Publish & Prosper

In this episode, Lauren & Matt tackle some common pain points entrepreneurs and ecommerce store owners struggle with. We’ll talk through solutions and tips for collecting sales tax, setting up shipping and managing shipping issues, and providing proactive customer service for your shoppers. 


Dive Deeper

💡 Sales Tax

• Lulu Knowledge Base | How Do I Configure My Lulu Direct Products to Collect the Correct Taxes?
• Spotify | How to Charge Sales Tax in the US
• WooCommerce | Setting up Taxes in WooCommerce
• Economic Nexus Threshold Map
• TaxJar
• Avalara

💡 Shipping

• Lulu’s Pricing Calculator
• Getting Your Ship Together in Lulu Direct (Shopify and WooCommerce)
• International Book Shipping: A Guide for Self-Published Creators
• Lulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Live Shipping Rates in Shopify
• Lulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Shipping Rates Manually in Shopify
• Lulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Shipping with Lulu Direct and WooCommerce
• Lulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Shipping in Wix

💡 Customer Support

• Customer Service and Your Ecommerce Business
• The Life of A Book

Jump Ahead to Learn About

🎙️ Understanding Sales Tax → 4:46

🎙️ All Things Shipping (Ship Mapping, Expenses, and Troubleshooting) → 16:51

🎙️ Proactive Customer Service Strategies → 28:43

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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Self-publishing might be a DIY publishing model, but there are plenty of tools and resources to help you get your book from manuscript to market. In this episode, Matt & Lauren discuss a debatable number of tools to help you draft, edit, format, design, market, and ship your book. 


Dive Deeper

💡 Learn More About

• Fictionary
• Vellum
• Atticus
• Bublish
• Lulu’s Order Import Tool
• Written Word Media
• BookFunnel

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• Vellum Review: Simple Page Layout for Self-Publishers
• Atticus Review: The All-in-One Writing and Formatting Tool for Indie Authors
• Dropshipping for Entrepreneurs & Creators With Lulu’s Order Import Tool

💡 Watch These Videos

• Webinar with Fictionary | Editing Essentials: Edit Like a Developmental Story Editor
• Webinar with Bublish | Boost Fall Book Sales With A Stellar Marketing Plan
  
  
  

Jump Ahead to Learn About

🎙️ Fictionary →  1:52
🎙️ Atticus & Vellum →  7:41
🎙️ Lulu’s Cover Design Tool →  15:53
🎙️ Bublish’s AI Author Toolkit →  22:23
🎙️ Lulu’s Order Import Tool →  27:58
🎙️ Written Word Media and BookFunnel →  37:19

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt review strategies for getting your self-published book into indie bookstores, including participating in consignment programs, pitching yourself for author events, and making your book available through retail distribution. 


Dive Deeper

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• Selling Your Book on Consignment With Indie Bookstores
• 5 Visual Indicators Your Book Is Self-Published

💡 Watch How to Get Your Book into Bookstores

💡 Check your book’s global distribution eligibility with our Pricing Calculator


Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [15:44] “These bookstores have a standard to uphold. Which is not to say that every traditionally published book and every book available in an indie bookstore or any bookstore is a good book. We all know that's not true. But at the very least, they want people to be able to look at your book and think it's a good book.” 

🎙️ [25:34] “You're not just an author or creator, we've said this a thousand times. You're a business, and as such you need to be building trust and relationships with people.”

🎙️ [32:49] “It's important to understand that your book can be available to be bought from an indie bookstore or a bookstore in general if you are in distribution, it just won't be sitting on the shelves as ready inventory.”

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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In this episode, Matt and Lauren take listeners on a journey through self-publishing and traditional publishing. We’ll look at where those paths overlap, where they diverge, and what to expect on your publishing adventure. 


Dive Deeper

💡 Jane Friedman’s The Key Book Publishing Paths

💡 Listen to These Episodes: 

• Episode #2 → Is Self-Publishing the Best Path for Today's Creators?
• Episode #8 → Self-Publishing is a Team Sport
• Episode #20 → Do You Need to Hire Professional Editors for Your Book? 
• Episode #10 → Marketing Your Book Pre-Launch, At-Launch, and Post-Launch

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• The Publishing Journey: Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing
• Understanding The Publishing Gatekeepers

💡 Watch This Video

• Webinar | Which Publishing Path is Right for You? 
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [10:17] “It used to be that if you said your book was self-published, or if people knew your book was self-published, they were just like, oh, that's got to be garbage. They did it themselves. It can't be a good book. These days, obviously nothing's further from the truth than that statement.”

