And why shouldn’t she publish? Seeing your story printed is an amazing feeling. I still remember staring in awe, when my first grade teacher placed a book of my story, Perry the Parrot, into my tiny hands. Of course, that “book” was held together by red yarn and glue. I probably would have never stopped bragging if Perry had been a printed book.

Perry the Parrot may be out of print now, but there is a whole new generation of budding authors on Lulu. Check out The Travelling Dolphin by Clara Curtis or, my personal favorite, The Shiny Fork, to see the possibilities. With just a little help from parents to create an account, scan, and upload their work, kids can have the best book they will ever take to school for Show and Tell.

What stories will your kids have to tell?

We love technology at Lulu, especially technology that helps our authors reach more readers.

Today, Apple is set to unveil the new iPad after the first version shattered sales records (15 million units sold in 2010) and introduced a new retail channel, the iBookstore, for authors to distribute their eBooks through.

Last year, eBooks accounted for $263 million of total trade book sales, which represents a 193% increase from 2009 according to the Association of American Publishers. As readers continue to find new ways to discover and purchase content, any author would do well to provide their work in as many formats and on as many devices as possible because you never know how your next biggest fan may discover your work.  As speculation builds over new iPad features, more eyes are turning towards the device, which opens up even greater opportunities for authors to expand their readership across millions of people.

In recent posts, we’ve shown you how to get your Lulu published eBook into the iBookstore and onto the iPad and we know how eager you are to see your books out in the world. That’s why we’re happy to help you distribute your remarkable works through our growing network of retail partners. Keep in mind too, that authors are always able to publish and sell their books immediately to the 2.5 million unique customers in the Lulu Marketplace for free, either electronically or in print. Lulu continues to help you bring your knowledge and expertise to your customers more easily than every before. We look forward to your continued success with Lulu and our retail partners.

You may recognize some of the titles and names in their lists and reviews because many of the works come from Lulu authors and range in topics on everything from fiction to self-help.

The folks at Lulu wanted to call even more attention to these authors and congratulate them on such an remarkable accomplishment. It makes us proud to see a new generation of authors and publishers use our tools and services to carve out a name for themselves. It is amazing to see all the different kinds of knowledge and expertise our authors are able to bring to their customers.

Please help us congratulate these authors in the comments below and be sure to check out their, now Publishers Weekly Select, works in the Lulu Marketplace.

Shadow Women
by Thérèse Bonvouloir Bayol
The McNulty clan emigrated to Quebec to escape British oppression. This story follows the lives of four women in smalltown St. Brigide and tells a tale of Irish assimilation.

Promised Valley Rebellion
by Ron Fritsch
The first of a four-novel sequence set at the end of prehistory, asking whether civilization, with its countless heaven-sanctioned wars and genocides, could’ve begun differently.

Four Nails in the Coffin
by Mark Wheaton
A deputy sheriff on the Texas-Mexico border gets more than she bargained for when she pursues three escaped convicts into the high desert—just one of the four horror novellas in this collection by screenwriter and graphic novelist Wheaton.

The Adventurous Life of Reamus Brownloe: From the Appalachians…
by Phillip Bryan Hartsock
A story of survival and faith narrated by a child born into poverty and violence.

Spun Gold—Poetic Reflections of Pure Luminosity
by Maren Springsteen
A mandala of poems that point to the “Infinite Heart of Spirit.”

Magical Shrinking: Stumbling Through Bipolar Disorder
by Christiane Wells
This journey through severe mental illness and addiction offers insight into what it’s like to hit bottom and come back.

Silent M.a.g.i.c. and Other Remedies: A Journey of Transformation, a Spiritual Journey
by Kim O’Kelley-Leigh
Practical tools to living our most fulfilling lives.

Frenemies are great. They keep you honest, keep you on your toes, and above all make you want to be better. Isn’t competition great?

So, what exactly do you get the frenemies on your gift list? Books of course! Here are few quick suggestions, all under 20 bucks…

Let’s start off with the exercise partner example. In this case, let’s talk about your golf buddy. Sure at the end of the round you compare scores, but there are so many side games played throughout the day. Next time your frenemy golf buddy declares the next tee a longest drive challenge, make them think about images in this book.

Of course there’s “your know-it-all” frenemy. You know, the one that seems to have an answer to everything from the future of the US space program, to the origins of the plastic things on the end of shoelaces. They have the world around them completely figured out. Or do they?

