What Types of Files Can I Upload?
Files accepted for Books:
DOC & DOCX (Word Document)
RTF (Rich Text Format)
PDF (Portable Document Format)
JPG (Joint Photographics Expert Group)
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
PNG (Portable Network Graphic)
Files accepted for eBooks:
EPUB (electronic publication)
PDF (Portable Document Format)
DOC & DOCX (Word Document) - will convert to EPUB
RTF (Rich Text Format) - will convert to EPUB
JPG (Joint Photographics Expert Group)
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
PNG (Portable Network Graphic)
ODT (Open Document Format) - will convert to EPUB
Files accepted for book covers:
JPG (Joint Photographics Expert Group)
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
PNG (Portable Network Graphic)
PDF (Only for One-Piece Covers)
Files accepted for Photobooks & Calendars:
JPG (Joint Photographics Expert Group)
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
PNG (Portable Network Graphic)
How do I set a Copyright License for my work?
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted and recognized by most governments, giving exclusive rights to the creator of an original work, usually for a limited time. The term itself generally means "the right to copy," but also gives the copyright holder rights to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights.
While no creative work is automatically protected worldwide, there are international treaties that provide protection automatically for all creative works as soon as they are fixed in a medium. There are two primary international copyright agreements: the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and theBuenos Aires Convention.
You, as the creator, are both the copyright holder and publisher of all works created and distributed using the tools and services available on the Lulu.com website. Therefore, when creating your work's copyright page, you should list yourself as the copyright holder and publisher. If you wish, you may list Lulu as the distributor.
Set your project's Copyright License as you are completing the Description step of Lulu's Publishing Wizard. Click the drop down box to the right of "License" to select the Copyright license of your choice.
Authors should research the copyright requirements for the countries in which they intend to make their work available and select accordingly from the following list of copyright options.
Standard Copyright License
The length of Copyright varies in length by jurisdictions. The length of the term can depend on several factors, including the type of work (e.g. musical composition, novel), whether the work has been published, and whether the work was created by an individual or a corporation. In most of the world, the default length of copyright is the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years. In the United States, the term for most existing works is a fixed number of years after the date of creation or publication.
List of countries’ length of copyright
Public Domain
Under modern law, most original works of art, literature, music, etc. are covered by copyright from the time of their creation and extending for a set period of time. When the copyright expires, the work enters the public domain. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose. The laws of various countries define the scope of the public domain differently; making it necessary to specify which jurisdiction's public domain is being discussed.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known asCreative Commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. Creative Commons licenses do not replace copyright, but are based upon it. They replace individual negotiations for specific rights between the copyright owner (licensor) and licensee, which are necessary under an "all rights reserved" copyright management with a "some rights reserved" management employing standardized licenses for re-use cases where no commercial compensation is sought by the copyright owner.
Click the links below for easy to understand, one-page explanations of each Creative Commons license.
Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
GNU Free or Open-source Software Documentation
Documentation for free software should be free documentation so that people can redistribute it and improve it along with the software it describes. To make it free, you need to release it under a free documentation license. If you have already started your project, but are unsure what type of free documentation license you need, click on the links below for additional information.
GNU Free Documentation License
GNU General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License
Create a Custom License
Enter the name and URL for the license in the pop-up window and click accept.
Copyright Definitions and FAQ
How do I set the retail price of my book?
Print Books
You will set the retail price of your book in the publishing wizard. If your book includes an ISBN, the displayed price will include the minimum retail markup (production cost x 2). The pricing step includes a real-time calculator to help you work through the retail price and royalty combinations. When first displayed, the amount in the Retail Print field is the minimum retail price for the book. The minimum retail price (retail price / 2) must be enough to cover the production cost of publishing the book, your royalty, and the Lulu commission:
Minimum wholesale price = Production cost + Royalty + Lulu commission
It is probably easiest to set the retail price and let Lulu calculate your maximum royalty. Using our $20 retail price, the wholesale is automatically $10. $10 minus production costs = what's left over for your royalty and the Lulu commission. The calculator maximizes this. You can
Enter a Retail Print price and Lulu calculates your royalty and the Lulu commission.
