Articles by Nick

by Nick
August 16, 2010
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Lulu Lens: Alternatives To Credit Cards For Payment

In Lulu Lens —

We’ve often heard from customers that they would like options other than paying by credit card or Paypal for their books and services. One of our users, dasbruce had an excellent recommendation for chavee3. Chavee3 asked how they could buy books online without using a credit or debit card. Dasbruce pointed out that you could buy a Visa or Mastercard gift card with the amount of your purchase on it so that you didn’t have to use a card with your personal information on it.

Do you have a preferred payment method other than a credit card or Paypal? If so, what is it?

by Nick
July 21, 2010
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Highlight: Comic Books & Graphic Novels

In Lulu Blog — Tagged: , , , , , ,

I’ve been into comic books and graphic novels since I was a kid. My taste has changed a bit, but I will still stay up late to go to the midnight release of the Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour at Chapel Hill Comics. Today is also the first day of San Diego Comic Con, the largest event in comics, and so I wanted to give some focus to some cool indie comics on Lulu.

Wapsi Square

By Paul Taylor

A wrench has been thrown into the comfortable Minneapolis neighborhood of Wapsi Square. Monica Villarreal, a young and skeptical museum anthropologist crosses paths with an Aztec deity and all cards are thrown to the wind. More than questioning her own sanity she slowly begins to question the world around her and the very history books that she holds sacred. Helping keep Monica grounded are her friends; Amanda, a motherly but cynical professional photographer, Shelly, a tough tomboy yet girly-girl mechanic and Daren the sage bartender at the local pub. Through a blend of humor and macabre undertones, enter the world of Wapsi Square and leave the reality you know at the door.
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by Nick
July 14, 2010
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Lulu Lens: Lulu Video Tutorials

In Uncategorized —

At Lulu, we try to make sure that we create video tutorials for various areas of our site to help walk you through the process. Currently, we have videos on How to Make a Photobook, How to Publish a Book, and a One Minute video on How to Create a Cover. We want to know what else you would like to see a video tutorial for. Please comment and tell us what you’d like to see!

by Nick
June 29, 2010
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Lulu Lens: Highlighted Discussion – Pre-Publication Marketing

In Howto, Lulu Lens, Lulu News, Marketing Tips —

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Recently in the forums, mark_sheldon1221 made a post about Pre-Publication Marketing that generated some interesting discussion. Mark asked:

“Since I’m not going to be publishing the first book for another nine months, is there any way to set up some sort of marketing here on Lulu that I can refer users to between now and publication?”

Several of our forum mainstays like Keith Dixon and veinglory have chimed in with suggestions for Mark. What are your thoughts? Should you market your book before it’s released? What are the pros and cons?

by Nick
June 15, 2010
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Lulu Lens: Order History

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

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We’re looking at revising the “My Order History” section of My Lulu and we would like your feedback on what additional information you would like about your orders. Please let us know what you’d like to see. The more feedback you can give us the better changes we can implement.

by Nick
June 3, 2010
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From the Vault: How Previews May Help You Sell

In Marketing Tips — Tagged: , , , , , ,

Picture 10A while back, I explained why previews and reviews are crucial to sales. Seeing as more and more people are publishing every day, I thought it would be helpful to share this post again. Please enjoy this post “From the Vault.”

I tend to come across a lot of material on the site because of my job. Sometimes, it’s because I’m looking for something to buy for content to highlight. Regardless of the reason, I am often surprised by how many books lack a preview. According to Chris Anderson, author of the “Long Tail,” on average, 500 copies of a book are sold per year. For a self-published author, selling 500 copies in a year is considered a huge success, but how do you get 500 people to buy your book when most of them haven’t ever heard of you? The simple answer is to let them read it.

If I have never heard of a writer before, three things help me decide to take a chance on a book. First, does the summary grab me? If a book has a good description and it sounds interesting, I will take a closer look at it. I can’t tell you how many books I come across with descriptions that don’t tell me enough about what the book is about. So, that’s step 1 – think about your description and try to tell people what your book (or CD or whatever) is about, why they should give it a shot. Show it to people you trust to give you constructive criticism and get their advice. Remember, if you don’t draw people in, they probably won’t take a chance on your book.

Continue Reading »

by Nick
May 26, 2010
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Lulu Lens: What Do You Want Out Of Forums?

In Lulu News, New Features — Tagged:

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When we released our new forums back in February, we were excited. The old forums had been implemented when the Lulu.com site first went up and they had a lot of issues. Most of them were behind the scenes (admin features that were broken or added on), but they were difficult to work with. We thought Helpstream was the solution. Through a number of issues (slowness, being logged out) as well as concerns about navigation, many of our users told us they aren’t happy with the new system. We listened and have spent a lot of time trying to create a structure that will serve both our community and our internal needs. That’s where you come in.

We want your opinion. What do you want out of a world-class forum? What features do you like? What do you never want to see? We value your feedback and need your help as we figure out our next steps.

by Nick
May 10, 2010
Comments (1)

Lulu Lens: What do you think of the Lulu Storefronts?

In Lulu News —

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We want your feedback on the Lulu storefronts. What do you love? What do you hate? What would you like to see? Do the current storefronts help you sell more books? Stop by the forums and let us know what you think!

by Nick
April 29, 2010
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Focus: Poetry

In Lulu News — Tagged: , , , , , ,

April is National Poetry Month and today is Poem In Your Pocket Day! To celebrate you should visit Lulu Poetry and write a poem! To help inspire you, I’ve picked out a few remarkable poetry books that caught my eye on Lulu.
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Know Your Words
By Al Kennedy, By Amy Kreines, By Delilah Des Anges
Know Your Words is an anthology of poetry written within the last five years by newcomer poets Al Kennedy, Amy Kreines, and Delilah Des Anges.

Knocking from Inside / PoemsKnocking from Inside / Poems
By Tiel Aisha Ansari
KNOCKING FROM INSIDE, BY TIEL AISHA ANSARI, is the journey of the human soul towards the Divine approached through a number of doorways: sorrow, the natural world, and the listening heart. We travel through both real and illusionary lands to (re)join the Beloved at the end of all paths. “When Tiel says ‘God’ she means it, in all her various ways and fresh poetic stratagems, in these poems in which there are many strata, and in this book which contains many gems.” — Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

WRITE OR DIEWRITE OR DIE
By Hiram Sims and the Urban Poets
Write Or Die is a riveting collection of poetry from the first year of the Urban Poets Workshop. It combines elements of spoken word, rap verse, classical metered poetry, and free verse to make an unparalleled compilation of work. Thirteen writers blend their voices to encapsulate this poetic testament of young life in the 21st Century. The contributing authors include Kathryn Schmidt,Charisse Crosby-Cook,Kryston Tillet, Melaina Trotter,Michael White,Kelly Scarborough, Jackson Jones Manning,Marcus Payne,Cheylinel Gaston,Divinity Barkley,Lauren Cowherd,Traci Reeves,and Hiram Sims.

by Nick
April 27, 2010
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Lulu Lens: Featured Idea – Save Trees, Mail Books In Envelopes

In Lulu News —

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Earth Day was last week, and so I wanted to feature an idea to help with the environment. Dmaddalena suggests that instead of sending books in boxes, we could mail them in smaller padded envelopes. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to the idea (for example, there is a higher risk of damage in mailing a book in an envelope), but it’s worth discussing. What are some other ways we could reduce our impact on the environment?

Please follow the link and comment on the idea, and if you like the idea be sure to click the “I like this idea” thumbs up next to it. If you have other ideas for how Lulu can improve, post it to the Ideas & Feedback section.