Events

Rome – a city of fashion, design, history… and Lulu?

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Federica (left) and Diana Balmori

That’s right! Lulu made an appearance recently at the Festa dell’Architettura, a meeting of the most creative urban designers, architects, artists, authors, professors, graduate students, and politicians in Italy. The purpose of this event was to exchange ideas to better the wonderful metropolis of Rome. Because Rome is such an ancient city, 2,000 years of buildings often impede progress. This event inspired a rebirth and revitalization of urban planning.

Lulu was there this year, to show these remarkable thinkers how our open publishing model creates opportunities for them to publish, profit, and connect with a larger audience.

I met great people and chatted with them while sipping Prosecco. I had the opportunity to introduce Lulu to a room full of Romans in the beautiful downtown Galleria di Architettura Come Se, directed by Rosetta Angelini, on two different occasions. I also met New Yorkers like Diana Balmori, an internationally renowned landscape and urban designer, and Lulu author.

After I presented and introduced Lulu, Dario Marcucci, President of Terzo Municipio of Rome, came to me and we spoke for a while. His words describing Lulu were “this is simply brilliant.”

The most exhilarating part of this experience was during the last night at the very end of the event. Out of nowhere, Professor Antonino Saggio, the Scientific Curator of the conference, spoke about the journey of all these numerous projects coming together to better the city of Rome, and all the struggles and difficulties they went through in order to make this event possible. He concluded his speech with “we will write a book about this long lasting endeavor and will publish it with Lulu!”

I believe the sense of excitement was not induced by the Prosecco.

We're at BEA!

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On Monday, AJ announced that we would be at BookExpo America at the Javitz Convention Center this week.

Sherrie has been busy with the New Title Showcase, highlighting books by Lulu’s who ordered the Book Fair services package. What’s better than getting your book at BEA right at the front entrance?! It’s the perfect location for getting noticed by more than the 35 thousand people in attendance.

So far, we’ve been having a blast meeting new people and making new friends. We’ve seen steady traffic at our booth (#2348) and a lot of people have walked away inspired and ready to share their creations with the world at large. We’ve also had the wonderful pleasure of meeting authors who have already published with us. Hearing their experiences makes this crazy idea called Lulu totally worth it.BEA1

If we haven’t seen you yet, please stop and say hello. We’d like to meet you.

Lulu at WWW2010

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photo by Jonathan B. Cox

This week Lulu is at the WWW2010 conference held at the Raleigh Convention Center. We’re a Gold Sponsor for this event and as you can see from the photo, we’ve got a great location – right between Google and Yahoo! WWW2010 brings together researchers, developers, users and commercial ventures – the leaders on Internet related topics. We have many educators and researchers who have already published with us, and we’re at the conference to help others find ways to share their remarkable knowledge and ideas around the world.

In addition to our booth and our Gold Sponsorship, we’re also sponsoring the morning coffee breaks. And that’s no small feat! This photo taken by an attendee, “the rab” ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobthink/4560195283/ ), shows just hoe important coffee is at these events. If you look closely, you can spot the Lulu logo.
photo by Ryan Boyles

photo by Ryan Boyles

In addition to our booth, we’re also sponsoring the morning coffee breaks. The photo to the right shows that’s no small endeavor!

If you’re at the WWW2010 conference, please stop by and say ‘hello!’ We’d love to meet you and talk about your latest project.

Help Me Pick the Perfect Mother's Day Gift – Please!

letterMay is the month of mom — especially in my family.

Mom’s birthday is the day before Mother’s Day. She’s a real-life Wonder Woman who certainly deserves all the extra attention. But I feel pressure this year to make her gift extra special because this birthday is her big 5-0 (sorry to divulge that, mom!). I want a gift that’s both sentimental and memorable, something that no one else could give her. There’s no better place to look than Lulu, but I can’t decide what to make.

Growing up, mom wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic. So I’ve thought about making a Lulu photo book full of her best pictures mixed in with maps that show where she was when she took them.  I can completely customize it and make a nice, personalized, hard cover book that she’d be proud to display on her coffee table.

