Lulu Direct

Jan. 20, 2023

Lulu is by far the best and nicest company I've ever worked with. They continuously put authors' and book-publishers' needs and concerns at the top of their list. The book quality is perfect and the process is smooth and easy. The results are great and the integration with Shopify works without a glitch. And, if you have any questions or doubts Lulu personel is the nicest, most helpful people there is, while at the same time being very good at what they do! We have never had any problems with Lulu whatsoever. The few times our customers have complained is when books have not arrived – which is never Lulu's fault (but UPS's). And even at those times, Lulu has been very helpful. I would recommend Lulu to absolutely everyone! You will not find a better company.

Oct. 19, 2022

I wanted to sell paperbacks of my own books at a discount independent of the larger companies if you know what I mean. Lulu looked good. I contacted them with my concerns and they assured me I would be pleased and there's no contract. The quality of the books is great. My readers have told me so and I have ordered them myself at cost by momentarily dropping the price on my products page on Shopify. The only problem left was constantly having to correct shipping prices both foreign and domestic. I contacted Cary Penrose who called me at my request and patiently talked me through setting up live shipping worldwide. It worked and now my readers in England can order delivery any way they want. I find Lulu very convenient and have had no complaints about pricing or delivery. I have just started advertising internationally, so time will tell how this works out when the volume picks up.

Oct. 19, 2022

I received the very best customer service from a wonderful person at Lulu. They helped me get my book print ready. They were quick to respond to my support ticket when I was having trouble. The trouble I was having was user error. I am a writer not a digital artist. The software I was using to create my files was bare minimum. They were happy to assist me in getting my book print ready. I love Lulu Direct and highly recommend them for print on demand.

June 6, 2022

Lulu has been great to work with! We print and ship around 100+ books per month. Very few issues with that volume of orders and when there have been any issues Kristen with customer support has very quickly fixed the issue (even when the error was due to customer issues and not Lulu). Highly recommend!

April 21, 2022

I use Lulu Direct to publish my books. This was my first experience with self publishing. I considered Amazon but then I decided against it since it meant that I would have to work to market my website as well as to drive traffic to amazon. As a newbie, that was a bit much. I AM VERY pleased with my decision to go with Lulu. My second and third shippments had issues! BUT, Kristen is a darling! She was with me every step of the way. My second shippment had a few printing issues. She got them replaced at no extra cost with free shipping. My third order, for some reason, did not get to me. I informed her and it was replaced free of charge. I really do appreciate how quick she responds ( most times, within 48 hours. If ever her response is tardy, she humbly apologizes. ) So far, I rate my overall experience as 5/5!!

Jan. 11, 2022

I used this app to launch my children's book. It is pretty easy to do as long as you have the video as provided by LULU. I do like having a store besides Amazon (I had major issue uploading my book on that platform, even hired someone to help me, but we couldn't get it to work). I still haven't used this forum to its greatest potential, but I know that there are a lot of ways to boost my book with the shopify store, so that is also great!

Jan. 7, 2022

I am a new author and I have used this app only once. I had a problem connecting the app to my online store. I communicated with Kristen, and she walked me through the process to connect the app to my store. I appreciated the great assistance that I received. My orders can now be automatically fulfilled by LULU Direct. I am looking forward to using this app again in the future.

Nov. 3, 2021

At first I was intimidated by Lulu’s self-publishing platform because I had never published a book and am not proficient in Adobe Suite products which several of the templates require. My customer support expert, Tim S, was fantastic. He answered all my many questions, in detail, within 1-2 business days and was helpful in sending me templates to help me format my book. He even helped prepare my files when I ran into a printing issue with certain images not printing correctly - he helped me understand what the problem was with my file and fixed the issues for me so that my books would print correctly. When I received a damaged book I ordered for myself as a sample, he issued me a refund so that I could get a new sample book clear of shipping damage, which was considerate. He was always professional, positive, responsive, and immensely helpful in the setup process of my book. I am so grateful to have had his support through the file creation process and initial ordering process to help me get my book set up online correctly. I'm proud to now officially be a published author and happy the quality of the books looks very nice. I can't speak to other customer rep experiences at Lulu but Tim S. was 5 stars! Thank you Tim!!

Aug. 9, 2021

I used the Lulu xPress app with Shopify to publish a commemorative book as an internal fundraiser for my college fraternity. I wanted to remove the "middle man" costs of publishing the book on an online retailer platform. The target audience for this book was very limited, and I wanted the maximum net margin for the book. The solution worked very well and support our project. We experienced an IT issue, and one book shipping issue and Lulu was extremely responsive and timely with resolving those two issues. Otherwise, Lulu xPress app worked flawlessly. Very easier to use and you can view sales in real-time. Lulu Support staff was great in responding to any questions I had. Points to consider when using Lulu xPress App with Shopify. 1. Lulu has responsive and knowledgable customer service support where Shopify really does not; 2. I needed to establish a bank account and U.S. Tax ID number to support your book project with Lulu and Shopify. I did not know this before starting the project; 3. Recommend speaking with an accountant on tax collection and tax payment for your book project. Shopify only collects taxes you specify for your book project and does not pay taxes to municipalities for you; 4. Shopify does an outstanding job of timely paying revenue to you. Shopify transfers funds collected in book sales in 1-3 business days; 5. The integration between Shopify and Lulu Xpress app is outstanding and very easy to implement; 6. Shopify recently made reporting where you have to purchase Shopify Plan $79/month. I needed reporting functionality to obtain transaction-level sales data for my book project. When I created my Shopify page in March 2021, reporting fee when purchasing the Basic Shopify Plan was $29/month.

