Lulu Direct

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How to Set Up Your Bookstore with Lulu Direct and Shopify

sign up for shopify by starting your,two-week trial or choosing a plan that,works for you,follow the prompts to create your,profile,to start selling your books through your,shopify store you will begin by creating,a product,click on products then click add product,give your product a title description,and add product photos under media,add the price in the pricing box leave,the charge tax on this product box,checked,under inventory uncheck the track,quantity box,under shipping,set the weight of your product as one,pound we will use this later when,setting up shipping options,click save at the bottom,then change the status of the product to,active at the top of the page,click save again,navigate to the shopify app store by,clicking apps on the left side of the,page,click customize your store then search,for lulu direct,locate the app from the search results,and click on it then click add app,follow the prompts to add the lulu,direct app to your store,if you do not have a lulu.com account,click register and create one now,once you're signed into the lulu direct,app navigate back to your shopify,products and click into the product you,created earlier,at the top right click on more actions,then connect with lulu direct this will,drop you into the product configurator,in this instance we will be creating a,book project,leave book as the product type and drag,your interior pdf into the interior,upload box,once your interior pdf is uploaded and,approved you will be able to choose the,specs of your project,continue choosing your book options then,upload your cover by dragging your cover,pdf into the cover upload box,after your cover pdf is uploaded and,approved,you can review your print-ready pdfs and,view a live preview of your book,once you've completed your project,configuration the save button will be,clickable at the bottom of the page,click save,now you have your shopify product,connected to a lulu project,the next step is to set up your shipping,options,lulu now offers the option to,automatically pass our shipping costs,directly to your customers,if you have shopify plus the advanced,shopify plan or would like to pay an,additional fee to enable this feature it,can be found on the lulu direct settings,page,click into the app click on more actions,then settings,simply scroll to the bottom and click,connect to lulu's live shipping rates if,you would like to set up your shipping,options manually navigate to shopify,settings at the bottom left corner then,click on shipping and delivery,now you'll create a shipping profile,that only includes the products that are,connected to your lulu direct projects,next to custom shipping rates click,create new profile,name it something like lulu books,then click add products,add all of your lulu connected products,then click done,click save on this page,once you have your profile set up and,products added you'll then create your,shipping zones,click manage rates next to the custom,shipping option you just created,cl

The above is a brief introduction to Lulu Direct

Let's move on to the first section of Lulu Direct

Lulu Vs Amazon KDP - Who Is Best!! Comparing Hardcover Low Content Notebooks

in this video i'm going to compare the,print on demand book service lulu with,amazon kdp and which one i think is best,and it might not be what you think,welcome to my channel my name is,caroline and i've been publishing books,on amazon kdp since around september or,october of 2020. i've published a range,of different books from low content,books like journals and coloring books,to children's,illustrated picture books and i will be,venturing into publishing fiction novels,later this year the comparison that i'm,going to be focusing on mainly in this,video is going to be comparing low,content books like notebooks and,journals and the reason for that is,because one of the downsides to,publishing on amazon kdp in my opinion,anyway is the lack of choice when it,comes down to things like the types of,paper you can use in your books or the,types of covers that you can print your,books with so kdp allows you to print a,book with a paperback cover or a hard,cover and that's pretty much it in terms,of what kind of covers you can have on,your books and the paper that they use,inside of the book the interior is,pretty much just one type of paper one,thickness of paper that you have to,choose from it's all pretty standard and,for the most part that is totally fine,the quality of the paper that they use,in their books is pretty much on par,with the majority of notebooks out there,whether you are buying from amazon or,whether you're buying from some other,online store or even when you're just,purchasing from a physical store at your,local shopping center i find that their,paper is the same as most of those,notebooks but this also means that,because of the quality of the product,that you're selling there is sort of a,ceiling of what you can price your book,at obviously the lower quality that your,product is the less that you can charge,for it i personally love,high quality premium stationery so i've,always had this idea that i would really,love to create a line of low content,books in a more premium way and that's,where lulu came in lulu is a,print-on-demand book service that pretty,much works the same way as amazon kdp,you upload your book to their platform,you do not need to have any inventory or,buy any bulk stock from them they will,print and ship your book for you once,you sell it and lulu have some premium,options things like the choice of some,thicker paper for the inside pages of,your book and some premium types of,covers for example you can print a book,with a linen bound cover with foil,printing on it they also have more,options in the types of things that you,can create they have things like wall,calendars spiral bound books,comics and magazines things like that so,there is a bit more choice or a lot more,choice really in the types of books that,you can create with lulu compared with,amazon kdp the downside to lulu is that,they do not integrate with amazon which,means you need to sell these books on,your own website or if you do want to,sell them on

