to publish, these fees are reflected in the list price and are only charged to the purchaser at purchase time.

All of us at Lulu are excited about our new eBooks, and welcome your feedback. Stay tuned–we’re actively exploring many more features, including providing easy access to retail distribution channels with the goal of enabling Lulu authors to sell eBooks in every online marketplace.  Meanwhile, we encourage you to get started and publish an eBook today.

by Carol Housel Marketing Communications Specialist
July 14, 2009
Comments (5)

New! Weekly Author Q&A

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

Take part in our first-ever Interactive Author Q&A!

Every week I will highlight one Lulu Author in our forums and encourage  you to ask the questions you choose. You can ask your favorite Lulu Authors things like “What inspired you to write your last book” or even “Who is your favorite author?”

This week, I highlight long-time Lulu author Jeane Trend-Hill.

If you would like to be one on the highlighted authors, drop me a line at chousel@lulu.com and let me know you’re interested. Be sure to include a brief summary as a way to introduce you to the community, highlighting any accomplishments, accolades, or even personality quirks!

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