Help

Lulu offers two choices for distributing your titles – Published by Lulu and Published by You. These options are mutually exclusive and cannot be changed once purchased. To select a distribution option for your book, click the PUBLISH tab and click the link for Distribution Options next to your title.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Lulu offers the Published by You distribution service for $99.95 This new Lulu service allows you, the author, to register to become your own publisher and purchase your own unique ISBN from the official US ISBN Agency. This ISBN is directly mapped to you as the official, registered publisher. The Books In Print database and others will show your registered details as publisher.

To purchase this service, click the "Purchase a Distribution Package" link to the right of your project in your Projects List. Select the Published by You option. You will be required to complete a form with the following information before you may purchase this service.

Note: Published By You distribution service is only offered to publishers located in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Publisher Name
Address
Telephone
E-mail

ISBN Coordinator Information
Rights Coordinator Information

Book Information
Audience Information
Contributor Information
Categories and Subject Area

Once the service has been purchased, Lulu will work with the US ISBN Agency to process your information. Your ISBN will be assigned within 3-4 business days.

Registration includes:
• You will be registered as the publisher.
• A single, unique ISBN which you should allocate to a single, available book title. The ISBN should never be re-used. The ISBN is the property of the registered publisher and as such is non-transferable.
• A scannable Bookland-EAN bar code placed on the back cover. (Not applicable to one-piece covers.)
• Bibliographic data on your book will be fed by Lulu to major international bibliographic databases and available to booksellers. At the booksellers' discretion, your book may be made available for sale online or in bookstores.
• Lulu will convert your retail price into five currencies (US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, Euros, and Canadian dollars) to facilitate global availability and purchasing.
• A listing in a wholesaler's catalog, giving you access to online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Published By You License Agreement

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Lulu offers the Published by Lulu Distribution Service for $99.95 With this service, previously titled "Global Distribution," you are granting publishing rights to Lulu and you will receive a Lulu-owned ISBN for your work. This is an ISBN that Lulu has purchased in advance and, as such, "Lulu.com" is the registered publisher of this ISBN and the work to which it is applied. This does not affect your rights as owner of the content. The US ISBN Agency’s database and services, as well as other national ISBN agencies, will see "Lulu.com" as the publisher. Lulu has the responsibility to maintain the correct data with the US ISBN Agency including retail price and availability.

This service also gives your book the benefit of Lulu’s unique network into the global marketplace. Lulu data feeds cascade to international bibliographic databases as well as leading wholesalers and retailers including Amazon.

To purchase this service, click the "Purchase a Distribution Package" link to the right of your project in your Projects List. Select the Published by Lulu option. Your ISBN will be assigned immediately upon purchase. At this time you will be expected to update your work with an ISBN or barcode in the appropriate places, purchase a proof copy, and approve it.

Registration includes:
• Publishing rights granted to Lulu
• A unique ISBN assigned by Lulu for your title. "Lulu.com" will be listed as the publisher
• A scannable Bookland-EAN bar code placed on the back cover (Not applicable to one-piece covers.)
• Bibliographic data on your book will be fed by Lulu to major international bibliographic databases and available to booksellers. At the booksellers' discretion, your book may be made available for sale online or in bookstores
• Lulu will convert your retail price into five currencies (US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, Euros, and Canadian dollars) to facilitate global availability and purchasing.
• A listing in a wholesaler’s catalog, giving you access to online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
• Immediate assignment of the ISBN. Your ISBN will be assigned to your project and be visible in your project’s data.

Published By Lulu License Agreement

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

The industry requires that your book adhere to its distribution standards, and it is up to you to ensure your book meets the requirements. If your book is submitted to the industry before it meets these requirements, it will be rejected and your book distribution will be delayed while you work to bring your book into compliance. These are the requirements your book must meet prior to distribution:

Distribution Eligibility

• Which books are eligible for Distribution?

