Something New - Lulu, Shopify, and Lulu xPress

Paul_Lulu · February 2018

Hey everyone!

We've got some pretty cool news.

Some of you have likely noticed that I often will hint that we listen to the concerns you all have and that we have things in the pipeline to begin addressing those concerns, yet nothing new has come out of Lulu in a long time.

Well, the next few weeks are when all that changes.

First, officially launching on February 15th, our new book printing engine located at https://xpress.lulu.com.

Lulu xPress is a simplified and much improved form of the traditional Lulu Wizard. Basically, we stripped the process down to the absolute bare bones and started over. This is the first iteration and you'll notice there is no shop or retail distribution.

At the moment, the xPress site is still very basic, but it serves as a first look at our new book builder, along with an improved pricing model that will eventually filter out to Lulu proper, and expanded options - we're up over 3,000 combinations now.

That's not even the coolest part!

Later this month, we'll be releasing the first of our eCommerce integrations for Shopify. Other eCommerce options like WooCommerce and the like will follow.

What we've got here is a App using the Lulu xPress framework that allows anyone with a Shopify store to create a book, upload their files just like they would on Lulu, and sell direct using our network.

All of this is built with our API for printing - run through our Developer API. We're redesigning our entire book creation system so each piece can function as an independent API, giving authors and entrepreneurs options about how they create and sell their books.

The xPress site is up and running now, and I'll update this thread later in the month once Shopify is live. For now, I'm happy to answer any questions and will gladly relay any feedback to our developers.

Em_Press · February 2018

Paul, how can users with already published books benefit from these new features. As I understand it, Shopify is a paid eCommerce site. Could you please explain what we can do with the two to increase our sales? Will lulu offer us Shopify as another distribution outlet that we can opt into or do we have to implement it ourselves?

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

Does this replace our already applied options with Amazon etc or adding to it. Can we still use what we were if we don't like the new options?

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

Yeah Shopify's starting price is $29 plus $9 for accepting credit cards.

Paul_Lulu · February 2018

Em_Press said:

Paul, how can users with already published books benefit from these new features. As I understand it, Shopify is a paid eCommerce site. Could you please explain what we can do with the two to increase our sales? Will lulu offer us Shopify as another distribution outlet that we can opt into or do we have to implement it ourselves?

Shopify is a paid site. The reason we started with them versus other eCommerce applications is due largely to the amount of growth Shopify has enjoyed over the last few years. We are already working on integrations for other eCommerce. WooCommerce, the Wordpress retail plug in, is probably the most popular and if I understand correctly will be one of our next moves.

The main benefit of Shopify or any eCommerce is 1) you sell direct on your own website. If you've established your author brand, you probably have folks coming to your website. An eCommerce tool keeps them with you, rather than sending them to a retailer like Amazon or Lulu. Which leads to 2) you set and keep all revenue. As TJN points out, Shopify does have a fee to use them, but because you only pay cost for printing, the return per sale is going to be higher.

The web is increasingly polarized with people and companies either selling direct through their own store fronts or relying on retails (Amazon). This is our attempt to start offering the option to do both. We also noticed there are literally zero print-on-demand book options on Shopify but are hundreds of bookstores already using Shopify to sell. So we're aiming to provide a service those bookstores might need.

At the moment, using Shopify is entirely done on the users end. Our App just allows anyone with a Shopify store to plug in to our print API. In the future (I'm told later this year) we'll release a distribution API which should open up all of our distribution options in an a la carte way - so you can pick and choose how you want distribution to work on a book by book basis.

Paul_Lulu · February 2018

TheJesusNinja said:

Does this replace our already applied options with Amazon etc or adding to it. Can we still use what we were if we don't like the new options?

This is completely supplemental. Nothing about how you use Lulu currently is changing. We're just adding more options.

In the long run, we're hoping to replace the book creation tool, but the basic functionality of Lulu should not change in any major ways. You'll still be able to upload and publish, add an ISBN, distribute, sell through our store, sell direct with an eCommerce store, or self-purchase and sell by hand.

Or do all of the above at once.

Papi_Soñoliento · February 2018

Paul,

Thanks to you and Master Wilcox for essentially answering questions I'd had but not expressed yet.

