Building Selection to Boost Author Success

Dan Brown. Malcolm Gladwell. Emeril Lagasse. They all have something in common with you: They’re on Lulu.

You’ll now find their works — and about 200,000 other eBook titles from traditionally published authors — in the Lulu Marketplace. We’ve added them through agreements with Ingram and other distributors to make their public catalogs available on our site.

It’s a significant shift for Lulu, but one rooted in a strategy to maximize author success that has guided us from the beginning. To sell more books, you need more exposure. We’ve long provided distribution choices to help you reach customers in myriad stores, including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. We’re continuing to expand those options, and we’ll have more to share soon.

But that’s not enough. The time has come for a better marketplace. Like many of you, we’re discouraged by some trends in the industry and what they might mean for the future of books. Here at Lulu we champion books, and the people who create them, because of what they represent. Books are conversations between generations that convey our best thinking and help move us forward. They deserve appreciation. And authors deserve success.

The open marketplace we’re building will have the broadest selection. It will be a one-stop shop with content from all authors, in all styles and in all formats, paper and electronic. The goal is to give readers access to the best knowledge, ideas and entertainment and to give authors access to the best audience for their works. We believe the increased choice offered by increased selection will attract more readers. And as we attract more readers, we will have more opportunity to get Lulu authors in front of people most likely to buy. In fact, we’ve invested in recommendation technology to help with that by steering readers based on their browsing patterns.

Adding 200,000 eBooks is just the first step in a journey that will unfold over the coming months, one intended to bring more success to Lulu authors every day. As always, I welcome your suggestions and feedback as we move forward.

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11 Comments

  1. I fail to see how this will help my books sell.

    Just like highly discounted books at Target/Walmart/Amazon by big name authors doesn’t help us, this certainly can’t.

    Our voices cannot be heard if people are looking for them instead.

    I have 5 books with Lulu, haven’t decided if I’ll do a 6th. I am using another service for my current project that has a greater success rate at getting authors noticed.
    Many of their authors are picked up by big name publishers like Simon & Schuster or McCleland and Stewart. That’s my aim.

    Currently as a Canadian published by ME (YOU) is not available and all my works are Published by LULU so far. This prevents another publisher from taking me on.

    I’ve changed genre and pen name and service, because my voice needs to be heard.

    Dan Brown and Emeril will easily outsell all of us, that’s not helpful.

  2. @jrharv – I don’t see how PBL prevents you from being taken on by a commercial publisher. Lulu has rights to the edition of the work that is published through them. They don’t own you, or your work, surely?

    Back to the subject – though Lulu may increase its sales by selling commercial books, I don’t see that it’s a bad thing for the independent authors. It’s not a good thing, either, IMHO.

  3. I think we need a World Public Library of the Internet for all the peoples of the world, so that all peoples everywhere can tap into knowledge from other people’s experiences, through E-Books on the Internet, where the costs are the lowest for everyone, Universally. Love, Armand L. Archambeault

  4. Lakeya

    Why are people saying don’t self publish and that’s it’s a scam? Please clarify because I don’t want to loose confidence in your service. However, since I seemed to have generated revenue but have not been paid in the almost two years I’ve been with lulu, it’s kinda difficult not to wonder what’s really going on? Please clarify. Thank you and God Bless! :)

  5. Lakeya

    Oh and that’s wonderful that Emiril Lagasse is published on lulu, but he already has a fan base so he could sell a book on goober.com and be a best seller. Don’t get me wrong. I love Emeril and I’m not saying he isn’t talented, but what about us “writers” who do nothing but write with excellence because it’s our God given talent and we love doing nothing but writing? Somebody has to look out for us! Why not lulu? We do the best we can with what we’ve been given!

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5 Trackbacks

  1. [...] of the biggest book sites, Lulu, which used to do just self-published books has jumped into published books in a big way – offering 200,000 titles from popular authors such as Dan Brown and Malcolm [...]

  2. By Lulu’s Labors Lost? | Munsey's Technosnarl on November 9, 2009 at 1:11 am

    [...] I saw the bit about Lulu “partnering” with Ingram to “sell mainstream books” in addition to Lulu’s self- and micropress offerings [...]

  3. [...] 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! [...]

  4. [...] ebook.  You don’t want to be tacky or overbearing, but the cover should draw attention.  In the open-publishing world, a cover gives readers their first impression of what to expect from an author’s book.  [...]

  5. By you can check here on October 13, 2014 at 8:12 pm

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