On this episode of the Co-Sponsor Podcast, our hosts Kevin and Joe are joined by Matt Briel from Lulu, a leading platform in the self-publishing industry. They talk about direct sales for authors using Shopify and how to integrate print-on-demand. Kevin points out that Lulu is one of the original pioneers in the self-publishing industry and asks Matt to provide some insight into the company's journey and its position in the market today. Matt happily obliges and begins to recount the history of Lulu, delving into its early days, its growth, and the challenges it faced along the way. The story starts with the company’s founder, Bob Young, who after taking Red Hat public, wanted to share his story but found traditional publishing routes challenging. This experience led to the creation of Lulu in 2002, a platform that allowed anyone to publish a book from start to finish online. Matt explains how Lulu initially dominated the market as there weren't many platforms where one could simply upload a Word document and turn it into a book. However, the entrance of Amazon into the self-publishing industry disrupted the market, putting Lulu in a position of playing catch-up for some time. Matt acknowledges that Lulu lost its foothold in the market to Amazon, which disrupted the publishing world with its e-books. Along with this, some unwise partnerships, particularly with ASL, damaged Lulu's reputation. However, Matt affirms that they are now on the mend and have spent the last 4 to 5 years heavily investing in innovation within the self-publishing space. The conversation then shifts to direct sales, which Matt labels as the "hot topic" in the indie author world. He discusses Lulu's all-in-one package solution for direct sales, highlighting how their platform allows authors to easily sell books directly to their audience. Matt also addresses common concerns about taxes and shipping when running an e-commerce store, advising authors to treat their venture as a business and seek professional advice or use tools available on platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. Matt also introduces a feature called the 'order import tool', which allows authors to easily fulfill orders from crowdfunding campaigns or subscriptions. He mentions other features such as self-purchase options, tiered pricing, and Lulu’s robust API, which provides a wide range of flexibility. The podcast ends on a high note as Matt speaks about the most popular features that authors are currently flocking to Lulu for, namely direct sales and print quality. He discusses how authors are integrating their preferred platforms with Lulu and using the platform to create high-quality, private access projects.