Enter a royalty amount and Lulu calculates the retail price and the Lulu commission.
Enter $0 in the Your Royalty field to reset the price back to the minimum.
IMPORTANT: The retail price is a suggested retail price. You have the option of pricing your book even higher, which will allow for greater profits, and greater royalties. However, if the book is overpriced or "priced out of market," it may not sell as many copies as it would at a lower price. Would you like to see an example?
Once your Book is published, you can view and edit your retail pricing. Go to My Projects and click on the project title. Scroll to the Pricing and Creator Revenues section and click Edit to adjust your retail pricing.
eBooks
Once you have uploaded your eBook, created the marketing image, and entered your book's details, you must decide on its price. You do this in the eBook creation wizard by simply entering a price and choosing the retail sites on which you would like to sell your book. Our retail price calculator allows you to offer your eBook for free or any price above $0.99.
Note: If you deselect Lulu from the distribution list, your book will be published in Private Access. It will not be displayed in the Lulu bookstore and will not be returned in search results.
Some retailers, such as the Apple iBookstore, require prices to end in .99. If you choose the iBookstore as a retail distribution option, we will automatically adjust your price to the nearest acceptable price based on Apple's pricing tiers for each currency. To view these pricing tiers, see our Apple iBookstore retail price calculator.
You may notice that your revenue amounts change based on the retail sites you select to distribute your book. That is because some retailers (Lulu, Apple, and Barnes & Noble) act as sales agents meaning they sell your eBook at the price you set then take a commission based on that price. Other retailers (Amazon, Kobo) operate as resellers. This means they pay the wholesale price to a distributor when your eBook sells. Since these retailers are buying your book from a middle man at a set price, they can resell your eBook at any price they like, including a discounted price. Under the reseller model you will always make the same revenue as displayed in the retail pricing step for each book sold by that retailer, regardless of the sale price.
Once your eBook is published, you can view and edit your eBook's retail pricing and distribution options from theMy Projects > Manage button.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When you select Kobo and/or Kindle distribution, Barnes & Noble converts to the reseller revenue model.
What is "My Files?"
Lulu keeps all of the files that you use for projects in "My Files". "My Files" also has 5GB of space for files that haven’t been used in a project yet. Once a file is added to a project (even if the project is still in Draft status), it no longer counts towards the 5GB limit. Files not linked to a project are automatically removed after 21 days.
In My Files you can:
Upload files from your computer to your Lulu account.
View files by type or project.
Use the files for any of your projects.
Download files to your computer.
For files larger than 300MB use FTP.
Why does Retail pricing require a markup?
Print Books
Retailers and Wholesalers make their money by purchasing print books from distributors at a discount from the retail price you set for your book. Most print book retailers and wholesalers buy at a 50% discount, returnable, with freight paid to the store or warehouse. This is referred to as a full trade discount.
A short discount is typically 20% off retail and often restricts the availability of books as there is not enough profit margin for a brick and mortar retailer to carry it. Because of Lulu's relationships with wholesalers and retailers, and our automated bibliographic feeds and print partners, we enable your book to be made available through these channels on a non-returnable, free freight basis. The discount extended to retailers and wholesalers may vary, however, given different laws, conventions within certain markets, and what the retailer will buy.
Lulu's print book retail pricing calculator doubles Manufacturing Cost plus Creator Compensation and Lulu fee. This is an intuitively clear calculation and it allows Lulu a sufficient margin to negotiate with retailers and wholesalers to list your book. For more information, see How Retail Prices are Determined.
In dealing with channel partners there are setup costs, cross-docking charges or in-bound freight costs to reach that wholesaler, which are in addition to the discount.
eBooks
eBooks, by their very nature, do not include a production cost, but there are distribution fees and retailer commissions to consider. There are pricing restrictions you must follow when applying your retail price. For example, the retail pricing step in the eBook creation wizard allows you to offer your eBook for free or any price above $0.99.
