alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 2, 2021 18:27:22 GMT
I published two books a couple of years ago and published them with global distribution. I recently decided to read them again and found 2-3 typos in each book so I decided to revise them. After uploading the new PDF files to each book, I think I've found something very strange indeed. One of the books allows me to finish editing and order a proof copy, but the other one just... I don't really know. It displays two warnings under the "Book Specifications" section of the Design tab. They read, "Book specification is required to publish" and "Book Specifications can't be updated after publishing your Book with Global Distribution". This makes it so I am unable to choose any of the options, and re-publish the book. This would make at least a bit of sense if it weren't for my other book. This book doesn't have any warnings and allows me to revise as normal, and it was also published with global distribution. I've tried to contact Lulu about this but they kept giving me automated responses, not being helpful. I then checked the Lulu knowledge base and found something that could explain some things -- "If you've created a book for distribution (applied an ISBN), you may be limited to other distribution eligible formats." This makes sense, as the book I'm still able to revise (Book #2) only has options available for global distribution, and all other options are crossed out as "not available". However, with my other book (Book #1), the one that I can't revise, all options are crossed out as "not available". I've ran out of options so I came here to see if anyone has a solution. Here are some images: imgur.com/a/oUG4aWS |
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Post by Ken on Jul 3, 2021 7:53:24 GMT
It seems that one of you new PDFs is a different format to the original.
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alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 3, 2021 18:01:00 GMT
It's possible, but I was doing some tests earlier with the PDF files and found out that I still can't edit even with the previous version of the file, the one I used when publishing the book. I've also done this with a few other PDF files, and I'm still unable to edit even with different files, so it looks like the PDF file isn't the problem.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jul 3, 2021 20:52:35 GMT
Just guessing, but is it possible the specific format of the book you can't edit now is a format Lulu Press no longer supports?
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alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 3, 2021 22:59:09 GMT
That was what I had thought most of the time, but I think I just found the actual reason: I conducted a test earlier by making a new unpublished project and uploading the file. I then selected all the settings that the original book had, and it was approved for global distribution. What I think is going on here is something I came across before and posted about in one of the posts above: the fact that I am unable to change a few things about the book after publishing with global distribution. Some of those include the binding type, the trim size, the interior color, and the paper type. This is what I think is linked to "Book specification is required to publish" and "Book Specifications can't be updated after publishing your Book with Global Distribution" warnings.
I'm unable to change the book specifications because I've already published it with global distribution, but in order to publish my book, I need to fill out the book specifications. This creates a contradiction that makes me unable to publish the book, and the thing is, I'm not planning on changing any of the specifications, but still, they all appear unavailable.
I think this is probably some sort of bug, and if this is truly what is causing the whole problem, I should probably contact Lulu about it.
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Post by Ken on Jul 4, 2021 13:24:56 GMT
I still think your new pdf is at fault.
All that Lulu is trying to do is to match the required book specs with what is in the actual pdf.
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alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 5, 2021 18:53:21 GMT
That would make sense, but uploading the old PDF still results in me not able to revise the book, so the PDF is probably not at fault, I still think it's likely a glitch. If this is a result of a faulty PDF, I'm not sure why it would be causing this, the specs are the exact same as the old PDF (size, color, etc.) even the same amount of pages.
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Post by Ken on Jul 6, 2021 17:56:38 GMT
Two things - one can you provide links to each of the two books?
Second - try creating a new project with your revised PDF. It won’t cost you anything to do so, you’ll probably have to opt for a new Lulu ISBN.
Do that and report back……………..
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alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 6, 2021 19:51:19 GMT
When you say provide links to the books, do you mean the PDF files or the listings on the Lulu catalog of the books?
I made a new project with the new PDF file and it allowed me to edit normally and even approve my project for distribution.
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alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 10, 2021 0:29:52 GMT
Update:
Lulu replied to my ticket and said that they escalated my case to the engineering department, and said that the issue will (hopefully) be fixed soon. I guess I'll have to wait and see if they can truly fix it though, I'll give an update once they reply back.
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Post by potet on Jul 14, 2021 21:47:22 GMT
There are also the categorial data that were not required previously, and now are, e.g. humanities, anthropology, LGBT, etc.
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alta
Junior Reader
Posts: 7
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Post by alta on Jul 18, 2021 17:41:58 GMT
Alright, thanks for the help everyone, this issue has seemingly been fixed.
I decided to take a break from Lulu as I had other things on my mind at the time, and, after about a week, I decided to log back on to the Lulu website. I was then greeted with my book being available to order as a proof copy for global distribution... I was a bit confused but shrugged it off as the issue finally being fixed. I opened up the book's revision page and found that all of the unchecked checkmarks that were uncheckable before this were all checked out now, somehow. This wasn't my doing, as I hadn't gone on my account for an entire week, and as I checked my email, still no reply from Lulu (regarding the previous email) so this might have been fixed automatically, or they fixed it without giving a reply.
Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and order a proof copy in about a week, as I'm combining one big order of proof copies that contains many other books. If anything else strange happens, I'll probably come back to the forum but until then, this case is closed. Again, thanks for the help.
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