Type Private Genre Self-publishing Headquarters Raleigh Founded 2002 | Industry Self-publishing Key people Nigel Lee (CEO) Founder Bob Young Parent organization Lulu Enterprises, Inc. | |
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Products Books, e-books, photo-books, calendars Services Print on demand and e-book publishing Profiles | ||
Lulu Press, Inc. is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing and distribution platform. Since its founding in 2002, Lulu has published nearly two million titles by authors in over 225 countries and territories.
Contents
The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. Lulu's CEO is Nigel Lee and its headquarters are in Raleigh, North Carolina. On July 12, 2015, Michael Mandiberg completed his art project Print Wikipedia and the 7,600-volume Wikipedia database has been uploaded to Lulu.com and is available for printout.
Products
Lulu.com focuses on both print and digital format books. Printed books are available in multiple formats and sizes including paperback, coil bound, and hardcovers. Books can be printed, in black-and-white or full-color.
In 2009, Lulu.com began publishing and distributing eBooks. Lulu.com also prints and publishes calendars and photobooks.
Process
Authors upload their files. Material is submitted in digital form for publication. Authors can then buy copies of their own book and/or make it available for purchase in the "Lulu Bookstore".
By applying a free ISBN and meeting distribution requirements, books can also be distributed to online retail outlets such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iBookstore.
The author of a title receives an 80% royalty for print books and a 90% royalty for eBooks when sold. Copyright of works uploaded and distributed via Lulu.com remains with the author.
Replay Photos
In January 2014, Lulu announced that it had acquired Durham-based sports photography company Replay Photos. Replay Photos sells licensed images of collegiate and professional sports teams as photographic prints, custom framed photos, photos on canvas, and original wall art.
Lulu Jr.
In 2014, Lulu launched Lulu Jr., which enables children to become published authors. Lulu Jr. products include My Awesome Book, My Comic Book, IlluStory, and IlluStory Junior. These book-making kits include materials that allow children to create their own books, such as blank story pages and markers. Finished stories and artwork can be submitted digitally or mailed to Lulu Jr. to be printed as a hardcover or a softcover book. In November 2014, Lulu announced a partnership with Crayola to produce new book-making kits.
Picture.com
In December 2015, Lulu relaunched Picture.com, a site dedicated to the creation of photo books and picture on canvas wall décor. This site is currently directed towards the consumer who is creating high quality photo-centric products for personal use.
Lulu Blooker Prize
The Lulu Blooker Prize was a literary award for "blooks" (books based on blogs). It was awarded in 2006 and 2007 and sponsored by Lulu.com. An overall prize was awarded, based on the winners of three subsidiary categories: non-fiction, fiction and comics. The Lulu Blooker Prize was open to any "blook" that had been published "to date" (i.e., by the entry deadline) by any publisher.
2006
The first competition saw 89 entries from over a dozen countries. A panel of three judges decided the winners: Cory Doctorow, Chair of Judges; Paul Jones; and Robin "Roblimo" Miller.
Winners
Runners-up
2007
The 2007 competition had 110 entries from 15 countries. The number of judges was increased to five: Paul Jones (chair), Arianna Huffington, Julie Powell (2006 overall winner), Rohit Gupta, and Nick Cohen.