🎙️ [23:10] “But the point is you don't have any control over that in traditional publishing, and in self-publishing you have total control over that.” 

🎙️ [45:14] “All of this is only relevant in so much as what your goals are for the book itself.”

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt dive into what makes a successful go-to-market strategy for your book. Learn how to pick the right launch date and products, choose the best sales and distribution platforms, and craft effective pre-launch and post-launch sales strategies. 

Have a question about self-publishing, selling direct, Lulu, or any of the weird tangents Matt & Lauren like to meander through? Email us at [email protected] to submit your question for our upcoming AMA episode!


Dive Deeper

💡 Listen to These Episodes to Learn More About…

• Marketing Your Book Pre-Launch, At-Launch, and Post-Launch
• Determining the Right Retail Price for Your Book
• The Indie Author's Guide to Thriving Without Amazon
• Your 7-Step Guide to Building an Online Bookstore
• 4 Reasons Creators Don't Sell Direct (and Why You Should)
• Crowdfunding Your Self-Published Book With Kickstarter
• 5 Things to Know Before You Start Publishing
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [12:35] “Don't get too married to all this stuff in the beginning. When you're able to step back from this go-to-market plan and really take a look at it holistically, you might see some areas where you need to go back in and change a few things so that everything kind of works seamlessly and harmoniously together.”

🎙️ [29:04] “Having that sales and distribution and strategy laid out and understanding where and when each format and variation of that book is going to be released and sold is really important. And it'll extend the sales lifecycle of that book as long as possible.”

🎙️ [42:01] “Regardless of whether or not you're selling direct, no matter which sales and distribution platforms you're going to move forward with: customer data is invaluable. Whatever kind of customer data you have access to from these different sales and distribution channels, you're going to want some way to track it.”

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Lauren attempts to convince Matt (and the listeners) of the power of a well-written book description. Listen in to learn how to craft a compelling book description that will help you hook new readers.

Dive Deeper

💡 Listen to Episode #13 | Earning Free Publicity for Your Book

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• How to Write a Book Description That Sells
• How to Earn Media Attention: Essential PR Tips for Authors

💡 Watch These Videos

• Lulu U | How to Write a Book Description That Sells
• Webinar | PR for Authors: Building Buzz Around Your Book

💡 Check Out the Books

• Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [11:14] “To Matt's point that you could use ChatGPT to write your book description for you if you want to. I'm going to say that you could, but you still need to know what to tell ChatGPT to use to write the book description.”

🎙️ [24:12] “It's a really succinct way to tell me who the book is for, what they're going to get out of it, and what goals you're going to achieve by doing it or by reading it, but without actually giving any of the information away. So I have to keep reading to learn more about what I'm actually going to get out of this book.”

🎙️ [34:15] “If people are like at a bookstore where you're not there, or online, they're browsing and they see your book the thing that's gonna catch their eye first is the cover. Your elevator pitch is what you're gonna do when you're talking to somebody in person.” 

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt share ideas for repurposing your existing content. Hint: it's by turning that content into a book. We share ideas for both nonfiction and fiction book projects, including options that require little to no new writing. 
 

Dive Deeper

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• 6 Ways To Publish a Book Without Writing a Book
• From Blog To Book: How To Turn Your Content Into a Published Book
• How To Turn Your Video Content Into a Book
• How To Reach a New Audience With a Book Based on Your Podcast
• How To Create a Workbook: Tips To Enhance Your Online Course
• What Is Fanfiction and Why Does It Matter?

💡 Watch These Videos

• What Should I Publish? 10 Ideas Using Content You Already Have
• Lulu University playlist on Content Monetization

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [3:51] “One of the best ways to identify what aspect or which topic of your content would necessarily lend itself best to a book, or a book project, would be to just go back and look at your metrics, right? Figure out which of your blog posts or podcasts or YouTube videos or whatever got the most views and the most engagement.”