After seeing the first section, I believe you have a general understanding of Lulu Direct

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Should You Self-Publish with Lulu? Lulu Publishing Review & Book Unboxing

Today I wanted to talk about Lulu publishing.,It's not one of the most popular print on demand companies that are out there,for self-published authors,,but I did wanna talk about it because they actually have quite a few options for,authors.,So we're gonna list out the pros and cons today and really discuss whether or,not you should choose Lulu publishing as one of your print on demand,distributors for your book.,So today we'll be talking about the distribution options,,the price it costs to print a book,,the list price that you're gonna have to put your book at on retail websites.,And then of course, the quality of the book itself.,I actually ordered a copy of one of my novels to be printed by Lulu.,So we're gonna be unboxing that today to review the quality.,Today's video is actually part of a series of videos here on YouTube,,a beginner's guide to self-publishing a book.,So if you wanna learn more about other print on demand companies and what your,options are as a self-published author, be sure to check out the playlist.,It will be linked down below, but today we're talking about Lulu.,Now, if you don't know who I am, my name is Mandi Lynn.,I'm an author book cover designer and the creator of the book launch planner.,And if you want weekly videos on the business of being an author,,then be sure to subscribe and hit that belt notification icon.,As you can see here, my package for my book meet me at the summit has come in,,meet me at the summit is a young adult coming of age story.,So we're gonna talk about this later on and we'll actually open it up and look,at the book.,But first I wanna talk about a few other things you should know about Lulu,publishing, but we'll get to the quality of the book later on.,First thing first, let's talk about distribution.,So Lulu publishing actually offers wide distribution to their authors.,This is wide distribution for your ebook, as well as your print book. Right now,,I would say the best option for authors for wide distribution is Ingramspark.,As you guys know, from previous videos of mine,,Ingramspark isn't super user friendly.,Lulu also gives you the option to avoid distribution altogether,and sell the book yourself,,whether that be through your website or through an app.,So Lulu has quite a few different options.,I believe they have two different apps and then they also have the Lulu,bookstore. So you can list your book on the Lulu bookstore,,whether or not people are shopping for books on Lulu. I'm not really sure.,I know I've never gone to Lulu for books before,,but I will say if someone buys your book through Lulu,,rather than say Amazon or Barnes noble,,the author makes significantly more money in terms of royalties.,If the book is bought through the Lulu bookstore.,So probably they want authors to encourage friends and family to shop using,the Lulu bookstore because they will make more money.,So Lulu actually has so many distribution options that it kind of gets,confusing. There's like the regular

After seeing the second section, I believe you have a general understanding of Lulu Direct

