Slugbox's E-Selling Guide

Slugbox's guide to Lulu.

This is mostly for you adult artists out there! Assume, while reading this, that you are selling an erotic work.

Lulu is a clumsy site. INCREDIBLY POWERFUL, but clumsy. There's a reason for that. There's a reason they aren't "clear" about when you are paid, or what they do. It weeds out the weak. It weeds out authors or illustrators who don't have the drive, intelligence, or motivation to even figure the site out, let alone produce quality content for Lulu to sell! THIS IS A GOOD THING.

But, I feel some help is order here! So I'm writing this!

It doens't cover every little detail, but you're smart. You can figure some out on your own.


DISCLAIMER:
First off, I'm going to assume some thing, like that you know how to create a username, etc.
Second off, this is NOT a marketing guide. You need to figure that on your own.
Third off, this is NOT a design guide. No one will buy a poorly designed work. That's on you
Fourth, I don't work for Lulu, and this is not endorsed, checked, or representative of Lulu's opinions etc.
FIFTH. This guide is all you get. DO NOT ASK ME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT "HOW DO I DO THIS??? DUURRHHH???" Art is a business. Get smart. Figure it out. It's challenging INTENTIONALLY.
SIXTH. I'm not liable if you fuck up something. These are GUIDELINES and SUGGESTIONS.




Before you begin, Let's talk about Lulu.

Why use it when there are CHEAPER alternatives for distributing your digital prints or printed works?

1. Lulu takes an Artist's Risk stance on content. What you publish through them is on you. This means yes to Erotica, though they are HUSH HUSH about this. You need to actually contact a representative to even confirm this. And even then, they'll try and research you for a hot minute to see if you are even worth saying "Yes" to. OBVIOUSLY, Erotica means LEGAL erotica and pornography. Nothing underage, racist, or violent is tolerated. Lulu DOES NOT tolerate visible adult content, such as boobies. Your product may contain them, but any previews or imagery on their site may not! In addition, adult content is NOT ALLOWED ON THEIR PUBLIC MARKETPLACE. It must be available only from direct link from another site. Break these rules, and they'll delete your work.

2. Lulu pays artists by PHYSICAL CHECK. They do Paypal too, but you CANNOT sell or purcahse adult content with Paypal ( or most web payment services). It is against their ToS. Paypal can ban your account and "seize all pennies at once!" SO you, the artist, need to avoid it if you're selling adult works. Being paid by check bypasses Paypal. Unfortunately, checks are mailed QUARTERLY. That's a mere FOUR TIMES A YEAR. Harsh, but it can work.

3. Lulu allows users to PURCHASE VIA PAYPAL, in addition to credit cards. Users SHOULDN'T. But they're given the option. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it, but they technically could. It's on them! Not the artist, and not Lulu. That's fine. My advice? Always buy with a credit card. No matter what.

4. Lulu IS very reliable. They aren't the cheapest, by any means, but for adult illustrators, out options are limited.


PDFS

First off, Lulu no longer does "File Distribution." That is, they no longer distribute your .zips or folders with images in them. Sucks.

However, you can STILL sell a .PDF as an "e-book." I know that word is frightening, but really, it's just a .PDF. It's not as conveniant as a set of .PNGS, but they ARE higher quality. It's an acceptable trade!

Your .PDF must contain images that are ALL THE SAME SIZE. If they aren't, Lulu won't accept the file.

Also make sure your .PDF containts at least ONE page that is SFW material. I'll explain why later.

Your Website

Bcause you'll be selling erotic content, you cannot use Lulu's public marketplace. You must do all of your promotion elsewhere, and link to the file on Lulu from some other site. It cannot be DeviantArt. IT could be HentaiFoundry or tumblr or your OWN website though! Be readyand have SOMEHWERE to link from!!


Start

Before we start, remember, Lulu is a SLOW site. Deal with it.

Hit "Start a new project on your account. Choose ebook, obviously.

Give it a title!! Nothing tooooo gross!

When asked, "What do you want to do with this project?," hit "Make it accessible only to me." for now. We can change it later!

The next page is VERY IMPORTANT. It asked if you want to make an "e-book" or a .PDF. MAKE A PDF. NEVER MAKE AN EBOOK. E-Books are distributed on their marketplace, which is public. This is bad. People can complain about your works, even if they're allowed to be there. And Lulu WILL delete them at that point. Don't do it. Choose .PDF, choose your file, and hit upload. Then "Save and Continue."


