How to Publish on Lulu

Lulu's primary strength is in two areas that other POD platforms don't serve as well: direct-to-reader sales through its own bookstore and Shopify integration, and a wide range of specialty print formats — large-format books, layflat photo books, coil-bound editions, and premium hardcovers. This guide covers Lulu's publishing workflow end to end, with particular focus on the direct sales configuration and Shopify integration that make Lulu distinctive.

What You Need Before You Start

• A print-ready interior PDF formatted to your chosen Lulu trim size

• A cover PDF — either designed using Lulu's BookWright tool or uploaded as a custom PDF

• Your final confirmed page count before starting the cover

• A Lulu account at lulu.com

• A Shopify account if you plan to use Lulu Direct for direct-sales fulfillment

Step 1: Create Your Lulu Account

Go to lulu.com and click Sign Up. Create your account with your email. After verification, you'll land in your Lulu dashboard. Complete your account profile including your publisher name, contact information, and payment details.

Payment Setup

Lulu pays royalties via PayPal, direct bank deposit (in supported countries), or check. Set up your payment preference from Account Settings. Lulu's payment schedule and thresholds vary by account type — standard royalty payments are processed monthly. Author copy purchases are charged at the time of order at the printing cost plus shipping.

Tax Documentation

Complete Lulu's tax documentation from Account Settings. US authors provide a W-9 equivalent. Non-US authors provide W-8BEN. This is required before Lulu releases royalty payments.

Step 2: Create a New Project

From your Lulu dashboard, click Create and select your format. Lulu organizes its publishing workflow around projects — each book is a project. Format selection is the first decision.

Step 3: Format Selection

Lulu's format range is broader than any other POD platform. Choose your format before formatting your interior, as interior dimensions must match your format exactly.

Standard Trade Books

Specialty Formats

For standard trade fiction and nonfiction, the US Trade (6" × 9") or equivalent sizes are the most economical to print and the most familiar to readers. For illustrated content, photo books, or specialty purposes, choose the format that matches your content requirements.

Step 4: Interior File Requirements

Lulu's interior file requirements are similar to KDP Print and IngramSpark with some Lulu-specific details.

⚠ Lulu's print quality can vary between standard and premium paper stocks, and color accuracy in print can differ from screen display. For color books — photo books, illustrated content, cookbooks — order a proof copy before approving distribution. The printed result on Lulu's paper stocks may look different from your screen preview, particularly for images with subtle color gradients.

Step 5: Cover Design Options

Lulu offers two paths for cover creation: Lulu's BookWright design software (for authors creating their cover within Lulu's system) and custom PDF upload (for authors with a designer-produced cover).

Option A: BookWright (Lulu's Design Tool)

BookWright is Lulu's free downloadable design application for Mac and Windows. It provides templates for all Lulu formats, drag-and-drop design tools, access to Lulu's image library, and font options. BookWright is designed for authors who do not have access to professional design software — it is not a replacement for professional cover design, but it produces functional covers for standard trade books.

For photo books, magazines, and other visually intensive formats, BookWright includes format-specific templates that set up the correct dimensions, bleed zones, and safety areas automatically. After designing in BookWright, you export directly to Lulu's system for production.

Option B: Custom PDF Upload

If you have a cover designed professionally (in InDesign, Photoshop, or Illustrator), export it as a print-ready PDF and upload it directly. The PDF must meet Lulu's cover specifications:

Download Lulu's cover template for your specific format, page count, and paper type from the Cover page of your project. Do not use a cover template from another platform or calculate spine width manually. Lulu's paper stock thicknesses differ from KDP's and IngramSpark's — their template gives the exact spine width for their production specifications.

Step 6: Book Information and Metadata

After uploading your files, enter your book's metadata:

• Title and subtitle

• Author name and contributors

• Description — your retail marketing copy

• BISAC category

• ISBN — Lulu supports your own ISBN or can provide one (a Lulu-issued ISBN lists Lulu as publisher of record)

• Publication date

• Language

• Adult content flag — if applicable

Step 7: Pricing and Sales Channels

This is where Lulu's direct-sales focus becomes most apparent. Lulu gives you more control over pricing and distribution configuration than KDP Print or IngramSpark.

Lulu Bookstore Pricing

Your book is automatically listed in Lulu's own storefront (lulu.com/bookstore) where readers can purchase directly. On Lulu Bookstore sales, your royalty is the retail price you set minus Lulu's manufacturing cost for your specific format and page count. Use Lulu's built-in cost calculator to determine manufacturing cost and set your price accordingly.

