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Marlies Bugmann
Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Posts: 368
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 Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:47 am Post subject: |
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| several people in the German forum have tried to order Lulu/Amazon Marketplace books - APPARENTLY IT DOESN'T WORK ... is patience the key here? |
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Valerie J. Long
Joined: 07 Oct 2008
Posts: 2399
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 2:27 am Post subject: |
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Some more questions:
| Anne-Marie wrote: | Were ALL Lulu books selected for Amazon? How were the books selected?
No, just those titles marked public that were in our top 100,000 seller list. |
Where and how can I check if my book is in the top 100,000 seller list?
I think I've sold more books than a fellow author but I can't find my book on Amazon Marketplace. Are there other reasons to exclude it?
How can I opt in for a specific project? Does Lulu plan to offer this once the current problems are sorted out? |
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Ancient Wisdom Publications
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 105
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 3:31 am Post subject: lulu is in trouble.... |
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| if a book is already on Amazon (as most of my ARE) this is not a good plan. I rather just tell lulu to leave my titles alone ! The ones I somehow choose not to put on amazon or LS they will have hell of the time selling. I see they are in fiscal trouble as most inefficient and overpriced businesses, I give lulu 2 years and they are history... |
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Julie Dawson
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 4460
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 8:05 am Post subject: |
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| Kevin Lomas wrote: |
Why are you not just advertising the massive Storefront lulu already has on line? |
THAT, Kevin, is the $10,000,000 question. |
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Maribeth
Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 204
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 8:20 am Post subject: |
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| Marlies Bugmann wrote: |
The rest will sort itself, although a yearly fee for having a book at Amazon.com won't interest me becasue if I put it on CreateSpace, it only costs me the price of a book plus shipping ONCE! The 30% markup is 'fairer' in a particular way (I'm not saying the 'level' is)... it is only 'charged' when the book sells, A $25 per year will be charged whether the book sells or not.
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I don't really mind my book being listed in Amazon Marketplace, but I DO mind the 30% mark up, because it has raised my book to a price where it won't sell. As a result, I won't make any money off of my book being listed in Amazon Marketplace, nor will Lulu. If Amazon only charges 15% to list on Amazon Marketplace, then that's all the more Lulu should charge for the service, and then my book would be more likely to sell, and both Lulu and I would be more likely to make money. I just don't see this as a win/win for anyone, at least not in my case, and is rather a lose/lose, because of how high my book is priced due to the 30% mark up.
For those asking about their book ranking - if you look on your Lulu Markeplace page, you should see the sales ranking listed for your book. If your ranking 100,000 or below, then your book would have been automatically listed in Amazon Marketplace. At least that's how interpreting their explanation.
Maribeth |
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Julie Dawson
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 4460
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 8:30 am Post subject: Lulu's ranking system |
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Unless things have changed (and they may have) this is how the ranking system was originally explained a long time ago:
Your book's rank is based off of a formula that takes into account the actual number of physical sales as well as the products cost and type.
A free download only, which generates no revenue for you or Lulu or a printer, is weighted less than a print book on which both you and Lulu make a profit.
Selling 5 print copies of a $19.99 book would rank higher than selling 25 copies of a free download only.
Your own author purchases DO impact your sales rank. So if you had a private book that you purchased copies for to resell yourself, then the book's rank (even if invisible to everyone else) would still be calculated. |
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Katherine Wood
Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 119
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:06 am Post subject: |
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| Kevin Lomas wrote: | | try removing them ... |
Hi Kevin,
I don't know if you meant this to be sarcastic or not but it needs to be. I've spent the past year trying to get someone to remove my first book "Shadowwalk" that I removed from Lulu completely because when Amazon has a hardcover and a softcover of a book- apparently the higher priced (or it may be the Lulu books) is placed on top. Eventually the list is combined so only the 35+ book is on the results list. Granted the searcher if it moves them may open the hardcover listing and look for the 6 size font that says the softcover exists. It doesn't take much research to figure out-- 90% of people looking for a good read don't go there.
So remove it you say... ah there's the trick. For the record I put in my "opt-out" email on Monday. For the past year, the first book- even though I have asked politely, begged, I even tried to bribe someone (chuckle) It's still sitting there on Amazon with a lovely "Temporarily out of Print" label stamped on it's cover. Since that is the book that is pulled up through the search engine- it gives the impression that all books are Temporarily out of Print. (That's been a joy for sales) Upon speaking to Lulu they say- "We've pulled it, It's up to Amazon to get tired of it." According to Amazon: "Lullu must request the removal of the book from the system. (Sigh) So basically no one is taking responsibility- Joy- Rapture...[/u] |
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Maribeth
Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 204
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:36 am Post subject: Re: Amazon Marketplace Information |
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| Anne-Marie wrote: |
When will the product descriptions and previews be added to the books?
The same bug on Amazon that prevents cover images from being uploaded also prevents us from adding descriptions. Fortunately, we figured out a work around for this as well and we are adding descriptions as we add cover images. We are still investigating how to add previews as well.
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Anne-Marie... a question about what you said in the quote above. I notice that my book cover image DOES appear on Amazon Marketplace, but there is no description. Since you said above that you'll be adding descriptions as you add the cover images, I'm wondering 1. why doesn't my book description appear and 2. When will Lulu be adding the description?
I would add the description myself, but I can't seem to do so... not even though the "Author Connect" feature, which I signed up for. No one will buy my book if they don't know what it's about.
I look forward to your response.
Thank you!
Maribeth |
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Joyce Chng
Joined: 02 Feb 2007
Posts: 155
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badlard
Lulu Staff
Joined: 02 Nov 2005
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:58 am Post subject: Amazon Marketplace: questions and answers |
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Dear Lulu Authors,
Thanks again for the feedback and comments emailed to us and posted on the forums.
One important question that has come up is why Lulu is charging a 30% mark up when Amazon marketplace charges 15%? Based on our calculations, on average the 15% combined with the $1.35 flat fee is 30% of the pre-markup list price. Lulu has no intention of profiting from the 30% fee.
Another question authors are asking is how to opt in to the program. As of now, we are contacting authors via email and enabling then join the program. We are exploring ways to have an opt in option on our website as well.
I want to reiterate that Lulu's sole intention is to make our authors more successful. This mission is what gets us up in the morning and it is with you in mind that we launched the Amazon marketplace service. We want to make it as easy as possible for our authors to get listed on Amazon and sell more copies of their books.
This is a pilot and we are learning as we go how to design the service to best benefit our authors. We very much appreciate the emails and forum posts. |
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