Em_Press · February 2018

Wow, that would be amazing. A la carte distribution for print books. No one does it yet. This would open up so many doors.

Em_Press · February 2018

JesusNinja, $29 is nothing compared to other eCommerce sites. And, you can import your store into FB.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

I'm doing three part time jobs to make ends meet so $29 is a lot to pay to sell books. Maybe later if book sales improve I might can look into this. At the moment I'm happy with the current set up. You mention the book creation wizard will change later, how so?

Paul_Lulu · February 2018

The biggest change will be the entire creation process in a single screen. Inside of moving from page to page, you'll scroll down. The main benefit here is it removes the annoying navigation problems the current wizard has.

Aside from that, we'll redesign the order of creating.

Current

Options
Title
Interior
Cover
Details
Pricing
Review

New

Details/Title
Interior
Options
Cover
Pricing
Review

The 'new' structure isn't 100% worked out, but it allows us to better display available options and filter the information the book needs for correct metadata.

We also have a "Inside Look" tool during the Review step so you can see how the book will look once printed, with bleed and safety margins visible. That tool is already working with xPress, so you can see an example of it there.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

That does sound good. I've had the wizard crash so many times and have to back track. I think Createspace does that with the book preview thing. Still not sure what the xPress thing is for, I'll have to go reread about it. I did go read on the Shopify site last night, it is interesting just not affordable to me at the moment.

Paul_Lulu · February 2018

xPress is just a stripped down version of the new wizard. If you want to see the book preview tool and new(ish) cover tool, you can try it out. Any print ready file from Lulu should work in xPress.

Primarily we'll be using xPress to power the Shopify App and gather feedback to keep working on a new and improved book wizard.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

Thank you Paul I understand it now. Some great opportunities for some that can afford to do so. Something I might can look into later. I am interested though in seeing the new book wizard, especially the cover wizard. That has needed work for some time.

Papi_Soñoliento · February 2018

Aye, what's affordable to some isn't so much for others. From what I was reading earlier WooCommerce is free-ish and works with WordPress software which runs from free to expensive.

On my budget (appx. kaput) I either have to wait to see how the WooCommerce option will work or just do what I've been doing.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

What I was thinking Sphinx. My money is tight although my sales are improving for the most part. It has inspired me to keep "what I call writing" and get more books out. I will have to keep doing what I'm doing too for the moment but I do see the opportunity to get more sales with the new options.

Papi_Soñoliento · February 2018

Master Wilcox,
The WooCommerce / WordPress thing would tend to make it more feasible. Far easier to come up with $48 to $96 a year than $29 per month.

If the new wizard doesn't require me to set up the ironing board every time I do a cover I'll be happy, hard getting those things flat and I've always hated ironing.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

That would be a shame Sphinx, your book covers are always interesting

Paul_Lulu · February 2018

Hopefully we'll be able to make the process easier. I know in terms of file preparation there won't be any huge changes, since cover files have some very specific requirements.

One thing that we should see is better and more specific error reporting, so you'll know exactly why we didn't accept a file and (hopefully) have less trouble correcting it.

oncewas · February 2018

I'm really hoping that someone will come back six months from now and tell us that they are selling lots of books using Shopify and their website. Sometimes it seems that there will be too many stores and not enough customers.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

True Oncewas. I'm hoping the more books the better approach is still working. If someone is doing well with Shopify or Woocommerce I might break down and using my book sales to pay for it. But not until I see it's working.

Papi_Soñoliento · February 2018

I did a free Wix Site as a start. I checked on doing WordPress, but determined I need to earn some money before I get locked into a 3 year contract.

The Wife wants to see some ROI.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

I started one Sphinx, then gave up as I couldn't figure out how to create it. I'm very computer savy , just not with web creation.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

I think your site looks great. Wish I could have figure it out. There are a lot free search engine site that will add your site to the list for free by just giving your email. Not sure if it helps but it might.

Just Kevin · February 2018

JesusNinja, $29 is nothing compared to other eCommerce sites. And, you can import your store into FB.

