I had way over one hundred poems on that site and now they have vanished. I would like to have them, I was told they are copyrighted under my name! I would like information and any and all copywriter details. MY poetry was under Barbara Walker and also Barbara J. W. Jack
Sincerely, Barbara Jean Walker Jack
[email protected] [email protected]
319 West Ohio Avenue Lot 39 Fountain, Colorado 80817-1945

I purchased the ebook conversion service through Lulu.com and the agreement was that they would have my ebook converted in 6 weeks. After 6 wks I began to ask about the status because I had heard nothing from them. I was shuffled around from one rep to the other, each telling me something different. My ebook was simple text with one picture. They made 38 mistakes and said they were my mistakes. I proofread my ebook project 7 times before I downloaded it to their website. They have outsourced their work to people in India who they won't let you talk to by phone because you can't understand what they're saying and now my ebook is into week 9 and is still not ready. I am furious. I will never do business with Lulu again. I want my money back. And I want the consumer to know that at Lulu.com they don't care whether you are happy or not. At Lulu, the customer is never right. My ebook was a holiday cookbook. It is Nov. 23 and it is too late to get it out there for the Thanksgiving holiday. They have cost me revenue and if I can keep others from losing their money with Lulu.com, that's what I want to do. Don't put your book projects through Lulu.

Upon doing a book search to make sure of my listings and how they were presented I saw that every single one of my titles bore the old imprint of my publishing company instead of the imprint I am using now, and also the imprint which is shown on the cover, the inside book leaf and under the title. This also occurred in the download and ebook titles which I clearly marked as published by the current imprint. Further, without notifying me of any changes as to their location on their catalog they reindexed the listings under new catalog numbers, which was discovered quite by accident when I promoted the titles and found that those interested could not locate them by their project numbers. In addition to this, Bob Young, CEO and general manager of Lulu.com, announced that Lulu was bringing "wider exposure" to Lulu authors, which meant he imported books from competing publishers into the marketplace. By ignoring Lulu's core user base in favor of the bottom line, Lulu.com basically made my books unmarketable on their web site or on Amazon, and there is no communication between departments or even between their issue control department and users. I don't know how many potential sales I lost in this move or how much Lulu may owe me, but I do know that if Lulu does not resolve these problems I am going to a competitor and taking my 30 titles with me.

I found publishing with Lulu fairly easy. The latest, a photobook, was easy to create and the "proof" copy I ordered was beautiful. Then, I ordered a copy for the person it was intended for--my ailing mother-in-law in India. The book came apart in her hands into individual pages, soon after it reached her, because of the shoddy binding. (I have had instances of shoddy binding with my first book as well, but thought little of it then.)

For the past one month, I have been trying to get in touch with Lulu for a replacement. They have an automated reply for replacement requests, which asks for photos of the damage so that they can know what the damage is like. I replied asking if they needed the photos as "proof of damage" or as a "description of damage." If it was the later, as they have said in the letter, I asked if they could waive that requirement because it is difficult for me in New Zealand to take pictures of a book (now a bunch of papers) in India.

I get only silence. I tried going through the online route again, but keep getting their automated response. It is almost impossible to find a phone number listed in their web page. I found a PR one by chance. But I end up being asked to record my message, which also I have done. Lulu works like a breeze when it is working. But when it doesn't, it is like a ghost town. There is no human person anywhere who hears you.

I had been working with Lulu for almost 2 years. I had already published several titles using their distribution packages, and spent about $1, 500 on setting them up for sale to major booksellers, including Amazon. After an exhaustive bout of self-promotion of these books I discovered that the glitter had tarnished somewhat. For one thing, it appears that Lulu does not offer a return policy on books they print, which means that stocking them on the shelves became impossible. Second, the ISBNs and barcodes which I purchased from them were already in circulation when I discontinued the packages, so I cannot register with a direct distributor like Lightning Source right away. Lulu insisted that I now have to wait 6-8 weeks for the distribution channels to clear, which represents a significant loss of outside income for me. Further, I sold very few books through them; only one seemed to attract interest since it was nonfiction.

Lulu claimed that it was a way for a new author to get published. However, many authors do not get farther than that unless they want to spend hundreds of dollars in order to have their book publicized. The retailers which demand a return policy will not deal with Lulu, so in essence Lulu becomes a closed system retailer like Amazon, but without any of the real selling power. Lulu's public image leaves the impression that it is the best, but in fact they have only succeeded in sucking in unsuspecting authors wary of other POD publishing companies before they have a chance to learn the truth.

I filed a complaint with the BBB, in which Lulu tried to obfuscate the case by issuing canned responses, just like the ones they use when any author tries to resolve legitimate issues with the quality of the books, the lack of sales and the inconsistency in reporting. Several key questions have been asked of them over and over and the clear lack of response or canned responses from their operating manual indicates they have no will or desire to perform in a professional manner.

Further, any forum to which any authors having a complaint or an issue to resolve could post is managed by individuals who are not employees of the company and authors who want to discuss anything having to do with Lulu's problems are frequently locked out. Certain of the moderators use the power of the kill button to block anyone out who disagrees with Lulu's business model or questions why Lulu cannot change policies which clearly interfere with the author's ability to retain control over titles and rights. The issues have angered many authors already stuck like flies in amber.

Luckily I got out before many more titles were conscripted by Lulu, but I recommend that if you want to be a published author that you invest in a pdf maker and good imaging software and produce the books yourself. For the proper ISBNs, Bowker sells single ISBNs so if you're just starting out you can still buy just one. Avoid any POD printer that pretends to help you publish or offer expensive packages that you could spend yourself on setting up and printing your own book under your own imprint. There are real legitimate POD printers that will set you up to sell without all the extra stuff. Do some research and avoid self-publisher aids like Lulu.