Then again, mom also likes to cook, and she has all these recipes that have been passed around our whole family. So another thought is to create a personalized Lulu cookbook full of our family’s favorite dishes.  That’d be great for preserving delicacies like my grandmother’s delicious sweet potato casserole and seven layer cookies.  I even have handwritten recipes and pictures of food I could upload. The cookbook could live on in our family, with regular updates as we collect new recipes.

My mom is also very busy and could always use help with her schedule.  So maybe a personalized Lulu calendar with photo birthday and anniversary reminders would do the trick.  I can pull in pictures of our family and her friends directly from Facebook so it should be pretty simple.  I know she’d use it every day, too.

What do you think? What Lulu creation has gotten the best reaction for you?

I’m hoping you can help me pick out the perfect gift, and get a few ideas of your own. Right now you can save 15% on all photo books and calendars (use code MOM15 at checkout) so it’s a great time to make mom a remarkable present.

Hurry though, Mother’s Day is only 2 weeks away.


$150 Book Fair Coupon with the Purchase of a Publishing Pack

BookFairSvcs_BlogGraphicWhat better way to show off your newly published book than at a book fair?  Purchase any one of our publishing packages from now through March 31, and we’ll give you a coupon for $150 towards any one of our book fairs.  Most of the book fairs we offer start at $150, so you essentially can get a great promotional tool for free!

Marketing your book at a book fair is a great way to get exposure to booksellers, librarians, agents, the media, and more.  Your book is displayed at the show and is also included in the book fair catalog.  This catalog is a valuable tool that book buyers use when they’re making their annual purchases.

If you’re ready to publish and were going to use one of publishing packages anyway, why not get some extra icing on your cake?  Not only will we help with editing, formatting, cover design, and ISBN distribution, with our book fair offer you’ll get a great marketing push as you introduce your work to the market.

This promotion cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. Author is responsible for cost of shipping 2 books to be displayed at the book fair. The $150 coupon is applied toward a book fair service, but may not cover the entire cost of the book fair. When selecting a book fair, the publisher should consider the time it will take to go through the pre-publishing process.

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).

Lulu Takes Manhattan! – Sponsors Self Publishing Book Expo

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!

Building Up Lulu

Lulu has always been an innovative company, but I didn’t realize how much so until I started working here.  I am still a baby at Lulu (only in week three of my employment as I write this), but I have already witnessed a great deal of progress in my short time here, namely in the new building that serves as Lulu’s headquarters.img_04952

For months after I graduated from North Carolina State I would drive down Hillsborough Street, stealing glances into what had been an abandoned North Carolina Equipment Company factory.  Now, instead of dust collecting on unused parts and piles of ambiguous boxes, there was quite a stir in the red-bricked Raleigh landmark.  A small sign eventually appeared on the outside that said “Lulu.com.” I had heard great things about Lulu and their unique approach to publishing from some of my classes at NCSU.  I kept Lulu in the back of my mind.  I took that sign as a calling – I had to work there.

The infamous yellow tractor

The vision behind recycling an old, worn down building and making it a center for industry again is one that not enough companies maintain these days.  Revitalizing the 28,800 square feet of space was certainly an ambitious move. Graffiti, weeds, trash and the like all needed to be cleared out.  The building was more or less gutted, adding collaborative work spaces, skylights, art from local galleries, and well-stocked break rooms.  However, the pieces that give the building integrity and character remain in place.  Lulu simply modernized and expanded upon the behemoth, keeping the greatest part:  the signature yellow tractor that sits atop the roof. But what really catches the eye now is the new entrance. What used to be a simple, rusty garage door is now a giant arching wood ceiling supported by massive steel beams.

Lulu invites local technoloimg_03011gy and publication groups to utilize the new space for meetings.  Guests will immediately be able to see the thought and planning that went into the company’s main facility, and will be pulled into Lulu’s brand of style and innovation as well.

