ceejay
Junior Reader
Posts: 10
|
Post by ceejay on Mar 30, 2021 10:39:55 GMT
When I first started with Lulu many years ago I set up Global distribution and all was OK. I just let my account tick over unattended for a while partly due to living abroad with limited internet access. On getting up to date with lulu and my account I notice that each paperback sale includes a steep fee for distribution. It NEVER used to be like this and now the royalties for each sale are a joke. So I will be leaving lulu at some point soon and republishing elsewhere. I checked with the KDP book calculator and I would get THREE times the royalty with KDP than I do now with Lulu. So I assume other authors will start to leave lulu in droves with this sort of ripoff  |
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 30, 2021 11:59:49 GMT
In getting up to date with lulu and my account I notice that each paperback sale includes a steep fee for distribution.
Can you be more specific, and perhaps give some examples.
|
|
|
|
Post by benziger on Mar 30, 2021 12:29:17 GMT
There are not only authors who want to leave Lulu. There are also those who have already done so and those who are doing so at the moment. There are quite a few discussions about this here in this forum. For example, in the section lulu.boards.net/board/19/self-publishing-companiesAmong others, draft2digital.com ingramspark.com mybestseller.co.uk and KDP (I mention these because you can use them for free - at least with a coupon) have been mentioned again and again. Depending on where you want to sell your books, one is more or the other more worthwhile. Some also combine, e.g. Amazon via KDP and the rest with another provider.
If you browse through the forum a bit over the next few days, you will get to know a lot of advantages and disadvantages of the individual providers and even more than those mentioned.
|
|
ceejay
Junior Reader
Posts: 10
|
Post by ceejay on Mar 30, 2021 18:46:03 GMT
In getting up to date with lulu and my account I notice that each paperback sale includes a steep fee for distribution.Can you be more specific, and perhaps give some examples. Here is a screen shot that shows the fees for distribution.  Hope you are able to open it and enlarge ..... cheers |
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 30, 2021 19:29:49 GMT
I’m confused.
The figures you published are for new books.
Are you suggesting that Lulu changed the fees for existing books in publication and have applied these fees retrospectively?
|
|
|
|
Post by potet on Mar 30, 2021 19:51:35 GMT
The price has not changed for my books published earlier. For instance, for my sitcom Spiffies and Loonies the table is:  |
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 30, 2021 19:55:38 GMT
I just checked one of my books which has sold regularly for 15 years and the revenue per copy today is the same as it always has been.
So I still don’t understand the complaint.
|
|
ceejay
Junior Reader
Posts: 10
|
Post by ceejay on Mar 30, 2021 20:19:48 GMT
I just checked one of my books which has sold regularly for 15 years and the revenue per copy today is the same as it always has been. So I still don’t understand the complaint. These are the figures for global distribution NOT selling direct at lulu |
|
|
|
Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Mar 30, 2021 22:13:28 GMT
The distribution fees for books not sold on Lulu Press works out to roughly 50% of total sales price across the markets shown. Per this article www.bookmobile.com/opinion/book-distributors-and-book-wholesalers-whats-the-difference/In essence for a normal publisher [think offset printing] the higher the number of sales the lower the distribution fee charge. But for Self Publishing via POD each sale is a one-off [unless you have blazing skills and / or a lot of renown], so by going through Lulu you pay for Lulu acting as middleman between you and Ingram, meaning about 50% distribution fee while Lulu Press takes a cut of roughly 1.55% regardless. Doing print for Amazon through Amazon's KDP cuts out a lot of middleman cost, while taking the time to go directly through IngramSpark for your other print distribution allows you to set a discount that makes your work more palatable to brick and mortar venues while also lowering your distribution fees. [Note: don't register the ISBN you use through KDP because IngramSpark will will say the ISBN is already in use. You might also want to contact IngramSpark about how to utilize the personally-owned ISBN you may have already used at Lulu Press, if possible, since contractual obligations between Lulu Press Inc and IngramSpark might preclude you from recycling. Also wise to check with the main print distribution entity for your jurisdiction.] |
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 31, 2021 8:53:44 GMT
These are the figures for global distribution NOT selling direct at lulu I understand that. Buy you still haven’t explained That as those figures are for new books. Are you suggesting that Lulu changed the fees for existing books in publication and have applied these fees retrospectively? My evidence is that my books in Global have exactly the same overheads as when originally published with exactly the same revenue to me to day as in previous years. What point am I missing in your complaint? |
|