Continue the next third section about Lulu Direct

LuLu Direct and Shopify

Alright, hello YouTube.,This is Andrew Rickard.,I'm the publisher and translator behind The Obolus Press.,I wanted to do a brief video today about lulu.com, and specifically about lulu xpress.,They're a print-on-demand company in North Carolina.,I think they've been around for at least a decade but they recently revamped their platform,and introduced a Shopify app.,Now, if you go on to Twitter or check the reviews on Trustpilot, to say that the transition,to this new platform was a little bumpy is an understatement.,People saying that they were locked out of their accounts, that all of their books were,deleted, just a real litany of woe.,Now none of this affected me, I just wanted to see what the end product was like.,The Shopify app would allow a customer to come to a publisher's web site, place an order,for a book, that order would then be processed and printed by Lulu and then sent to the customer.,So the publisher would not have to pick and pack individual orders.,So, you know, it got my attention.,I was curious to see what the end product looked like.,Now this is printed on 60 lb matte uncoated white paper, that's premium colour, and the,interior is pretty good.,I would say that the colours might be a little more vibrant than they are with Lightning,Source, which is the print-on-demand company I currently use to fill short-run orders.,Lightning Source being a division of Ingram.,But as you can see, the cover is curled.,This is a matte cover.,So maybe this was just one off, right?,Well, here is another book, also 6 by 9, 60 lb uncoated white paper.,The interior is pretty good.,Nice vibrant colours.,But you can see that the cover, it wants to become the inside of a toilet roll.,It's just...,Now, third time is a charm, right?,Well, maybe not.,This is a 8.5 by 5.5 digest size, it's black and white on cream interior this time.,The book block is fine.,But the cover, once again it is a matte cover, and it is just, it's curled to hell.,I am become Curly, destroyer of reputations.,There's no way, there's no way you could send that out to a customer.,It's just awful.,So I don't know whether it's the laminate dried too quickly, or it's because the card,stock is too thin, was the grain of the paper going in the wrong direction?,I don't know what the reasoning behind it is, but it's just bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy,bouncy bouncy.,Now I did try a glossy covered paperback and it seems to be behaving itself.,So if you are producing glossy covered paperbacks, then maybe Lulu xpress is something,you'd want to consider.,I don't know.,But judging by the quality control on their matte covered paperbacks, my advice would,be: Don't do it!

After seeing the third section, I believe you have a general understanding of Lulu Direct

Continue the next fourth section about Lulu Direct

KDP vs Lulu Xpress | Which One is Better?? | Print on Demand | Publishing Journals, Books, Planners

today i'll be providing an overview of,amazon kdp and lulu express so that you,can decide which one is right for you,before we get started there's two things,you need to know,one i've used both kdp and lulu express,and two,i have a shopify website that integrates,with the lulu express app which is,comparable to using kdp,for print on demand,products like journals books and,planners,all right so we're going to start off by,covering the similarities between kdp,and lulu express,and the first thing,that might not be a surprise to you is,the fact that they're both print on,demand so when an order comes in amazon,kdp will print off your journal or,planner or,book and ship it to the customer and the,same is true when you use the lulu,express app on your website i have a,shopify website so when an order comes,in that order is um sent to lulu and,they process it they print off of print,off the journal and then send it,directly to the customer,next up we have the cost to print they,are comparable,but you're going to walk away with a,higher rate of return when you are using,lulu express assuming that you have that,you're able to generate sales so if you,have if you're able to pro,generate more sales through amazon kdp,than over the long run it might be more,worth it for you to pursue,that amazon kdp as you're printing and,distribution source but,if you're just comparing them side by,side and not taking,into consideration where you're likely,to generate sales you just com just,comparing them,lulu express you're gonna walk away with,a higher rate of return,next up is binding,the options for binding are very similar,and,very comparable you have a few more,binding options with lulu,the most notable difference being that,you have the option to print,your book or journal with a spiral,as the binding and you're not just,limited to,a paperback or hardback as you are with,amazon kdp,when it comes to covers they both,provide glossy and matte options,and we'll take a look at some i'll show,you a journal that i,created through kdp in a journal that i,created through lulu express i'll show,them both to you so you can see,how they come out in terms of a print,the print quality the vibrancy and the,colors you can kind of compare them,but when it comes to choosing whether,they're going to have a gloss cover or a,mat,it's the same there's no difference,there,and then the page type sizes qualities,all of that is very comparable very,similar no notable differences,and the creation process for both,are very easy not exactly the same but,both simple and easy to set up,let's take a closer look at amazon kdp,we'll take a look at the pros and cons,so,we already covered the fact that it's,pretty easy to set up on amazon through,kdp the creation process but it's also,easy to get a listing,up on amazon for your journal or,notebook or planner so the whole process,in total is real easy,print on demand,they also will give you the option of,creating an isbn number on the spot,which can

After seeing the fourth section, I believe you have a general understanding of Lulu Direct