The building has created hype all around town and has rejuvenated people’s interests in this area of Hillsborough Street. Whenever I mention where I work, I always hear,  “Oh the tractor building?  Cool!”  It’s impossible to miss.  The excitement the structure has created also energizes the employees within.  The building is a symbol for Lulu’s growth and success.  You can tell from the outside that things are abuzz in this facility, but it’s not until one enters that it becomes truly evident of how much is really going on.

Lulu Site Highlights

Last week we made several exciting changes to the site, rolling out some new features and a few new publishing options we hope you’ll enjoy.

Here are some highlights:

New Publisher Grade Paper – A new lower-cost paper option is now available for Lulu users. Books published in 8.5″ x 11″ B&W or the brand new “digest” trim size of 5.5″ x 8.5″ B&W will now have an option for this new economical paper. If you’re a cost conscious author wishing to reduce the cost of your books, while still maintaining the high quality you’ve come to expect from Lulu, then you’ll want to consider Publisher Grade Paper. Specifically, the Publisher Grade Paper is a little thinner than our Lulu “Traditional” paper, resulting in a thinner book with pages that may be slightly more transparent. After seeing some side-by-side examples of books produced with this paper for myself, the differences appeared rather marginal with the Lulu Traditional paper comparative to what you’d find in any bookstore. Click here for more information on using the Publisher Grade Paper option for your next Lulu book.

Revised Volume (BULK) Pricing Structure – We’ve just rolled out a new volume pricing structure, meaning better discounts for you at lower quantities. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to update our Book cost calculator before including these discounts, but for more information please check out this page in our Help section.

Updates to Lulu Studio – Development on the Lulu Studio publishing platform continues. Here is a list of some of the most recent improvements we’ve made:

  • Preview Functionality – Users can now preview their photo book prior to publishing.
  • Two-Page Spread Navigation – The Studio interface now shows a two-up spread view with a page navigator. Navigation controls are also improved.
  • Undo/Redo – Single-action undo/redo functionality is now available.

  • New Studio Cookbook themes with page numbering and a table of contents. After trying out these new themes for myself, it was really hard to  describe just how much these themes have improved Cookbook design and made it easier  to publish a book of recipes. If you’re looking for a unique personalized holiday you really need to check this out for yourself.

Price Changes – As you may recall back in September, Bob Young, Lulu’s founder and CEO announced some Price Changes to Lulu’s product catalog. With the rise in cost of raw materials, freight and shipping, we have made a number of adjustments to production and shipping costs.   If you’re interested in how these increases may affect you,  please check out the newly updated Lulu Book Cost Calculator which has now been updated to reflect these price changes:

If you’d like to learn more about recent changes on our site, please check out the Developer’s Log in the Lulu forums for more details.

Regards,
Adam

What Makes a Good Press Release? How to get the word out in 5 steps

In the world of blogs, tweets and social networking, creating buzz around your book is easier than ever. But how do you reach reporters from traditional media? The traditional press release is still a great way to let people know of your newest book project.

Wait! How to I achieve fame and fortune with a traditional press release you ask. We can’t guarantee fame and fortune but with these five steps and a little elbow grease, you will be well on your way.

Try these steps when putting together your next release:

1. Keep the editor(s) in mind. Hundreds of releases vie for their attention each week, so make yours relevant and accurate.

2. Write your press release!  Keep these things in mind while crafting your release-

  • Be catchy! Write a headline that grabs attention and summarizes your main point. Then, because the first paragraph is often the only one that’s read, make sure it covers who, what, when, where, why and how.
  • Be brief. Keep your release to one page or 400 words. The end.
  • Be current. Highlight something about your product in your release that’s relevant to current events.
  • Be available. Make sure you put your current contact information (E-mail, phone number, fax…) so that those that are interested can reach you.

3. Create a relationship! With your local lifestyles, arts section, book reviewers, local bookstores and editors. The more they know about you and your book the more willing to read your press release.

4. Send it out! Either to a targeted list of regional and local reporters or an e-press release over a news wire service – choose a list that you can handle when following up.

5. Ask for help. If you’re having trouble, visit Lulu Services and look into a professional press release.