Requirements for all book covers

• If you include your retail price on the cover, it must exactly match the retail price you set on your book. Lulu will not add the price to your book cover.
• Keep all text and images at least 0.375" from all sides of the cover. This area may be trimmed off. (This includes .25" bleed area and .125" safety area.) If you are uploading a one-piece cover, use the dimensions found here.
• Keep in mind that B&W 8.5 x 11" books will be printed at 8.25" x 11" through the retail channels, so you may need to increase the distance of any text or images from the edges to take this into account.
• Spine text must be at least .0625" away from all edges of the spine. Text that is too close to the edge of the spine will be reduced in size to fit. (This may result in very small text on the spine of your book.)
• For books with fewer than 80 pages, you cannot have spine text if you are using a one-piece cover.

Additional requirements for one-piece covers

• Cover must have correct 13-digit ISBN/EAN.
• Bar codes must be provided in black and white.
• Bar codes should be 1.833" wide by 1" high.

Requirements for book interiors

• The book description should be between 40 and 1,000 characters; longer descriptions may not be displayed by booksellers.
• Text must be an Adobe distilled PDF. (If you provide your own PDF it must be distilled using Adobe; if you upload a word processing document, Lulu will distill it using Adobe.)
• Embed all fonts (and all font family members used) when distilling your PDF.
• Book Description, Author and Title must use a Latin Character set. We cannot accept Russian, Chinese, Japanese and other non-Latin characters.
• Final page of each book must be completely blank.
• Book must have a Title page.
• Book must have a Copyright page with your correct 13-digit ISBN/EAN and a copyright notice. The Copyright page must come after the Title page.
• Margins must be at least .5" on all sides. Your left margin must be equal to your right margin, and your top margin must be equal to your bottom margin.
• You may add a gutter to your document in addition to your margins. (What does this mean?)
• Page numbering must be correct. No page numbers may be skipped. You can have a page without a page number on it, but it must be counted and consistent.
• All files should be submitted at high-resolution (300 dpi).
• If you intend any page in your book to have color or images that extend to the edge, called full bleed, please format your document according to the full bleed specifications.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Lulu has partnered with print vendors for printing books on demand when orders are placed by booksellers such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, independent stores and libraries. The printer used is determined by which distribution channel places the order. Even if you buy a distribution service for your book, you can still sell that same book through Lulu. There are some restrictions, however, in the printing specifications to reach these distribution channels:

• Paperback - Available in Perfect bound and Saddle stitch depending on size.
• B&W Interior: 6"x9", 8.5"x11", Royal(6.14"x9.21"), Crown Quarto(7.44"x9.68"), A4(8.27"x11.69")
• Color Interior: 8.5"x11", Square(8.5"x8.5")
  Note: Color books are printed only in the US.
• Hardcover - Available in Dust Jacket and Casewrap.
• B&W Interior: 6"x9"
• The last page of your book must be completely blank. The ISBN barcode, a quality control identifier number and "Printed in the USA" or UK will be printed on the last page. If your last page is not blank, enough blank pages will be added to the end of your book to make its page count divisible by 4.

Once your book is eligible for Distribution, there are also some Mandatory Requirements for Distribution.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

Yes. You can upgrade from Basic to Published by Lulu distribution at any time and keep your ISBN.

Go to your Project List and scroll to the title of the published book. The ISBN link now says "Upgrade to Published by Lulu Service." Click this link and follow the checkout process. You are credited the money you already paid for Basic Distribution; Lulu automatically applies this discount to your shopping cart.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

If you find you are unable to purchase or upgrade to a distribution service, it is most likely because your book does not meet the distribution requirements. For all the details, see Which books are eligible for a distribution service?

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

When you purchase the Published by Lulu or Published by You distribution services, it might take six or more weeks for your book to hit an online bookshelf. These are the main steps in the process.

1.Purchase the Published by Lulu or Published by You service and receive an ISBN. If you choose Published by Lulu, your ISBN will be assigned immediately. If you choose Published by Lulu, it may take up to 3 business days to have the ISBN assigned. This is because there is extra information that needs to be processed with the ISBN Agency. Once the ISBN is assigned, you must update your book to contain the ISBN number in the copyright page and a bar code on the back cover.

2.Purchase a proof copy of your book. You must purchase or have purchased a copy of the most recent version of your book to be able to approve it.

3.After receiving and reviewing your book, either:

Approve the book on Lulu.