Continue the next fifth section about Lulu Direct

My Righteous ANGER at an Online Book Printer! (Lulu.com)

hello there i'm luke smith and i have a,youtube channel which means that if a,company wrongs me i can publicly,complain about it and maybe they'll,actually do something about it,that's what this video is on i have two,goals in this okay,uh i want to talk about this company,lulu and how they have been nothing but,frustration for me,um and secondly if someone has an,alternative to using their,and i guess if they want to fix this i,hope they do,i would like to work with them but uh,the second reason i'm doing this video,is if they,don't maybe someone else has an offer or,has an idea so here's the deal,if you watch my channel uh actually,maybe around a year or so ago i did a,video saying that i'm gonna start a,little project and i've been working on,it sort of on the back burner,for a while probably around a year or so,where i want to,reprint out of print books okay there,are many companies that actually do this,online but they do it really crappily,um there are a lot of them they'll,basically just copy and paste,you know let's say a book from the,internet that's in the public domain,and reprint it terribly formatted uh if,it's in another language,it'll be like mutilated because the,people copying and pasting they don't,you know they don't know,uh so i wanted you know obviously i know,how to,uh typeset in law tech and stuff like,that so i wanted to make,nice little books like this uh that,they're just easy to read,uh reprinted stuff that i could have,with a print on demand company,and sell to people um now originally i,just wanted it for myself i'm one of,those i don't believe in ebooks i don't,believe in reading stuff on a screen i,can't do that,i need to have a physical book uh,otherwise it's just not real okay so i,want it for myself and i figure,hey if i'm already doing this for myself,i might as well sell it to other people,so that's what i've been sort of again i,had this idea maybe a year or so ago and,i was working on it,on the back burner but the past couple,of months i've really been trying to,finish it off,like put a lot of more effort into it so,i chose to use this company lulu,okay um and i will have to say they are,print-on-demand company so you can send,them your book i mean it's sort of,amazon does this you guys might know,this i'm not going to use amazon because,they're evil,but lulu is one of these many companies,that,if you have a finished book or even an,unfinished book that's not typeset they,can typeset it for you but if you know,how to typeset,um you know i send in a pdf in latex all,nicely formatted,uh design a cover and they will just,print the book okay,um and you can get pretty good margins,uh compared to traditional publishing,considering you don't really have like,the upkeep cost of,having the machinery to print things or,something um,so here's the deal these are all the,books that i've gotten from them,test books i will order one after the,other sometimes i'm correcting my own,problems like for example here's,uh marcus a

After seeing the fifth section, I believe you have a general understanding of Lulu Direct

Continue the next sixth section about Lulu Direct

Lulu.com is It Worth It? My Honest Opinion and Review on Print on Demand and Book Publishing Site

what's up go getters in this video we're,going to be talking about lulu.com,is it worth it and just a quick overview,of how,to publish a book on lulu.com i'm also,going to be talking about the pros and,cons and my personal experiences with,using it to help you decide whether or,not this book publishing platform is for,you,so guys a big big huge welcome to my,channel um this is actually take to me,recording this video i definitely been,on a struggle bus lately,with my videos like i'm really wanna in,a groove with the videos but it's just,been like i record a video and then,it'll get lost or i can't find it or it,didn't record at all and that's what,happened with this one so the second,half of my video you'll actually see my,face that was how the beginning part of,the video was supposed to be but anyway,let's just not even get off track if you,are new here my name is alice gordon on,this channel you will learn marketing,tips business tips motivation as well as,a spiritual two remember success is an,inside job so without the balance of all,of these things it can be hard to,achieve our ultimate best success so if,that sounds like your jam feel free to,smash that button,below and stick around okay so here we,are guys on the lulu.com site please,bear with me as i just share the pros,and the cons of using lulu.com also,going to share my own experiences as,well so here right here in front of us,guys it's lulu.com,here this is a site where they can,publish your,books your journals as well as um they,also have print one demand program,where they can actually print and ship,your books for you where you don't even,really have to touch the product they,will just ship it directly to your,customers for you so this is an amazing,amazing platform for that purpose i've,been using lulu.com now for years as,many of you know,i have a journaling and subscription box,as well as a store for stationery lovers,and journalers so,i frequent lulu.com and i have over the,years to create workbooks for some of my,clients when i do do coaching as well as,journals if you are looking to publish a,book or,you are looking to,you know just create a journal lulu.com,is really really good for that what,makes lulu.com stand out among other,um print on demand companies and i'm,just scrolling to the screen won't be so,boring,but what makes them stand out against,other print on demand companies guys is,that lulu.com actually because they,specialize,in printing books lulu is going to be,able to customize the inside pages of,your journal,whereas some of the other print on,demand companies they are only going to,allow you customization for the cover,and the back side of your book but not,the inside of your book so let's just,say you want to create a journal and you,want the background of the line pages to,have flowers on them or something like,that versus just plain line sheets,you're going to be able to do all that,and more with lulu.com so typically what,my process is guys,i design my journ