Some retailers, such as the Apple iBookstore, require prices to end in .99. If you choose the iBookstore as a retail distribution option, we will automatically adjust your price to the nearest acceptable price based on Apple's pricing tiers for each currency. To view these pricing tiers, see our Apple iBookstore retail price calculator.
Once you enter the retail price and choose the retail sites on which you would like to sell your book, we will display the price, distribution fees, Lulu commission, and your net revenue for each retail site.
Note: If you deselect Lulu from the distribution list, your book will be published in Private Access. It will not be displayed in the Lulu bookstore and will not be returned in search results.
You may notice that your revenue amounts change based on the retail sites you select to distribute your book. That is because some retailers (Lulu, Apple, and Barnes & Noble) act as sales agents meaning they sell your eBook at the price you set then take a commission based on that price. Other retailers (Amazon, Kobo) operate as resellers. This means they pay a wholesale price to a distributor when your eBook sells. Since these retailers are buying your book from a middle man at a set price, they can resell your eBook at any price they like, including a discounted price. Under the reseller model you will always make the same revenue as displayed in the retail pricing step for each book sold by that retailer, regardless of the sale price.
Once your eBook is published, you can view and edit your eBook's retail pricing and distribution options from theMy Projects by clicking the Manage button displayed next to your project title.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When you select Kobo and/or Kindle distribution, all other selected retailers (except Lulu and the iBookstore) convert to the reseller revenue model.
What is the difference between Lulu, wholesale, and retail prices?.
Print Books
Assume you have written a book for a very specialized market: The Essentials of Underwater Firefighting. The cost of printing each book (# of pages + binding + labor) is $5.50.
When purchasing your book, the Author price = (manufacturing cost + applicable taxes + shipping) - (coupon and/or bulk purchase discounts)
If you publish your print format book without an ISBN, you may sell it in the Lulu Marketplace at any price above the book's manufacturing cost. This is the direct to consumer Lulu price.
If you choose to publish your book with an ISBN, you must comply with accepted wholesale and retail (list) distribution pricing guidelines. The example below describes how these prices are set.
Wholesale Price
In this example, “Wholesale Price” refers to the minimum price at which you are willing to sell your book to retailers, who will in turn sell it to their customers for a profit.
You determine your minimum acceptable royalty per book is $4.00. The overhead cost, or Lulu commission, is $1.00 per book.
Manufacturing Cost + Royalty + Lulu Commission = Wholesale Price per Book
From our example: $5.50 + $4.00 + $1.00 = $10.50 per book
Since manufacturing costs are somewhat out of the author’s control, this pricing example relies on your decisions about the minimum royalty you wish to make from each retail purchase of your book.
An author should also consider that while you may be earning a smaller royalty per book when offering it at a wholesale price, you could eventually earn more income from higher book sales through retail channels.
Retail (or List) Price
The generally accepted retail pricing formula is: Wholesale Price x 2
From our example: $10.50 x 2 = $21.00
When you decide to offer your work to retailers at wholesale prices, it is with the understanding that the retailer expects to sell your work at a price sufficient to cover their costs and still make a profit – even if the retailer chooses to offer your work at a discount.
Once your Book is published, you can view and edit your retail pricing. Go to My Projects and click on the project title. Scroll to the Pricing and Creator Revenues section and click Edit to adjust your retail pricing.
eBooks
Setting prices for eBooks is slightly diferrent, mainly due to there being no production costs as with print books.
Enter your retail price in the pricing step of the eBook publishing wizard and we will display the pricing breakdown for each selected distribution outlet: Retail Price, Distribution Fee, Lulu Commission, Author Revenue.
Some retailers, such as the Apple iBookstore, require prices to end in .99. If you choose the iBookstore as a retail distribution option, we will automatically adjust your price to the nearest acceptable price based on Apple's pricing tiers for each currency. To view these pricing tiers, see our Apple iBookstore retail price calculator.
You may notice that your revenue amounts change based on the retail sites you select to distribute your book. That is because some retailers (Lulu, Apple, and Barnes & Noble) act as sales agents meaning they sell your eBook at the price you set. They then take a commission based on that price, typically 30-44% of the retail price depending on country and currency. For more information on iBookstore pricing, see How to get your ebook on the iBookstore.