Here’s kind of a mean one – but remember the spirit of this is meant to be fun. Maybe you have a single frenemy. Someone who makes fun of your white picket fence life, complete with 2.5 kids and a practical, but awesome mini van. They brag about late nights out, and all the freedom a person could ask for. They’re single and loving it. But can they cook for one?

Not sure if some of your friends are really frenemies? We’ve got a book about that too. Buy a copy for yourself and start off 2011 with the upper hand!

With hundreds of articles on almost every aspect of Lulu from helping new users to after you publish using our Knowledge Base can be daunting to say the least. There are at least two ways to approach it, by searching or browsing. I will discuss both options as well as suggesting a few tips & tricks for using them to find your answers.

Searching

Typically, I recommend searching our database to find the information you’re looking for. It’s probably the quickest way to find what you’re looking for. That said, you want to make sure you are finding the right information.

For example, if I am trying to find out how long I should expect the Mail shipping option to take, what should I enter into the search box? To begin with, I went to the Support home page, and entered “Mail Shipping Option” into the text box. This returned 155 Knowledge Base Articles, 729 Questions, 1029 Discussions, and 59 Ideas. A lot to go through.

Luckily, our search shows the top five results for each category, so all I have to do is look at Articles and try to find the one that matches what I’m looking for. The first option is “Shipping To Prisons” which isn’t exactly what I want. The second option though, “Shipping Times and Options” is exactly what I want.

In short, to get the most out of searching, you want to make sure you choose search terms that most accurately reflect the topic you’re looking for, and focus on the results that are most likely to give you the response you want. It may take a little trial and error, but you should get there.

Browsing

The second method for locating a particular article is browsing. This method is most effective if you know the general stage of publishing you are in, but you aren’t sure exactly what you need to know. Using the same example as above, I will demonstrate how to find the same article by browsing.

To begin, you’ll want to click on the Knowledge Base link from the Support page. From there, you should see a list of categories for articles. By reviewing the descriptions of the categories, I can narrow down what I’m looking for. While none of the categories themselves are titled “Shipping” the category Shopping on Lulu is described as “Learn how to browse, buy, download, or ship on Lulu”. That sounds about right!

Inside this category, I see a new category for “Shipping FAQ“. I’m clearly on the right track. Clicking into that category takes me to a list of articles, and the first one is Shipping Times and Options. Success!

Summary

• Get a good idea of what you’re searching or browsing for before you begin looking
• Try to use as accurate phrasing as you can
• Don’t be afraid to browse around for the right answer

Of course if you’re anything like me, you may have been “that guy” more times than you care to admit.  You may also be in the position of having “that guy” on your holiday shopping list this year.

You really like “that guy.”  After all, he’s most likely family or a very close friend.  You want to see him shed his misguided ways in time for the New Year.  So this begs the question:  what do you get “that guy” for the holidays?

Here are a few gift ideas I came up with, right here on lulu.com:

Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes: Wit & Wisdom for Every Occasion
by Reader’s Digest

So for me, “that guy” is my buddy who constantly screws up famous quotes. We all know this guy and sometimes it can be painful. It seems like they always have a famous quote teed up for nearly any situation. Unfortunately, those quotes are taken mostly from the Austin Powers movie trilogy.  Sure, it was hilarious in the 90s, but “that guy” really needs something more with the times, or at least accurate.

Wine Lover’s Devotional: 365 Days of Knowledge, Advice, and Lore for the Ardent Aficionado
by Jonathan Alsop

For the guy who strives to be the ultimate authority on wine, talking endlessly about aroma and tannins.  However, his audience seldom changes, and his observations, while insightful, tend to repeat themselves… a lot.

The Complete How to Speak Southern
by Steve Mitchell

For the guy who spent his whole life in the north, but decided to try his hand in the warm and hospitable south.  If the prolonged presence of the sun doesn’t shock him, some of traditional slang terms will.  Don’t let him be “that guy,” give him a shot at fitting in.

Ho Ho Holy Cow! It's the holidays.

This year, take some of the burden off Santa, but using Lulu shipping.

