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Post by JesusNinja on Jul 11, 2021 0:29:40 GMT
Today while cleaning off the top of my fridge, I found an old red envelop. It was from Lulu. Inside was a Christmas card hand signed by many of the staff. At the time I thought that was a very nice gesture. Seeing this brought many old memories of the way Lulu used to be. It had a forum where many of us met for the first time. I can't describe how much I learned in that forum. I remember the ease of using the publishing wizard, and how Lulu support would always get back to you within two days. They were always polite and understanding. I never worried about anything. How things have changed....But I've kept the card all of these years. It reminds me of what used to be. Now my account is retired there and still struggling to get the books offline at other stores. I'll miss them. If nothing else I've gained some online friends. Many who taught me so much and never asked for anything in return. So it was not a total loss.
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Post by potet on Jul 11, 2021 10:49:42 GMT
Me too. Lulu will never be the same now.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Jul 11, 2021 12:58:28 GMT
Wow! You don't clean the top of your fridge very often, huh?  Hee hee hee! |
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Post by benziger on Jul 11, 2021 15:21:04 GMT
Now my account is retired there and still struggling to get the books offline at other stores. , if you republish it through other channels, don't forget to report it in the Book Announcement and Promotion section. No matter how you distribute them, a link from a reputable forum never hurts. This is your forum, independent of the publishing way. |
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Post by JesusNinja on Jul 15, 2021 19:12:02 GMT
Now my account is retired there and still struggling to get the books offline at other stores. , if you republish it through other channels, don't forget to report it in the Book Announcement and Promotion section. No matter how you distribute them, a link from a reputable forum never hurts. This is your forum, independent of the publishing way. I will make sure to do so. I doubt I will get into writing much again. Although I might put a few of my books back on Lulu only. Or just dad's book but won't be putting the same energy into it again. |
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jul 15, 2021 21:33:07 GMT
JesusNinja , if you republish it through other channels, don't forget to report it in the Book Announcement and Promotion section. No matter how you distribute them, a link from a reputable forum never hurts. This is your forum, independent of the publishing way. I will make sure to do so. I doubt I will get into writing much again. Although I might put a few of my books back on Lulu only. Or just dad's book but won't be putting the same energy into it again. Writing can be a bit addictive, this from someone with at least three dozen works to finish and release. Yet life often intervenes and has us doing something different, for a while.
Write for whatever reason you write, when you feel the urge and just can't help yourself.
Betimes it helps to take a break.
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Post by Ken on Jul 16, 2021 6:35:25 GMT
I too remember the Xmas cards.
Also the International conferences and seminars.
Things started to change when they introduced low caliber managers.
I don’t understand the threat of new pricing when it doesn’t seem to affect the production cost of established books .
As an aside would a subscription service be an option?
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jul 16, 2021 20:28:12 GMT
I too remember the Xmas cards. Also the International conferences and seminars. Things started to change when they introduced low caliber managers. I don’t understand the threat of new pricing when it doesn’t seem to affect the production cost of established books . As an aside would a subscription service be an option? The new pricing does affect existing books when there is either a revision or the author adjusts the price [with no other changes made].
Part of the issue is that the "upgrade" Lulu Press started over hasn't worked quite as well [or gone as quickly] as promised. Which means many Self Publishers who once relied on a known service went elsewhere after a two-day changeover dragged on interminably.
Another part of the issue [at least in the US] is supply-line and labor issues related to COVID-19, meaning shortages of labor and materiel.
Factor in that the executives running things need to turn a hefty profit in order to justify their year-end bonuses and prices being increased in different ways makes sense because Lulu Press isn't a charity or non-profit.
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Post by Ken on Jul 17, 2021 7:02:51 GMT
Sensible comments especially on COVID issues.
I’m sure that most of lulu’s support problems are related.
I recall when the Support Team had a Stand Up Meeting every day where current problems were discussed and resolved. Current remote working and probably with a fraction of the number of staff doesn’t work.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jul 17, 2021 12:42:09 GMT
Sensible comments especially on COVID issues. I’m sure that most of lulu’s support problems are related. I recall when the Support Team had a Stand Up Meeting every day where current problems were discussed and resolved. Current remote working and probably with a fraction of the number of staff doesn’t work. While COVID-19 played a role, another part of the issue is how upper management at a company perceives both its product [what is being sold] and the labor [workers] who make operations possible. A business tends to degrade when there's a disconnect.
Part of the problem Lulu Press is experiencing is upper management didn't and apparently still doesn't understand the software utilized or best practice in switching to a new platform much less how much tolerance the end-users would have trying to use a platform for an extended period that was rolled out long before it was actually ready.
If Lulu Press is short on staff, odds are it has much to do with how upper management is treating personnel as well as the frustration of trying to help end-users who who were expecting a two-day changeover that was anything but.
Having worked at companies where workers were told raises weren't happening due to then current conditions, yet upper management still got big bonuses on top of raises, it looks like someone in management had the wrong perspective on strategy.
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Post by JesusNinja on Jul 24, 2021 22:40:39 GMT
I remember being told that I wasn't a "team" player by a manager. Told him I'd love to be a team player. But I wanted to be one of the players that got bonuses each month that the peons helped them get. I wanted the benefits that they got that we team players didn't get. I said if it weren't for us you wouldn't get those paid bonuses and vacations. Why should I work so hard just watch you get successful?
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jul 24, 2021 23:31:38 GMT
I remember being told that I wasn't a "team" player by a manager. Told him I'd love to be a team player. But I wanted to be one of the players that got bonuses each month that the peons helped them get. I wanted the benefits that they got that we team players didn't get. I said if it weren't for us you wouldn't get those paid bonuses and vacations. Why should I work so hard just watch you get successful? I remember someone in management where I once worked profanely cursing at me [in a way someone would get their butt kicked in a bar], making sure I was written up [the HR rep who was in the meeting found a different job and quit two weeks later], then asking me to join management two years later. He didn't comprehend it when I told him I preferred being able to look myself in the eye when I face a mirror each morning.
People living the corporate life in the US [and elsewhere] quite often tend to not respect those who make their salaries, perks, and et ceteras possible.
I can be a royal a$$hole due to genealogy, I can be unforgiving of arrogance not based on performance but on conceit, yet I firmly believe the education system in the US [among many countries] is woefully flawed due to the willful ignorance of so many degree-holders who afflict those under them whom they deal with daily from a basis of willful stupidity.
I thank you for touching upon a subject I discussed ad nauseum with Ph.D.-holders over a quarter-century ago.
Keep writing.
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Post by Ken on Jul 25, 2021 8:11:50 GMT
Interesting conversations. I recall working with one Company for a relatively short period of time and being told by a Manager as we drove to a meeting with a Client that “I didn’t understand the Culture of the Company.” Under my breath a I replied that the Company didn’t have any Culture.  |
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jul 25, 2021 11:49:57 GMT
Kind of like the company where someone supposedly teaching a class of new hires what they needed to know to get them up to speed more quickly actually stated: "I had to learn things the hard way without any help and you will too." The class only helped a relative few, as in those individuals who went drinking with the instructors after hours.
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Hee hee hee!