Deny the book and make changes. See How do I make changes before approving my book? for instructions. If you approve the book, go to Step 5. If you deny the book, continue with Step 4.

4.If you deny the book, a new revision is created and your ISBN is assigned to this new revision.

Make all changes and upload your revised manuscript.

Order a copy of your revised book. When it arrives, go back to Step 3 and approve it.

5.After you approve your book, it is uploaded to the distribution center within 3-5 business days for Published by Lulu distribution and within 2 to 3 weeks for Published by You distribution.

6.The printer reviews the book and makes sure everything is up to standards. This "pending" process can take up to two weeks. After the book is accepted for printing, it can take another 4 to 6 weeks before your book is available through online retailers.

7.If your book is rejected for not meeting requirements, you will be notified via e-mail that you must revise your book to meet distribution standards.

8.Your book becomes available for listing with online booksellers.

9.Online booksellers (like Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble) decide whether or not they would like to list the book. (In our experience, they almost always list it.)

10.Once a month, online booksellers update their databases with new books. When they update (if the booksellers choose to list your book), you will see your book listed as "currently available." Because most online booksellers only update their databases once a month, it could take four weeks or so for your book to show up on their sites.

11.You update your listing with online retail booksellers. Online booksellers do not automatically add your cover art, description and other important information to your listing in their databases. Adding a cover and description will certainly enhance the look/marketability of your book's listing on these sites.

12.If you choose to remove your book from one of these distribution services it will take another 6 to 8 weeks before your book's status changes on online retailers' sites. It is possible that your book will not be removed entirely from retailers' sites, but instead be marked "out of print." Please keep in mind that used books or copies that were sold through distribution before you canceled your title will still be available for sale.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

No. If you plan to purchase a distribution service, please leave the ISBN field blank during the publishing process. We will assign a new Lulu-specific ISBN to your book when you purchase distribution after publishing.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

Our distribution channels charge a hefty fee to make any changes once the book is approved and entered into the distribution system. Purchasing a copy for review is the best way to check the content before the final published work is sent into the distribution system.

The purpose of the review copy is not to check for printing issues, but to check last minute errors on your end, such as spelling, grammar and page count accuracy. We inspect your cover formatting very carefully before we send it through our distribution channels because you will not receive a copy from a wholesaler's printer unless you purchase your book through an online retailer. Use this opportunity to read through the entire book again, looking for typos and other errors. If you make any changes to your book, including cover price, artwork, formatting or any other correction, you are required to purchase another copy.

NOTE: This copy of your book will not reproduce exactly the same as books produced through distribution channels. Lulu has partnered with two print on demand (POD) vendors for printing books: one prints books ordered through Lulu; the other prints books ordered from booksellers like Amazon via our distribution channels. This proof copy will be identical to all copies of your book purchased through Lulu. For more information about the differences between the printers, see Print specifications for books.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

If you received your first copy and want to make changes, deny the book to go back and edit it. This process creates a new revision of your book and automatically transfers (reassigns) the ISBN to it.

1. Click the PUBLISH tab to go to your Project List.
2. Click Approve/Deny Book next to the title.
3. On the Approve Book page, click CREATE REVISION.
4. Go through the Publishing Wizard, fix the problems you found, and upload the revised manuscript for the project.
5. Publish the new revision.
6. When you publish the book, you will be prompted to purchase a new copy. When it arrives, review it carefully. If you want to make changes after you approve a book, you must pay a non-negotiable change fee. This fee is set by our distributor and cannot be waived.
7. Complete the Retail Pricing & Royalty section. If you do not set your retail pricing & royalty, a default retail royalty of $4 will be used.
8. If you have received and are happy with your proof and have set your Retail Pricing & Royalty, approve the revised book.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

You should review the first copy of your book very carefully before approving it. After you approve your book, it is sent into our distribution channels. If you discover you need to make a change after you have approved the book, you must pay a non-negotiable change fee of $49.95. This fee is set by our distributor and cannot be waived.

Click the PUBLISH tab to go to your Project List, then click the Revise icon next to your title. Click the PURCHASE REVISION button at the bottom of the Project Details page.

When you purchase the revision, a new version of your book will be generated. Make your changes on this version. When the new version is completed, it will replace your old version. You must approve the new version for the changes to take effect, and you will need to purchase a proof of the new version before you can approve it.

