Shss! It’s Softly, Softly For Lulu in The eBook Wars

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This week seems to be the week that anyone remotely connected with selling ebooks is announcing a hook-up deal with Apple or Amazon. We have already seen announcements from Author Solutions’ deal with their brands, AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse and Trafford for inclusion on Amazon’s Kindle, and yesterday, news came of the popular Smashwords announcing a distribution deal on their ebooks with Apple for inclusion in the new iPad iBookstore.
Since early yesterday, at least a dozen different digital technology websites and self-publishing news sites have been reporting a deal struck by DIY self-publishing service Lulu. If you dig a little deeper, all of the reports I have seen actually cite one source; Dean Takahashi of digital.venturebeat.com, writing yesterday on the Digital Beat section of the site. Just for the record, here is what Dean reported:

“Electronic book publisher Lulu told its top authors over the weekend that their electronic books can be made available on Apple’s new iBookstore that is debuting with the launch of the iPad on April 3.


This is one more way that indie books by self-published authors can appear on Apple’s iPad platform, which is a tablet computer that is expected to be one of the hot gadgets of the year. The self-publishing book company said that authors whose work is in iformat can use Lulu to publish their e-books on the iPad. Lulu will convert the books from the Lulu format into the ePub format at no cost. Authors will receive proceeds after Lulu and Apple take their cut.


Lulu said it would automatically convert books for submission to the iBookstore, unless authors didn’t want their books published on the iPad. Smashwords, another self-publishing e-book company, also said over the weekend that its books can be made available on the iBookstore. Lulu supports the ePub and PDF formats, with or without digital rights management.”

I have no doubt Dean is spot on in what he has reported, but what I find odd is that in a 48 hour period when every man and his dog was announcing a deal, Lulu chose to tell ‘its top authors over the weekend that their electronic books can be made available on Apple’s new iBookstore that is debuting with the launch of the iPad on April 3’. If we are to go on recent announcements and Lulu’s general megaphone marketing approach–particularly this year–one would have thought such a significant announcement warranted a press release, and at the very least, a posting on their widely read Lulublog.
Not a sausage! Although…
The news from Lulu on books being converted to epub for the iPad was flagged as in the pipeline more than two weeks ago, but I wonder if this free ‘deal’ is quite what it first appears for Lulu authors. What particularly grabs my attention is that Lulu have–according to Dean Takahashi–told their ‘top authors’. The real point here is how Lulu quantify top authors. I mean is it top authors, top-top authors or top-top-top authors. This deal certainly does not include me, but does it include you if you are a Lulu author? Lulu has extended the reach of its marketplace this year to boast established authors like John Edgar Wideman, Jeremy Robinson, Simon Levack, and Stephen Covey. Are they top-top-top authors? In regards to the latest news by Lulu, I just dunno. Tonight, I’m none the wiser. Enlightenment is the order of the day.
Come on Lulu, get it together!
Authors

6 Comments

  1. Mark Barrett said:

    There are a number of things that strike me as odd about Lulu’s announcement, not the least of which is the idea that it is acting as some kind of agent/broker for its “top authors”. I didn’t know that authors ‘signed’ with Lulu in any sense, enabling Lulu to either act on their behalf in such matters (essentially requiring them to opt out) or negotiating distribution deals with those authors en mass.

    Am I missing something? Or is Lulu trying to use its ‘community’ to make itself relevant in the distribution pipeline?

    What is it that I do not know about Lulu that helps all this make sense?

  2. Mick Rooney said:

    I’ve followed Lulu closely for about four years, published two books using their services, and believe me, their approach and strategy, particularly in the past 6 months baffle me.

    If they were a ‘person’ – they’d be bi-polar! Never have I known a self-publishing service provider who can put a smile on your face with the flick of a hand, and then, a day later, leave you pulling your hair out in despair.

    They are the Jekyll & Hyde of author solution services. About four months ago I did an article on the site suggesting Lulu needed to drop the ‘self’ from self publishing services. It was part-honest opinion and part tongue n cheek. The point – Lulu are not sure now who or what they are – a DIY publishing service or a pretender to be the next AuthorHouse (on a good day) and Publish America (on a bad day). Recent marketing gizmos hurled out at authors (book fair vouchers/bookfair shelf placement, Buy one-get one) are getting pretty close to the model employed by Publish America (Want to get your book onto the desk of a Random House Editor – then buy five of your books and we’ll send ‘m there).

    I wish Lulu would go back to what they did best – offering down-to-earth DIY self-publishing services to authors with no frills and transparency. That was their brand and trademark.

    Now, they are caught up in the world of selling marketplacement online rather than looking after their core business – which honestly is selling 100,000 books for 10,000 authors, rather than trying to sell 1,000,000 to 1,000 authors.

    I do agree with your point on ‘community’ and the way Lulu now subtly (or like a sledge-hammer depending on your view) are using that philosophy. It laudable to have the strength of community Lulu have, and a mark of their brand, but not in the manner they are choosing to use it.

    Ultimately, Lulu must redefine what they are, and if that is to act like a publisher/agent for their customers, then their contract and terms of service must reflect this.

    I sense we are back to what has always been at the heart of so-called self-publishing services – are they really publishers working with authors, or simply companies providing a service to customers/clients?

  3. Mick Rooney said:

    …I should add Mark, which I stressed, this is not ‘Lulu’s announcement’. I have not seen any direct source for this attributed to the Lulu site or any representative of Lulu announce or comment on this news story.

  4. Marilyn Z. Tomlins said:

    This must be confusing (to say the least) for Lulu authors. I wonder – is there then not even just one self-publisher who is 100% satisfactory. But then – is there a traditional publisher who is 100% satisfactory? I think I am going to open a sandwich stall at the foot of the Eiffel Tower!

  5. Wilson James said:

    I am an author with print books available at Lulu and eBooks available at Smashwords. I certainly agree that this current state of affairs is confusing; but I think it’s also indicative of the current state of publishing in general. We are currently experiencing the biggest upheaval in the publishing business since the invention of movable type; and the line between publishers, distributors, and more general customer service providers will become much more blurred in the near future.

    I applaud the efforts of Smashwords and Lulu to ink deals that will help their authors. How good those deals are, and how much they help the ‘average’ author remains to be seen. I do know that my works will end up in the iBookstore thanks to the efforts of Smashwords.

    What will happen next in the book publishing industry is not clear, but hold on for a wild ride!

  6. Mick Rooney said:

    The times certainly are changing and i do appreciate that publishers/publishing services are finding it equally as hard as authors to keep abreast of things. I just felt Lulu missed out on what was actually a good deal struck for them, but their lack of trumpeting makes me suspect this deal is not for the majority of Lulu authors and will be restricted to Lulu authors who use their VIP packages in the their marketplace.

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