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Print on demand (POD) is a method of producing books or other media (such as CDs and DVDs) one at a time using a digital file.

At Lulu, you upload your digital file and we convert it into what we call a "print-ready PDF." Authors who are more technologically inclined may skip the conversion by uploading a PDF that they made and that meets our requirements. After someone buys the book, our printer produces the hard copy or copies using our print-ready PDF and ships it within days.

POD is different from mass market publishing. Traditional publishers usually print thousands of copies all at once. Although this costs less per copy, it requires a large publishing company that can pay for and store all that merchandise.

Publishers typically take most of the money from book sales, leaving a small percent for the author. Lulu turns this around, giving you financial control by making it possible and profitable to print a single copy.

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Lulu is a technology company, not a vanity press.

Vanity presses typically offer many services, all of which must be paid for in advance. It is not unusual for vanity presses to require an initial order of hundreds of copies of any book they print.

Lulu not only offers POD (print on demand) services, but also provides a marketplace to make it easier for you to sell your books yourself. We charge no fee for any of our basic services. Your first expense is the production cost of the first copy of your book that you order.

You can purchase optional services from Lulu, such as Published By You and Published By Lulu distribution services. In addition, Lulu provides a Services Marketplace where members of the Lulu community sell their expertise.

Lulu earns its money from a small commission on the sale of each book.

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Creating a book and offering it for sale on Lulu.com doesn't cost anything, it only costs money when you purchase an item!

Lulu takes a small commission when your content is purchased. Lulu's commission is 20% of the profit from a purchased item. The purchase price of all products includes a base cost for raw materials and printing service.

Prices for specific products can be found in their Product FAQs or using the Cost Calculators.

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Lulu provides tools to publish and sell products online, but you are responsible for the formatting and layout of your work before you publish it on Lulu.

If you need help with the pre-publishing tasks, see the Lulu Services or visit the Lulu Services Marketplace. Our expert users provide many tips and tricks for preparing your manuscript in the forums. Make sure to search the help on the site for the answers to your questions before posting to the forums.

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Lulu is designed to give control directly to the creators and owners of content. When publishing on Lulu, you hold copyright over all of your content, and we never ask you to give up any rights to us. We will do everything we can to discourage the violation of intellectual property rights. The Content section of the Membership Agreement> outlines rights maintained by both Lulu and the account holder.

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Project status level offered during the publishing process provide control over who can see and buy the work. See more about Status levels in What does each status in the Project List mean?

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Reason 1: You don't want to be the one selling your book.

Traditionally, publishers do all the marketing for their authors' books. That takes resources, which is why it is hard to get a book accepted by a publisher. Lulu lets you publish your work without going through a publisher, but that means that the burden of selling and marketing your book falls to you. There are ways to do this, and the Web makes self-marketing easier than it has ever been. We do offer Tips for marketing your book.

Reason 2: If you are looking to sell your book primarily through bookstores, there is not much we can do to help you.

While we do offer ISBNs for books published through us (which means that your book can hypothetically be ordered through bookstores), print-on-demand economics prohibit large discounts that bookstores require to stock books. Bookstores depend on the economy of scale available to large publishers and print distributors. Bookstores are only going to buy Lulu books when they are special-ordered by customers. That said, the Web is a terrific way to sell books, as Amazon.com has demonstrated.

Reason 3: You're a very picky author.

In order to make our publishing system both affordable and scaleable (because we want to sell a lot of books), we have to limit choices about things such as paper and book size. For detailed specifications about the sizes we offer, see Paperback printing specifications and Hardcover printing specifications. We don't offer alternative paper selections or custom-trim books. We do offer download versions of books (e-books).
That said, there are plenty of companies out there who will provide more options if you give them money. Lulu is the only publisher that offers you all that it does for free.

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You have total control over your work at Lulu, including the language in which you choose to publish. For more information see our Shipping FAQ>s .

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Please note that Lulu is not a publisher, but instead provides users with tools to publish their own content.

Because Lulu is not a publisher, we do not review work published through our site.

We do expect all content to be consistent with our Member Agreement and reserve the right to remove content we deem to be illegal or inappropriate.

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Lulu offers two fee-based distribution options that will send your book through our unique network in the global marketplace. This network reaches online retailers like Amazon.

For more information, see the Distribution FAQ.

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The publisher of record depends on the service you purchase.

• The default free service does not provide an ISBN for your work but you can use Lulu.com as the sole retail site.
• Published by You is a a distribution option from Lulu in which you are the publisher of your work and sell it both on Lulu.com and other retail sites
• Published by Lulu is a different distribution option in which Lulu handles publishing and distribution outside of the Lulu.com marketplace on places such as Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and other online retail sites.

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Lulu holds no rights or copyright in your work and makes no claims or restrictions on the ownership of your work. Rights and copyrights remain with you as the author and creator. You continue to own the rights in your name or, if you have arrangements, on behalf of others. Your purchase and use of any Lulu services does not undermine your rights or copyright.

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There is no requirement to purchase a book, CD or DVD, and no minimum order. Customers make their own purchases, or you can purchase the copies you need and distribute them yourself. We strongly urge those who publish through us to purchase a copy of their work to proof it before purchasing multiple copies.

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Many small publishers use Lulu. Advantages of using Lulu include the competitive cost of professional printing in small quantities, order fulfillment and royalty tracking, a free storefront of your own, access to online bookstores, and great search engine visibility for your products. Lulu's Services Marketplace even gives you a venue for offering publishing, editing, or illustrating services to other Lulu members.

We require everyone who publishes through us to have the legal right to the material. This might require model releases in addition to copyrights and permissions.

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If you are the registered publisher for the ISBN, you may use it at Lulu. You may not purchase any distribution services for that ISBN at this time. If you received the ISBN from a publisher and it is registered to that publisher, you may not use it at Lulu. It is the publisher’s property and only they have the right to use it.

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Lulu does not allow fan fiction.

Fan fiction, also known as "FanFic," is any work based on another creator's story, idea, or character. Lulu is a strong supporter of copyrights and does not allow fan fiction because FanFic authors generally do not have permission from the original author. The Stanford Center for Internet & Society maintains a FanFic FAQ that explains many of the copyright and trademark issues surrounding Fan Fiction.

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Lulu doesn't restrict the marketing of your work, but other companies may do so. Make sure you understand the terms and conditions of all the businesses you deal with. We urge authors to take advantage of all the sales venues available to them and to share their successes with us and with other authors.

If you have purchased Published by Lulu distribution, you may not use your ISBN with another publisher.

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Our support forums are the best place to get help. In the forums you can interact with Lulu support staff as well as with other members of the Lulu community.

• When you post to the support forums, give your posts a subject describing your problem, such as "How do I use Buy Now buttons?" or "My document won't convert." This makes it easier for others to provide and use the information you receive in response to your inquiry.
• Keep your language and your subject matter suitable for all age groups and people of all comfort levels.
• Please stay on the topic and be civil.
• Inappropriate messages will be moved or deleted.
• For details, see our Posting Policies>.
• You may also contact support.

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