Just Received this B.S. from Lulu:

While saddle stitch for books intended for children stands up to the abuse kids can put their books through, consider perfect bound. It's a better option than walking away.

 It's the outrageous price that Lulu demands I sell my books at that would make them so overpriced no one would even consider them.  That's why I chose saddle stitch.  The only 2 options it gives me for any of my books are saddle stitch and hardcover.  I did put one out in hardcover and Lulu insists that it be priced over $42.00. No one is going to pay that.  No one.  They've screwed me.  Totally screwed me.  I give up.  Think I'm going to pack it in.  Pull my books and just go on being a nobody who is constantly kicked in the teeth whenever he tries to do something good. After nearly a half-century of this kind of b.s., I've had my fill. 

Yeah I have one hardcover out too. It's so over priced I'd make around 50 cents profit. I've sold one and that was a student I used to teach. Sorry I didn't know saddle stitch was paperback or I wouldn't have recommended the paperback. I'm wondering since this was not your fault if Lulu would be gracious enough to let you revise them under the other binding and give you a free proof. I mean it wasn't your fault and it's worth a try. You'd at least get your books back out. I understand the frustration. I'm still upset with Lulu for my missing books, bugs in the wizard , and money I've lost this year. I still remember how great they once were. But maybe contact them and see if they will provide an option. Nothing to lose for trying it.

I was watching "Alone" back in Montreal with nothing to do but dream of nature -- and an introductory quote struck me: Survival is endurance. You must endure. Jump through the hoops, go over the obstacles, tolerate the pain, then you win. Never pack it in.

Whilst it is disappointing that you didn’t receive an email telling of the change to saddle stitch availability on some products it is worthwhile occasionally trawling through all of the information poublished on the Lulu web site. What is perhaps missing is a diary of web site changes and updated but how many companies provide such nowadays.

In the meantime let me draw everyone’s attention to this page
assets.lulu.com/media/guides/en/lulu-global-distribution-eligible-products.pdf?_gl=1*1b8gjmf*_ga*MTk1NDI5NzY4NS4xNjE1MzA1MzIx*_ga_E4HSQJ4YSL*MTYxNTQ2NDQ3NC43LjEuMTYxNTQ2NTAxOS4w&_ga=2.149004405.2107390932.1615305321-1954297685.1615305321

Make sure you scroll up and down through all of it.

On a similar vein I wonder how many of the regular Forum users here have revisited and perused all the Guides available on this link. For those who haven’t they may be pleasantly surprised at the wealth of information now available.
www.lulu.com/publishing-toolkit

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Lulu. I know from experience that dealing with them can be somewhat frustrating.

I'm sure you already know this, but typically, saddle-stich is only used for magazines and not books. As Benziger mentions above, "saddle-stitching is the paper folded and sewn or stapled, while paperback is cold glued by machine." With saddle-stitching you also have to be aware that the more pages you use, the more of the paper is trimmed off the center pages.