The website I used to have cost me around $15 a month, and all I could practically use it for was to redirect people to Amazon, etc. I assume $29 is a year? not a month?

Just Kevin · February 2018

First, officially launching on February 15th, our new book printing engine located at https://xpress.lulu.com.

This does seem to be a standalone site. But does it mean that Lulu now own POD machines? Or is it just an alternative to this site?

Lulu xPress is a simplified and much improved form of the traditional Lulu Wizard. Basically, we stripped the process down to the absolute bare bones and started over.

Is that a good idea? The Tools on Lulu are quite basic as it is.

This is the first iteration and you'll notice there is no shop or retail distribution.

That's an aspect of this site that many people love.

At the moment, the xPress site is still very basic, but it serves as a first look at our new book builder,

I have not looked at it, yet. Can our Lulu log in details be used or does another account have to be opened? But many have been waiting for/ promised, a better book builder here, so why has it not been placed here on Lulu?

along with an improved pricing model that will eventually filter out to Lulu proper, and expanded options - we're up over 3,000 combinations now.

That is amazing. How come you did not develop them here, on Create?

That's not even the coolest part!

Later this month, we'll be releasing the first of our eCommerce integrations for Shopify. Other eCommerce options like WooCommerce and the like will follow.

That's sounds interesting, but unlike Amazon, I have never heard of it. How many potential customers know it exists? I have never heard it advertised or mentioned.

What we've got here is a App using the Lulu xPress framework that allows anyone with a Shopify store to create a book, upload their files just like they would on Lulu, and sell direct using our network.

All of this is built with our API for printing - run through our Developer API. We're redesigning our entire book creation system so each piece can function as an independent API, giving authors and entrepreneurs options about how they create and sell their books.

Does this not just sound like Lulu.com is now splitting up in to many sites? And one that even charges for its use. It's Lulu.com that I would have liked to see changes made to.

The xPress site is up and running now, and I'll update this thread later in the month once Shopify is live. For now, I'm happy to answer any questions and will gladly relay any feedback to our developers.

OK, I have just logged in to xPress, and only a PDF can be uploaded for interior files. That will upset some people.

Just Kevin · February 2018

xPress is just a stripped down version of the new wizard. If you want to see the book preview tool and new(ish) cover tool, you can try it out. Any print ready file from Lulu should work in xPress.

It's is very similar to Amazon's tools. And there's no harm in that.

Primarily we'll be using xPress to power the Shopify App and gather feedback to keep working on a new and improved book wizard.

Papi_Soñoliento · February 2018

TheJesusNinja said:

I started one Sphinx, then gave up as I couldn't figure out how to create it. I'm very computer savy , just not with web creation.

The web page creation isn't too difficult, just a bit tedious. All you really need are some background images you have copyright or right to use, the rest is basically cover images and setting up buttons / links to where your books can be found.

If you need an assist you can PM, I'll likely have some time free after next week. Something about replacing a toilet, among other duties.

TheJesusNinja said:

I think your site looks great. Wish I could have figure it out. There are a lot free search engine site that will add your site to the list for free by just giving your email. Not sure if it helps but it might.

Ah, the Wix 'free' thing is a bit deceptive as the 'free' website versions won't show on a web search and you get the WIX SEO [Search Engine Optimizer] only if you upgrade to a premium paid plan.

For the moment the Wixsite was good for helping me remember how I used to do things back when I was System Support / Database Yodeler.

I'll be checking on a few of the WordPress hosts to see if I can find one where I'm not coughing up a $250 furball, but that will likely be late next week at the earliest.

TheJesusNinja · February 2018

At the moment I can't afford anything but my sales are picking up to where they are consistent each month. Hoping the newest book will add some income to that but so far no sales. But it's only been out a week so need to wait a little longer I guess.

Papi_Soñoliento · February 2018

With any luck I'll have my latest release [which is also the back-story for the Regeneration series making it the zeroth in the series] ready to release soon. Checking a physical copy for errors while whipping up a cover of sorts.

I'll keep you posted if I find a host service that's semi-affordable for a tight budget.

Maggie · February 2018

JN, have faith. The money always shows up.

Something New - Lulu, Shopify, and Lulu xPress

Comments