Lulu.com is a marketplace where “authors” - individuals, companies and groups - can publish and sell a variety of digital content including books, music, video, software, calendars, photos and artwork...

1. The self-publishing evolution: the Lulu.com case
The Network, the Community
and the Self-Creativity
Over the Print on Demand,
more than the User Generated Content
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

2. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
The Lulu.com project
Lulu.com is a marketplace where “authors” -
individuals, companies and groups – can publish
and sell a variety of digital content including
books, music, video, software, calendars,
photos and artwork.
> PoD = Printon Demand technology
> Self-Publishing Industry
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

3. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
The Lulu.com philosophy
Founded by Bob Young (Linux Red Hat) 2002
> Open Source Philosophy
>“Lulu” : “remarkable person, object or idea”
> Author in control of his digital contents
(creation > pricing > royalties)
The phenomenon
> 100,000 new titles in the last
6 months
> 2,000 new titles added each week
> 110,000 items sold last month
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

4. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
1. The Self-publishing phenomenon
A ‘Long-Tail’ Technology
- moderately popular publications,
often very difficult
to get hold of,
given that demand is too low for it
to be profitable
PoD change Self-publishing
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

5. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
1. The Self-publishing phenomenon
PoD change Self-publishing
How
> No unsold products > low costs
stock)
> Reduce inventories and storage expenses (no
> quicker and cheaper technical set-up
> print out-of-stock titles in small
> quickly reprint (inventory runs low/exceeds forecasts)
> test-market > short-runs (look like final product - galleys)
> economically fulfil (niche markets)
pre-publish advantage (less than 1,500 units)
>
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

6. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
1. The Self-publishing phenomenon
Print-On-Demand companies are often
considered as vanity publishers.
That means you pay them to publish your book.
Drawbacks
> no bookstore distribution
> shoddy product
> large setup fees for small print runs
> no marketing or distributing support
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

7. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
1. The Self-publishing phenomenon
Competitors & Benchmarking
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

8. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
1. The Self-publishing phenomenon
“Lulus”
Segmentation – the
> Authorpreneurs
> Extrovert individualists/entertainers
> The Experts
> Community Seekers
> Families
How Lulu.com reach Lulus?
> intermediary rule
> important asset = community
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

9. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
1. The Self-publishing phenomenon
The double side of Positioning
The link between company positioning
and positioning one’s Creativity on the web is:
value of the community
The
based on the network
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

10. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model
Marketplace - “browse”
>
where buyers can see the shelves
Self-Publishing - “publish”
>
where “authors” can manage creativity
Services - tools for the business
>
Community - the soul of the network
>
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

11. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model - “browse”
The marketplace as other online bookshops
is organized In five categories:
books, calendars, images, music and audio, video.
> Best sellers (top 100)
> File of product
> Rating of the product
> Comments on the author
> Link to author’s store front
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

12. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model - “publish”
> The core of the model
> Totally free
Steps
1. Information (product & author)
2. Content Upload
3. Binding & colors
4. Cover art
5. Pricing & finishing
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

13. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model - “services”
Free ….
Write a Press Release <
Set up “Storefront” <
Collateral (Lulu.com material) <
Visiting Marketing Central (!) <
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

14. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model - “services”
…& fee
Author marketing kits <
Pre-publishing services <
Graphic Services <
Publishing Services <
Mktg and publicity Services <
Providers by Countries <
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

15. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model - “community”
The Soul of the network
> Forum & Blog
> Newsletter “LuluCreators”
> LuluRadio – LuluTv (podcast)
> LuluTeam
(leaders, promoters and testers)
“the world’s fastest-growing provider
of print-on-demand books”
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

16. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
2. The Lulu.com model - “help”
Increasing the Publics’ learning process
> Getting started
> Product cost calculator
> LiveHelp
> LuluWorkshop
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

17. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
3. Building the authors networks
Costs & Benefits
Mktg & promotion < > High Usability
Only upload technical time < > “Vanity fair” - protagonist
Content developing efforts < > Knowledge Sharing
Risk for quality delivered < > Niche Content
Needs of trust < > Community Relationship
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

18. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
3. Building the authors networks
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

19. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
3. Building the authors networks
The generated value for the “Lulus”
The success:
is on the value of his
network and community
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

20. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
3. Building the authors networks
The neo-publisher experience
> Easy to use (Usability policy)
> High involvement to discover the web service
> Familiar atmosphere – testimonials “one like you”
> Not sophisticated, but a Lab “open source” style
> habit for experiment user creativity
> Community content quality control
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

21. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
3. Building the authors networks
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

22. The Network, the Community and the Self-Creativity
Conclusions
> More straightforward concept about:
Servicies offered / Prices
> Find out the way of differentiation:
Eg. Focus on that is tha main asset = community
> “Lulu.com” - the website
easily recognizable that is designed by engineers
Therefore there needs look & feel design.
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07

23. The self-publishing evolution: the Lulu.com case
The Network, the Community
and the Self-Creativity
Over the Print on Demand,
more than the User Generated Content
Thanks for your attention.
Università Master Digital
della of Science in Marketing
©2006 by
Svizzera Communication
Vincenzo Cammarata, Veronika Kurucz, Elisa Vinciarelli
Italiana and Economics SI 2006-07