🎙️ [14:58] “Presentations can be very one-sided where it's literally just the speaker speaking at an audience of people… this is a great way to turn that one time event attendee into somebody who's going to continue to come back to you, continue to participate in the conversation and continue to think of you when they're thinking about the subject matter that you were presenting on."

🎙️ [25:55] “If you are a digital first fiction author and you're publishing your ebooks, whether it's on Kindle Unlimited, you're doing serial fiction on something like Kindle Vella, BookFunnel, whatever platform that you're using, why are you not selling print editions of your books? If you are, great, love you for it. If you're not, please do.” 

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren review five things you’ll need to know before you start on your publishing journey! We share insights about knowing your content, knowing your goals, knowing your limits, knowing your audience, and knowing your publisher.  

Also featuring a meandering detour into graphic novels and an ongoing discussion about crying (now or later). 

Dive Deeper

💡 Check Out Jane Friedman’s Key Book Publishing Paths

💡 Watch our Start Here! Playlist

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• How to Get Started Publishing
• How to Find Your Target Audience
• Print-on-Demand: Breaking Down the Costs for Authors
• The Publishing Journey: Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing

💡 Listen to These Episodes

• Is Self-Publishing the Best Path for Today's Creators?
• What is Print-on-Demand?
• Self-Publishing is a Team Sport
• Can You Really Support Your Business With Just 1,000 True Fans?
• Author Branding 101: Building a Brand Beyond Your Books

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode Lauren & Matt talk through the 7 essential steps to building your own online bookstore. From choosing the right platform to launching your site, we’ll cover everything you need to know to sell your self-published books directly to your readers.

Dive Deeper

💡 Step 1: 

• Shopify
  • Learn More About Selling Your Book With Shopify and Lulu Direct
• WooCommerce
  • Learn More About Selling Your Book With WooCommerce and Lulu Direct
• Wix
  • Learn More About Selling Your Book With Wix and Lulu Direct
• Squarespace

💡 Step 2: 

• Shopify | How to Choose the Best Domain Name in 2024 

💡 Step 3: 

• Lulu Blog | What Is an Author Brand and Why Does It Matter?

💡 Step 4: 

• Lulu Blog | Customer Service and Your Ecommerce Business

💡 Step 6: 

• Lulu U Playlist | Lulu Direct for Shopify
• Lulu U Playlist | Lulu Direct for WooCommerce
• Lulu U Playlist | Lulu Direct for Wix
• Influencer Marketing Hub | Top 14 eCommerce Plugins to Power Your eCommerce Site in 2024

💡 Step 7: 

• Lulu Blog | Can’t-Miss Tips for Building a Better Ecommerce Store
• Lulu Blog | Optimized for Mobile: The Future of Bookselling

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Matt & Lauren debate the distinctions between author and reader communities, discuss the value of participating in either, and share some suggestions for how to bridge the gap between them. 

Dive Deeper

💡 Check Out These Online Communities

• Meet the Nonfiction Authors Association
• Learn More About Novelists, Inc.
• Explore Inkers Con
• Listen to the State of the Nation podcast episode on Story Wars at Author Nation

💡 Read These Blog Posts

• How to Grow Your Author Network
• 7 Online Writing Communities for Authors

💡 Watch These Videos

• How to Build a Community of True Fans
• Webinar | TikTok, Booktube, and Instagram, Oh My!
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [9:36] “I think that they're also like, as we're talking about the distinctions between them, I think that they are inherently different in that author communities tend to be more focused on… craft and education, and this is a learning experience for me, how do I do this? Crowdsourcing how to do things, whether it's how to write, how to publish, how to get an agent, whatever. Reader communities tend to be echo chambers of opinions.”

🎙️ [27:45] “If you're looking for a way to be a part of an author community or a writer community or something like that, there are plenty of opportunities out there to find them, whether they are big nationwide communities or small local bookstore, coffee shop, library, independent groups.”

🎙️ [42:45] “And that's really what this podcast is, is us talking in circles around the very clear, like one sentence that we could have said.” 

💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
💀 Sign up for our mailing list.