Other retailers (Amazon, Kobo) operate as resellers. This means they pay the wholesale price to a distributor when your eBook sells. Since these retailers are buying your book from a middle man at a set price, they can resell your eBook at any price they choose, including a discounted price.
Under the reseller model you will always make the same revenue as displayed in the retail pricing step for each book sold by that retailer, regardless of the sale price.
Once your eBook is published, you can view and edit your eBook's retail pricing and distribution options from theMy Projects page by clicking the Manage button displayed next to the project title.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When you select Kobo and/or Kindle distribution, all other selected retailers (except Lulu and the iBookstore) convert to the reseller revenue model.
What is a Suggested Retail or List Price?
The wholesale price you set for your book is the price retailers pay to purchase your book for resell from their sites, stores, or shops. The suggested retail price includes a price mark up sufficient to cover the retailer’s labor, marketing, rent, utilities, and other fixed costs associated with owning and running a business. The retailer may choose to sell your work at the full retail price ($21.00 from our example above), they may offer a standard discount (such as free shipping), or they may run a special for a defined period of time (such as 25% off all books purchased that month). The selling price set by the retailer has no effect on royalties you earn from selling your book at the wholesale price – in other words, if your Retail Royalty is set at $4, you will make $4 for every book sold in retail channels, even if the retailer offers a discount.
For more information about Retail pricing requirements, see: How Retail Prices are Determined
Do I have to price my content in dollars?
You may price your content using any of the following currencies: Dollars (USD, CA$, AU$), Euros (€), Pounds Sterling (£), and Swiss Francs (CHF).
Modify your currency preference on the My Account and Orders section of the My Lulu page. Select a currency from the dropdown menu.
If you opt to receive your Creator Revenue payments by Paypal, we pay you in your currency of choice. (We issue paper checks only in US dollars.)
How do I turn a paperback into a hardcover?
Hardcovers are available in 6 x 9" (US Trade) and 8.25 x 10.75" (US Letter) sizes. To get started making a hardcover version of your paperback book:
Go to the Lulu Book Builder
Choose the Premium Hardcover product line
Select the book size and formatting options for your hardcover edition.
Click Make this book to initiate the print book publishing wizard
On the file upload step, choose the My Files on Lulu tab
Choose the interior file(s) for your previously published paperback book
Click Add Files to Project
When creating the print-ready file, the publishing wizard can make slight page size adjustments to fit your manuscript into the book size you selected.
If your manuscript is too far from 6x9" or 8.25x10.75" a warning message will display instructing you to resize your manuscript. Learn more about formatting your manuscript here.
Can I send my files to Lulu instead of uploading through the site?
Lulu does not accept files provided by any method other than the ones provided on the site. These include the following.
The Lulu Publishing Wizards and Lulu Studio
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
My Files, in your My Lulu account tab
If you find that you can't upload your files directly from your computer, you may copy your files onto a CD or flash drive and upload them from a public Internet computer found, for example, at a library or internet café. Allow about an hour for the entire process, although the actual upload time is much less.
As you may find public Internet time in your area limited or costly, we suggest that you practice from your home computer using a simple dummy book (with small files) to learn the process and make creating your actual book faster. Of course, you may also upload files using one computer then work with your project on another computer.
Can I upload my files before I start the publishing process?
You may upload your files to your account's My Files area before you begin, for everything except Calendars. For more information, please see the following FAQs.
How can I upload large files more quickly and easily? / Can I upload my files with FTP?
Can I enter HTML in the Descriptio
n field?
HTML was previously allowed, but there were issues with the way pages loaded and displayed. We no longer allow HTML and strip it from the Description field in the Lulu Publishing Wizard.
What kinds of licenses can I put on my work?
Lulu offers a range of Creative Commons licenses and GNU licenses; access these options through the >More Licenses< button. For a full explanation of these licenses, see the following websites.
Creative Commons Licenses
GNU Licenses