Once the book has been approved:

• You cannot change the title.
• You cannot change the binding type.
• You cannot change the trim size.
• You cannot change the interior color.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

No. This is not possible at this time. You may only purchase distribution services for published books, because ISBNs must be assigned to specific content. If you plan to use a one-piece cover, you may follow these steps to include your ISBN on your cover:

1. Publish your book. (Must be set to Direct Access or Available to Public in order to continue to step 2)
2. Purchase a Distribution Service. An ISBN will be assigned to your book and will appear in your Project List next to the title.
3. Revise your cover to include the ISBN (More info)
4. Order your proof copy
5. If the proof copy is acceptable, approve your book for Distribution. If not, make any necessary changes, and re-order proof copy.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

No. You must purchase a new ISBN for other projects.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

When you publish your book on Lulu, you set a selling price. This is the Lulu selling price. Remember:

Price = Production Cost + Royalty + Lulu Commission

For books, the production cost is the materials/base cost ($4.53) + printing costs (# pages × either 2¢/page black & white or 15¢/page color).

Distribution introduces two other "prices" — retail and wholesale. Retail price is the price a customer pays for your book without any discounts. When your book is listed in the Books In Print, the retail price is listed.

Wholesale price is the price at which Lulu sells your book to a wholesaler or retailer. The distributor, pays for your book and decides what to charge retailers for your book; retailers then decide what to charge consumers for your book. The wholesale price is based on discounts extended to the wholesaler or retailer. When you price your book, the Lulu website sets a minimum wholesale price, but you may always set the price higher.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

Books with distribution have one retail price for all retail sales; on Lulu, on Amazon, and through other bookstores. A single retail price is not only a good business practice, it ensures that our retail partners are not selling your title at a disadvantage, and it is compliant with markets that operate under a "fixed-price law". Your royalty on sales through the Lulu Marketplace, however, is significantly higher than the royalty on sales where the retailer buys at a discount from Lulu.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:47 | Back to top

After you receive your book and are happy with it, go to your Project List and click Approve/Deny Book next to the title. This displays the Approve Book page. In the Retail Pricing & Royalty section, click Edit to set the retail price. The Retail Pricing & Royalty section has a real-time calculator to help you work through the retail price and royalty combinations.

When it is first displayed, the amount in the Retail Print field is the minimum retail price for the book. At a minimum, the wholesale price (retail price / 2) must be enough to cover the production cost of publishing the book, your royalty, and the Lulu commission:

Minimum wholesale price = Production cost + Royalty + Lulu commission

It is probably easiest to set the retail price and let Lulu calculate your maximum royalty. Using our $20 retail price, the wholesale is automatically $10. $10 minus production costs = what's left over for your royalty and the Lulu commission. The calculator maximizes this.

You can

• Enter a Retail Print price and Lulu calculates your royalty and the Lulu commission.
• Enter a royalty amount and Lulu calculates the retail price and the Lulu commission.
• Enter $0 in the Your Royalty field to reset the price back to the minimum.

IMPORTANT: The retail price is a suggested retail price. You have the option of pricing your book even higher, which will allow for greater profits, and greater royalties. However, if the book is overpriced or "priced out of market," it may not sell as many copies as it would at a lower price.

Would you like to see an example?

Retail Price Calculator

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Retailers and Wholesalers make money by buying books at a discount off of the retail price you as a creator have set on your work. Most retailers and wholesalers buy at a 50% discount, returnable, with freight paid to the store or warehouse. This is a full "trade discount". A "short discount" is typically 20% off retail and often restricts the availability of books as there is not enough margin for a retailer to carry it. Because of Lulu's relationships with wholesalers and retailers, and our automated bibliographic feeds and print partners, we enable your book to be made available through these channels on a non-returnable, free freight basis. The discount extended to retailers and wholesalers may vary, however, given different laws, conventions within certain markets, and what the retailer will buy. Lulu's pricing calculator doubles Manufacturing Cost plus Creator Compensation and Lulu fee. This is an intuitively clear calculation and it allows Lulu to have the margin to negotiate with retailers and wholesalers to list your book. In dealing with channel partners there are setup costs, cross-docking charges or in-bound freight costs to reach that wholesaler, which are in addition to the discount.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Once you have completed your purchase of a distribution service, your item will automatically be submitted for listing at several distribution sites such as Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble. While most sites will automatically add your cover art, description and other important information to the item listing page, some may require that you submit it yourself.

