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Post by BlueAndGold on Jul 2, 2020 23:54:26 GMT
...for Lulu to fix the two books that I have been trying to approve since the week before the downgrade in April. Numerous attempts at support cases have resulted in exactly zero movement so today I knuckled under and just clicked the REVISE button, uploaded the correct files, and ordered proof copies. Again. That's another $30 I shouldn't have had to spend but I'm tired on sitting on my hands waiting for them to figure out which cover to put on the frigging books. This seems to be the only way to get progress. Just do it yourself and pay the fee. The support people are currently useless.
I will report this: The new site's book creation and revision utility is much nicer to navigate and use than the old one. I truly do like it, even though there are some glaring bugs still to work out. I didn't bother to document all the bugs; I just wanted to get the show on the road.
I do recall these three items I will note:
1. YES, your one-piece cover PDF's for standard-sized books need to be a different size (wider) than they used to be, even for the very same book. That explains their cryptic note in the April e-mail mentioning something to the effect that they would be addressing book covers in-house. Some of mine they apparently did, but the ones that were pending review never got done. After two months.
2. BISAC fields: When you enter your BISAC descriptions, (1, 2, 3) they display in the final review as 3, 2, 1.
3. A Caveat: When it comes time to pay for your books, if you have previously checked the "Remember My Information" checkbox, a "buy now" window pops up asking for a code they send via text. If you use that box, the sale is made and you do not have the opportunity to enter any discount codes. The sale is done. No way to go back.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 0:55:58 GMT
...for Lulu to fix the two books that I have been trying to approve since the week before the downgrade in April. Numerous attempts at support cases have resulted in exactly zero movement so today I knuckled under and just clicked the REVISE button, uploaded the correct files, and ordered proof copies. Again. That's another $30 I shouldn't have had to spend but I'm tired on sitting on my hands waiting for them to figure out which cover to put on the frigging books. This seems to be the only way to get progress. Just do it yourself and pay the fee. The support people are currently useless.
I will report this: The new site's book creation and revision utility is much nicer to navigate and use than the old one. I truly do like it, even though there are some glaring bugs still to work out. I didn't bother to document all the bugs; I just wanted to get the show on the road.
I do recall these three items I will note:
1. YES, your one-piece cover PDF's for standard-sized books need to be a different size (wider) than they used to be, even for the very same book. That explains their cryptic note in the April e-mail mentioning something to the effect that they would be addressing book covers in-house. Some of mine they apparently did, but the ones that were pending review never got done. After two months.
2. BISAC fields: When you enter your BISAC descriptions, (1, 2, 3) they display in the final review as 3, 2, 1.
3. A Caveat: When it comes time to pay for your books, if you have previously checked the "Remember My Information" checkbox, a "buy now" window pops up asking for a code they send via text. If you use that box, the sale is made and you do not have the opportunity to enter any discount codes. The sale is done. No way to go back.
I am very glad you did it. I was hoping you would. I was watching a very old apocalyptic Russian movie a few months ago and in it they said the young are malleable, that is why they survive. So, here we are, jumping through hoops and malleating. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 0:57:16 GMT
...for Lulu to fix the two books that I have been trying to approve since the week before the downgrade in April. Numerous attempts at support cases have resulted in exactly zero movement so today I knuckled under and just clicked the REVISE button, uploaded the correct files, and ordered proof copies. Again. That's another $30 I shouldn't have had to spend but I'm tired on sitting on my hands waiting for them to figure out which cover to put on the frigging books. This seems to be the only way to get progress. Just do it yourself and pay the fee. The support people are currently useless.
I will report this: The new site's book creation and revision utility is much nicer to navigate and use than the old one. I truly do like it, even though there are some glaring bugs still to work out. I didn't bother to document all the bugs; I just wanted to get the show on the road.
I do recall these three items I will note:
1. YES, your one-piece cover PDF's for standard-sized books need to be a different size (wider) than they used to be, even for the very same book. That explains their cryptic note in the April e-mail mentioning something to the effect that they would be addressing book covers in-house. Some of mine they apparently did, but the ones that were pending review never got done. After two months.
2. BISAC fields: When you enter your BISAC descriptions, (1, 2, 3) they display in the final review as 3, 2, 1.
3. A Caveat: When it comes time to pay for your books, if you have previously checked the "Remember My Information" checkbox, a "buy now" window pops up asking for a code they send via text. If you use that box, the sale is made and you do not have the opportunity to enter any discount codes. The sale is done. No way to go back.
I didn't know points 2. And 3. Useful. Did you use the PRINT15 coupon code or was it too late? |
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Post by BlueAndGold on Jul 3, 2020 12:25:11 GMT
Too late. You MUST enter your discount code before using the pop-up "buy now" window or you will be robbed of your discount.
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Post by Deadshot on Jul 3, 2020 13:48:43 GMT
My books are in sale, no error that I can detect so far. I just hope that the end product is as I initially set it up.
I received some royalties this months.
However,
- still no detailed history of sales from Lulu or other outlets.
- no way to see how many copies sold or by which outlet (very useful info as far as I am concerned).
- no way to see how my books are doing this month or any other month.
- I know this month has been the worst month of sales despite it being the month where my books usually sell massively to schools/students/teachers. (about 1/10th of the usual sales in this period).
Basically, receiving the royalties is not enough. I need to know by whom and when. I am really thinking of moving but (unlike the malleable young) I am trying to be steady and patient. Any longer than this and it is just idiotic to keep waiting for Godot!
I am monitoring your movement (this board members and especially the long-standing ones) to see what the collective wisdom will decide. If some of you break ranks, I will do the same. However, I may start another book just to keep me focused and positive.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 14:14:47 GMT
My books are in sale, no error that I can detect so far. I just hope that the end product is as I initially set it up. I received some royalties this months. However, - still no detailed history of sales from Lulu or other outlets. - no way to see how many copies sold or by which outlet (very useful info as far as I am concerned). - no way to see how my books are doing this month or any other month. - I know this month has been the worst month of sales despite it being the month where my books usually sell massively to schools/students/teachers. (about 1/10th of the usual sales in this period). Basically, receiving the royalties is not enough. I need to know by whom and when. I am really thinking of moving but (unlike the malleable young) I am trying to be steady and patient. Any longer than this and it is just idiotic to keep waiting for Godot! I am monitoring your movement (this board members and especially the long-standing ones) to see what the collective wisdom will decide. If some of you break ranks, I will do the same. However, I may start another book just to keep me focused and positive. Make another book. But be prepared to wait 5 weeks or more for distribution. I think Lulu are getting it together; they just need time.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 14:18:50 GMT
Too late. You MUST enter your discount code before using the pop-up "buy now" window or you will be robbed of your discount. For next time, perhaps you can abort the operation, log out, log in later, click on cart and Remove the item or change number to zero. Restart the purchase order. I have not done this within the new updated website, but I did accidentally add my book four times to my shopping cart. It was possible to reduce to one.
That is, if Buy now isn't an instant one step, one second process. |
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