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Here’s the list of holiday shipping deadlines by region. Click the tab for your region of the globe and compare the deadlines for each ship method and order with the following constraints:

• Orders from North and South America and for Publisher Grade Books must be placed by 11:59 pm EST, Midnight in the US
• Orders must be 30 or less to meet the Holiday deadlines listed below. For order quantities over 30, add 3 business days
• Some items may not be available for certain shipping options in your region. Double check your items in the shopping cart
• Lulu does not recommend the Mail or Priority Mail shipping method and will not guarantee December 24th delivery

Disclaimer: The dates and information provided are intended to serve as a guideline for order delivery by December 24th, 2010. The dates provided here do not imply a guarantee. Weather and unforeseen circumstances may delay deliveries.

Happy holidays, and since you’re helping Santa out this year, don’t forget to eat the cookies.

It just so happens to be the first day of December and that means you have exactly 30 days left in the year to be remarkable. This may sound a little daunting, but don’t worry. The great thing about being remarkable is that you get to decide what that means for you. Consider these recent examples:

Just last week, I spoke with a national medical company that figured out they could cut their budget by millions if they consolidated all of their new hire materials into one Lulu book. They had been paying $400 every time they wanted to print 10 copies of their packets at a local store. On Lulu, they figured out they could make the same thing, in a better, more accessible format for a third of the cost. And with Lulu’s fast track printing, they are still able to have their materials in a couple of business days.

Bloggers like Momma in Flip Flops and Frugal Plus are using Lulu to share their interests with their readers while boosting their traffic by throwing Lulu Photo Book Contests.

Others still are thrilled to receive projects they’ve made for their families this holiday season or are just happy to hold their work in their hands for the first time:

“Just got 10 of my large calendars from @luludotcom – they’re even better in person,” says Twitter follower chiotsrun.

“My children’s books came, what a load off. Thank you for effectively saving Christmas Lulu,” says Facebook fan Greg.

So what does being remarkable mean for you as 2010 winds down? Is it saving your company some cash, building up a name for yourself, or making a book of memories for your family? Either way, Lulu is here to help you create just about anything from hardcover books to eBooks, photo books to mini books, calendars to cookbooks, CDs and DVDs, and even your own websites and applications.

So go forth and be remarkable. Happy holidays.

Cyber Monday, the first weekday after Thanksgiving, is considered the busiest online shopping day of the year. To mark the occasion and do our part to save you a little time and money, we’ve put together these special offers good for today only.

25% off any order
Save up to $185.
Coupon code: CYBER25

30% off $750 or more
Save up to $750.
Coupon code: CYBER30

Coupons cannot be applied to  taxes or shipping and handling charges or previous orders.  Only one valid promotional code may be used per account.  Orders must be in U.S.  Dollar currency. Offer ends today 11/29/09 at 11:59 PM PST.

The 2010 Internet Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina wrapped up yesterday, with Internet professionals and entrepreneurs from across the United States coming together to discuss topics such as mobile marketing and social ecommerce. Our very own Bob Young was a keynote panelist and featured speaker discussing the future of both the web and books – no doubt two very broad and engaging topics.

Bob’s featured talk was entitled “There is No Such Thing as a Book” – claiming that “whatever replaces the book on the Internet is not going to look like a book.” During Bob’s talk and as a fan of René Magritte, I couldn’t help but imagine someone somewhere in the world wearing a t-shirt with a picture of a Kindle or an iPad and the sentence “Ceci n’est pas une livre” (I’ll wait while you go Google Translate that).  Traditionally, we have all come to know and love books in their physical form, but now, “books” are hyper-mobile strings of binary code easily accessible and translatable on multiple devices. A modern-day book’s physical properties are seemingly confined only by the Wi-Fi signals that transmit them.

Bob argued that, “the device you are reading on is going to become more pleasurable,” as a plethora of textual enhancements like video and hypertext accompany the written word. The question for some, however, is whether all you need is a good story? Things like video, hyperlinks and an Internet connect may actually detract from a book’s narrative – diminishing the pleasure derived from an uninterrupted read. Personally, I think that in the future, some readers may intentionally choose to remain on one side of the digital divide, opting to read stories on books – not devices. But of course, that will remain a question of preference and choice, and if there is one thing the future of the web will include – it is choice.

For those of you who were unable to attend the event and enjoy all the interactivity that digital media has to offer, be sure to check out a recap of the lively discussions on Twitter #isum10.

We’d like to thank the organizers of the Internet Summit for putting on such an informative and well-organized event, and we look forward to seeing you again next year.