Marketing Image

Lulu wants a little picture/icon for your project. Give them one! This awful page lets you make on here if you want... but you're a better artist than that!

If you hit "Edit Picture", you'll get an option to "Use a different File". It'll then tell you what size it needs to be. Go to Photoshop and make an image that fits that size, then hit the little upload button. It doesn't have to be great.

BUT... it CANNOT CONTAIN ADULT CONTENT!!! This image is public, technically, so it MUST be SFW!!

If you go to the "Text" tab on this page, you can clear out that ugly text, too.

When you're all done, hit "Make Image," Then "Save and Continue"


Review your Project

You can't set your price YET. And STILL dont' make it available to anyone. You can "ownload and Review Your Interior," though. That's helpful! Make sure it looks nice!!

Hit "Save and Finish..." Then let Lulu chug along.

Hit "View my Projects."


Public Release

Click your project, or the word "Revise". It should still say "Private Access" under "Status."

This page has a lot of important STUFF!!

First, and most importantly, "Pricing and Creator Revenues." Hit EDIT under that.

Now you can choose your price! The default miinimum is $0.99. You make ZERO off of that. Lulu keeps it all. So change it.

This part is important, realize how little you will make. Not that you DO NOT keep all of your sale. Lulu takes a good chunk. The chunk depends on several factors, such as how big your .PDF is and wehter you make a lot of money or not on their site. If you start to make more money, and have several successful products up for a few months,  they'll let you keep more.

I can't tell you how much to charge... that's on you. But remember these werid social quirks :
- "$8" looks different than "Eight Bucks" or "Eight Dollars"
- There's a $1000 jump from $9 to $10


Obviously, hit Save Changes.


Next, hit EDIT under "View book Preview" THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT.

Lulu, by default, shows a LOT of pages for a preview. SOmetimes your whole book! WTF?! This is BAD.

Hit, "Design your own," "Custom page Range," and then select the page in your pdf that is WORKSAFE! Remember that? Yeaaahh. This is a public image, so you must use that page. I just use my forward talk page, usually.

Hit save and Continue. It'll show you your preview, Make sure you can't scroll to anything except your marketing image and that one page, and then hit Save and continue.


You're on your preview page!!! Hit "Edit your Project," We're not done yet...



Next, under "Availability / Project Status," Click "Direct Access." You must now select a category and description for the marketplace, even though this is direct access and you won't be using it. I just put a "." in the description. I also don't put in keywords. We have to do this in case we ever DO lit is publicly on their marketplace... even though we won't.

Hit Save Changes!

You're project is now TECHNICALLY done. Your Availability / Project Status: should read "DIRECT ACCESS" and have a "Project URL." That URL is the only way to access your project's page. Use it on your website. This isn't an HTML tutorial. Good luck.

We can't make it public because such content as we have is ONLY allowed by Direct Access.


You can also turn off "Ratings and Reviews" now. I would turn it off... no real point in leaving it on.


You're done!!! Hit "Back to Projects." You don't have to save or anything, this menu is real time. Now go sell your wares!



GETTING PAID

I'm not going to be SUPER helpful here... even though this might be the most important part! Why? Because I DO beleive that weeding out any idiots that can't figure out how to get paid is important to our industry.

You need to set "Remittance Address" under your main account page. That's the address they'll mail your check to. You'll also need to Change your payment method to "Check," if you have even one adult product.

FINALLY... You need to be taxed. OUCH!!! Sucks...! Actually, Lulu won't tax your profits themselves, but they MUST report your profits to the IRS, and so do you, on your yearly taxes.

This means googling the IRS website for a W-9 for US taxpayers or W-8BEN for Non-US taxpayers, and faxing/mailing the completed form to Lulu. Maybe starting a chat with a lulu representative on their support page is the best way to find the fax number or the address! They're very helpful! I'm sure figuring this out it is within your ability. You're a business owner now!

Remember, checks are mailed out Quarterly, only four times a year... but them's the breaks!


What's that? You don't want the gov'ment to know what you're doing or tax you? Ok. Sure. You don't have to file!! Lulu will simply tear a 30% flat rate out of your profits every quarter. Yikes... but if you prefer that... go ahead.



Before you actually start selling...

Get a friend to test-run your sale. Actually have someone else buy your product to make sure everything goes smoothly!!

PRACTICE AND RESEARCH.


Good luck!!!