Amazon, Borders and Barnes & Noble each have their own processes for updating information about your published items. When filling out these forms, you should use your own contact info so that retailers will have a way to contact you when they have a query about your book. Fill out contact information forms on these sites as follows:

Publisher: If you purchased Published by Lulu distribution, your publisher is Published by Lulu. If you purchase Published by You distribution, you are the publisher and must give the name that you listed on your form.
Contact: Your name
Contact e-mail: Your e-mail address
Address: Your mailing address
Phone: Your phone number

For Amazon product details, including description, may be edited with the content update form at the base of the product page. Authors may upload their cover as a customer image until the cover that the retail printer submit shows on the site or join one of Amazon's paid programs such as Advantage or Marketplace or the free Search Inside the Book Program. For more information, please click here. Note: Joining Amazon's programs is entirely optional. The cover will show on the site automatically a few weeks after the book appears on the site.

For Barnes & Noble you will need to read the Publisher & Author Guidelines. There you will find instructions about e-mailing your information to specific B&N representatives.

For Borders you will need to read the Guide for Publishers, Labels, & Artists. To update a listing, you can either fill out the form or send an e-mail with the details. To upload your cover art, send an e-mail to acquisitions@bordersgroupinc.com requesting information about uploading your cover art to B&N's FTP server.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

It's a relatively complicated process, but we strongly encourage Lulu publishers to upload their cover art to online retailers in order to enhance the look and marketability of your items. An item without art, for example, looks like this on Amazon:

You will use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to send your cover art to retailers' FTP servers.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

Your book is updated in Books In Print on the Wednesday after you purchase a distribution service. However, your book is considered "pending" for about two weeks. During this pending process, your book is checked against the Books In Print database to make sure there are no errors or duplications. This is all to protect you, to make sure your book is accurately listed and totally unique. After two or three weeks, the pending process will be over and you can look up your book.

Most bookstores update their database with new additions to Books In Print once a month. Although you should be able to see your book in Books In Print after two weeks, it may take six weeks or longer to see your book listed in bookstores. This is not the same as being included in an online bookseller's inventory.

Your book is updated in the wholesaler database within two days after you have approved your book for distribution. However, because listings to the database are recorded monthly, your book is considered "pending" for up to 30 days.

Your book will be listed with major online booksellers within the next six weeks.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

Ultimately, the decision to list your book is up to the individual retailer. Published By You and Published By Lulu distribution services gets your book listed with the distributor used by major retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This means major booksellers will have the option and ability to list your book as available for sale, which they did not have before. In our experience, B&N and Amazon will almost always list a book for sale once they have access to it through the wholesaler.

Then again, when you purchase a distribution service, it might take six or more weeks for your book to hit an online bookshelf. This is because most booksellers only update their database with new listings once a month. The overall process and timing is explained in How does the Distribution process work?

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

This is because the warehouse ran out of stock, not because the book has been removed. The problem is simply that the wholesaler needs to keep more copies of your book in stock, so that your availability will be maintained on those retailer sites. Your book will probably be listed as "currently available" again just as soon as the wholesaler gets a new copy in stock. We are working to improve this process.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:45 | Back to top

To remove your book from the distribution channels, you must retire your book. To retire your distribution book, go to the "My Lulu" tab and then click on the "My Projects" tab. Find your book and click on the red X next to it to attempt to delete it. A distribution book can't be deleted so the system will retire it. This will remove your book from our distribution channels.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

Go to the "My Lulu" tab, click on the "My Projects" tab and then click on the "Show retired projects". Find and click on your project. Scroll down to the "Availability/Project Status" section and you will see a link to un-retire.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top

When you un-retire your distribution book, it will return to whatever state it was in before it was retired. You will not be charged anything to un-retire a distribution book.

Last updated: 2008-05-06 15:09:46 | Back to top