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Lulu Press VS Lulu Direct App w/ Shopify | Which One Should You Choose??

in today's video we're going to compare,lulu press with the lulu direct app,we'll cover the services they provide,some key advantages and drawbacks as,well as some other important information,before we get started i have a shopify,website and i use the lulu direct app,so the information i'm sharing with you,today is based off of research as well,as my own personal experience,all right let's get started let's,compare lulu press with a lulu direct,app so you can decide which one is right,for you,before we dive right in i want to take a,moment to clarify that there are several,branches within lulu we'll briefly touch,on each of them here so that you have an,idea of what services they provide,and let's start with the two main,sections of lulu which are lulu press,and lulu express,otherwise known as lulu direct,lulu press,is a self-publishing platform that,allows you to print your book or publish,your book and sell it through the lulu,bookstore or through,lulu's global distribution which,includes retail partners like amazon,ingram spark barnes and noble and more,lu express,is the umbrella for the print on demand,services and today we're talking about,lulu press self-publishing,and we're comparing that to the lulu,direct app,which is,which integrates with shopify to provide,print-on-demand,services,and just to be incredibly clear,the lulu direct app was formerly known,as the lulu express app so if you hear,those two,phrases or that terminology,you can consider it one in the same,the other sections of lulu,include lulu junior which provides book,making kits for children,glass tree,which provides academic,edu and educators with competitively,priced and high quality content,dissemination,and lulu api,which allows you to connect your website,to the lulu global print network,but this requires programming knowledge,to,implement the api and we'll touch on,this briefly a little bit later in the,video,lulu press is a self-publishing service,that makes it easy for you to publish,your book planner or journal,so let's take a close look at some of,the benefits of publishing with lulu.com,lulu partners with companies like amazon,ingramspark and barnes and noble to,provide global distribution for a fee,all in all this global distribution,service reaches over 40 000 retailers,around the world,ebooks published through lulu.com are,also distributed to partners like amazon,apple barnes and noble and google,books published through lulu.com can,also be listed on lulu's online,bookstore there is a fee though that's,applied at the time of sale,we'll take a look at a breakdown of the,fees for the bookstore in global,distribution shortly,lulu provides high quality even more so,than some of its competitors like amazon,listing your book on a marketplace,potentially eliminates the need to build,and maintain a website and if your book,has good reviews,the marketplace algorithms may help,boost sales by listing your book on the,first few pages that people see,when they're searching

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The Best Print on Demand Company - Comparing Book Publishing with Amazon KDP, IngramSpark & Beyond