July 30, 2021

Lulu has helped me create the products of my dreams and seamlessly integrate it into my site! I love how the products are made to order, and have had the greatest customer service experience as well. Shout out to Cary! Highly recommend!

July 13, 2021

I am using Lulu xPress as the print-on-demand partner for my book, Dances with David: 21st-century responses to the Psalms by an eco-spiritual poet, which is available at www.DancesWithDavidPoems.ca. Lulu xPress and Shopify have radically changed what is possible for me as an author. I published my last book traditionally through a small publishing house. I had to order a certain quantity which I prepaid (at cost), then I had to find ways to sell them, such as attending poetry events. This put me out of pocket and limited me to selling to people I could meet in person in my own region. With Lulu xPress and Shopify, I can sell anywhere in the world without being out of pocket for a print run. The books are printed and shipped to customers as the order comes in. My second customer was someone on another continent who saw me on a Zoom meeting - she bought my book without me having to do anything. No payment-taking, no shipping... nice and easy for the customer and for me. With Lulu xPress, I can also offer a variety of price points so I can appeal to various budgets. For $19.90, I can offer a paperback using 60# paper and standard ink; for $46.90 I can offer a hardcover using 80# coated paper and premium ink. There are two other combinations in between, giving me four editions I can offer at $19.90, $24.90, $37.90 and $46.90, depending on what the customer wants. I could never have done this with traditional publishing. Using Lulu xPress also allows me to keep my pricing affordable. If I had chosen to use Lulu's distributing services instead of Lulu xPress and self-marketing, my books would have been twice the price for the consumer, which would have made the whole project a non-starter. I am very satisfied with the print quality of all the various editions, and I feel proud to sell it. So far, the service has been very good as well, with any problems being resolved promptly. Wish me luck, ya'all! And go publish your own book with Lulu xPress!

June 23, 2021

This app is a relatively simple and economical way for a small organization such as ours, to print and ship its books on demand. The customer service rep assigned to us has been amazing--so helpful in providing information and supporting us through any challenges we faced along the way.

May 10, 2021

I used the app to print my cookbook. First, the app is easy to use and they don't charge for changes to your file like some POD companies. The price was so much better than the competition that I was concerned about the quality. However, when the book arrived all doubt disappeared! It was beautiful! I did standard color on premium paper with a gloss cover and could not be happier with the results! I would recommend them for any printing needs.

March 9, 2021

This app is a great all-in-one tool. If you're not familiar with self-publishing, then I would suggest going to Lulu xPress's main website and create your books there before trying to use this integration. It will give you a better understanding. This app will take some time to fully learn, but all the information you'll need is provided. Customer Support is VERY helpful.

March 9, 2021

Lulu has been extremely helpful in setting up our foray into POD and the Shopify integration makes processing these orders simple too. The books are great quality and their customer service team has always been available to guide us and answer our questions.

March 5, 2021

Super easy to use to sell POD books. The customer service is very helpful, and they're always making updates to the app to make it run better. I highly recommend it.

March 5, 2021

LOVE IT! awesome books, great customer service, couldn't ask for a better app. been using the service for over a year now and my customers and wholesale accounts are all happy, and best of all no need for inventory any more!

March 5, 2021

Extremely happy indie publisher here! Last year I launched my first print book which wouldn't have been possible at all without Lulu. Being able to seamlessly ship thousands of books without the headaches of inventory and managing the mail is a huge benefit. We've had some small issues, mostly with a very small percent of orders not being received, but the Lulu customer support has been excellent and responsive about solving these problems quickly and fairly. It's not 100% automated, but it's 99% of the way there, which is good for me!

March 5, 2021

I've been using lulu for over a year now. The quality of books printed at lulu vs. anywhere else is exceptional. What I love most about the app is the customer service. Kristen, specifically, is my most favorite customer service rep I've ever encountered and if it wasn't for her I would not be such a loyal customer! The only problems with lulu and the app are the shipping prices, which are not competitive and not easy to translate to the customer. This is a huge problem that needs to be fixed, but I believe that it is being worked on which is good. I hope it is fixed soon. Still, it does not deter me from using the app as it is very easily integrates with shopify. Also the timing from order to delivery does take awhile too, but again, this is known and something they are working on. I appreciate the open communication and lulu's dedication to continuously self-improve.

March 4, 2021

I used this app to help me sell my book. I went through a self publishing process and when I was ready to go to market, Shopify provided all the tools needed to set up my on line store. I was particularly pleased to receive expert personal attention when needed.