Lulu Bookstore royalties are higher per copy than retailer-distributed royalties because there is no retailer margin to deduct — only Lulu's manufacturing cost.

Global Distribution (Retail Partners)

Lulu's global distribution option makes your book available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, and other retail partners. When you enable global distribution, Lulu submits your book to its distribution partners. A distribution fee is added to the manufacturing cost on distribution channel sales, reducing your per-copy royalty compared to Lulu Bookstore sales.

⚠ If you are already publishing the same title through IngramSpark for trade distribution, enabling Lulu's global distribution on the same title will create duplicate retail listings — two versions of your book on Amazon, two on BN.com. Coordinate your print distribution to avoid this: use one platform for retail distribution per title. Most wide authors use KDP Print for Amazon and IngramSpark for the trade, and use Lulu specifically for direct-sales (Lulu Bookstore and Shopify) rather than as a general retail distributor.

Step 8: Lulu Direct — Shopify Integration

Lulu Direct is Lulu's print-on-demand fulfillment API that integrates with Shopify. When a reader buys your print book from your Shopify store, Lulu Direct automatically receives the order, prints the book, and ships it directly to the reader. You collect the full retail price through Shopify and pay Lulu only for printing and shipping.

Setting Up Lulu Direct with Shopify

Lulu Direct is available as a Shopify app from the Shopify App Store. To set it up:

• Install the Lulu Direct app from the Shopify App Store

• Connect your Lulu account to the app — this links your Lulu project library to Shopify

• Create product listings in your Shopify store for each print book you want to sell directly

• Map each Shopify product to the corresponding Lulu project — this tells the app which Lulu project to fulfill when a Shopify order comes in

• Configure shipping settings — set your shipping rates in Shopify to cover Lulu's printing and shipping costs plus your desired margin

• Test the integration by placing a test order through Shopify before going live

After configuration, Shopify orders for your print books are automatically routed to Lulu for fulfillment. You monitor orders in both your Shopify dashboard and your Lulu production queue.

Pricing Your Books for Shopify Sales

On Shopify via Lulu Direct, your retail price should cover: Lulu's printing cost + Lulu's shipping cost to the reader's location + Shopify's payment processing fee (approximately 2.9% + $0.30) + your desired margin.

Example: A 300-page 6" × 9" paperback has a Lulu printing cost of approximately $4.50 and US shipping of approximately $3.99. Your total cost is $8.49. At a Shopify price of $18.99, after Shopify's processing fee you receive approximately $9.95 margin — compared to approximately $4.74 on the same book priced at $13.99 on Amazon via KDP Print. The direct sales margin advantage is substantial.

Step 9: Ordering Author Copies

You can order copies of your own books through Lulu at the manufacturing cost plus shipping — no royalty markup. Author copies are available in any quantity with no minimum order. Order a proof copy before finalizing your book's distribution to verify print quality, color accuracy, and cover appearance.

Lulu royalties from the Lulu Bookstore and any distribution channels appear in ScribeCount once your account is connected. For authors running direct sales through both a Shopify/Lulu Direct integration and retail distribution channels, ScribeCount consolidates all Lulu-sourced income alongside your Kobo, Apple, Amazon, and other platform royalties — giving you a complete picture of your total print and ebook income in one view.

Lulu's Content Guidelines

Lulu's content guidelines prohibit content that infringes on copyrights or trademarks, content promoting illegal activity, and sexual content involving minors. Adult content is permitted with appropriate content ratings applied during book setup. Lulu operates globally and its content distribution may be restricted in certain markets for specific content types.

Common Lulu Mistakes

• Not downloading a fresh Lulu cover template for your specific project — using a template from another platform or a manually calculated spine width

• Enabling Lulu's global distribution on a title already distributed through IngramSpark — creating duplicate retail listings

• Not ordering a proof copy before finalizing distribution, particularly for color photo books and specialty formats

• Pricing your Shopify books without accounting for Lulu's shipping cost to the reader's location — shipping from US to UK or Australia significantly affects the per-copy economics

• Not connecting Lulu to ScribeCount — losing visibility into Lulu Bookstore and direct sales income

Lulu serves a specific and important role in a wide author's print strategy: the direct-sales layer that allows you to earn twice the margin per copy by selling to your readers directly rather than through Amazon. The BookWright tool, the Shopify integration, and the Lulu Bookstore all support this mission. Use Lulu for what it does best — direct sales, special formats, and Shopify fulfillment — and let IngramSpark and KDP Print handle trade distribution and Amazon sales respectively.