This right here is five different copies of my book that were printed by,five different print on demand companies.,I have been unboxing and reviewing so many print on demand,companies on my YouTube channel.,And today's the day where we decide which one is the best print on demand,company. And, you know, that would be in my opinion, but as you watch,,let me know what you think the best print on demand company is in the comments,down below. In this video, we're gonna be breaking it down by category.,We'll be talking about cost to print royalties, proof copies,,quality of the cover quality of the interior, customer service,,and lastly distribution.,We will decide the winner of each category. And then at the end,,we will decide who won the most categories or who is just my favorite,in general.,So be sure to stay tuned and let me know your opinion down below in the,comments.,This video is actually a part of my beginner's guide to self-publishing series,here on YouTube. So if you wanna watch the entire playlist,,it will be linked down below. In this series,,I go in depth with every single print on demand company.,So if you wanna learn more about any of them,,all the videos are linked down below. My name is Mandi Lynn.,I'm an author book cover designer in the creator of the book launch planner.,And I make weekly videos on the business of being an author.,So if that sounds right up your alley,,be sure to hit that subscribe button as well as the bell notification icon.,So you never miss a new upload.,Okay.,So the way this is gonna work is that I've got the copies of the book here.,I've got my laptop here.,So I'm gonna go through all the categories and decide a winner or,sometimes winners of each category.,And I'm gonna be able to come back at the end and decide, you know,,who had the most wins of each category.,And that will be the best print on demand company.,Keep in mind that for all these examples,,it's all for the same exact book with the same printing requirements.,It's a five and a half by eight and a half book. It is a 330 pages.,It has cream paper, regular black and white interior.,Those are the printing requirements we're working with here. That way,,everything is on a level playing field.,So first category is cost to print and I'm gonna go through,,and this is just how much they say it costs to print one copy,of your book. That's not, um,,counting like royalties and different things like that.,This is just how much it costs to print a copy before all of that fancy math.,So Kindle direct publishing,,it costs $4.80 to print my book for Ingramspark $5.90,for Barnes and noble press $5.22 .,Draft2digital I couldn't find an exact breakdown. Um,,and maybe it was there somewhere, but draft2digital's, um,,print is in beta version.,So I don't know if they'll break down the numbers later. Uh,,but all they tell me is the royalty rate I get and,not how much it costs,,but I do know my author proof copy costs me $30.,So take that for what you will. And lastly

After seeing the eighth section, I believe you have a general understanding of Lulu Direct

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How to Set Up Your Bookstore with Lulu Direct and WooCommerce

connecting a product to lulu direct,to connect the product to lulu direct,you first need to publish a print,project in your lulu account,once your project has been published on,lulu visit the lulu direct dashboard and,scroll down to your stores,click the connect to store button,enter your store url click connect,woocommerce then choose approve,once connected click on your active,stores url then click store settings,there are optional settings on this page,but the only required setting you will,need to update is the billing address,click update contact information then,add a billing address,click update contact information to save,now that you have a published project in,your lulu account and have connected,your woocommerce store to lulu direct,it's time to connect your products,from the dashboard click on your active,stores url then click add product,in this example we will connect a new,product to woocommerce through lulu,direct click create a new product,from the select a lulu project drop-down,choose the lulu project you want to,connect to woocommerce,add or edit the product name description,and retail price,click add product,the product status should now say active,if the status is listed as processing,you may have to refresh the page,setting up shipping,by default your orders will be shipped,using the least expensive available,shipping method lulu offers,we recommend setting up your woocommerce,shipping based on a single flat rate,this will give customers one option for,shipping during checkout and will charge,customers the same cost for shipping no,matter where they are shipping their,order,first use lulu's pricing calculator to,determine how much mail shipping will,cost for the locations you'd like to,ship to,enter in your book's specifications then,enter in the number of copies and,shipping country,next navigate to your wordpress admin,dashboard click woocommerce then select,settings,on the woocommerce settings page select,shipping then click locations not,covered by your other zones,next click add shipping method select,flat rate,then click the add shipping method,button again after adding the flat rate,click edit under flat rate and enter the,price you want to charge your customers,for shipping in this example i'm,anticipating my customers will only,purchase one or two copies each so i'll,set my flat rate to six dollars,if you'd like to set up quantity based,flat rate shipping see woocommerce's,tool tip here,click save changes,creating a test order,now that you have your product connected,and shipping options created let's test,to make sure everything is set up,correctly by placing a test order,go to your orders page in woocommerce,and click add order,add your information to the billing and,shipping address fields,set the payment status to completed,click add items then add products,search for your product then click add,under order actions click email invoice,slash order details to customer,click create,go back to the lulu direct dashb

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