Lulu was founded in 2002 by Bob Young to provide a better way to publish. Over the next decade, Lulu expanded its offerings to include digital artwork, print on demand, professional services, and distribution on Amazon and as an ebook aggregator. By 2011, Lulu had published over 10,000 works and was one of the largest self-publishing platforms, working with both traditionally published and self-published authors.

1. February 2002
Lulu is founded.
After experiencing his own frustrations with traditionally
publishing his book“Under the Radar,” Bob Young
determines there has to be “a better way to publish” and
Lulu.com is founded. Lulu believes in the power of ideas
and the potential of everyone to create something powerful.

2. January 2003
Lulu expands its product line with
digital artwork and images.

3. October 2003
First “Best-Selling Author”
Lulu.com names its first best-selling author
who holds the title for three years.

4. April 2004
Better Print-On-Demand Technology
Through a new primary print partner, Lulu provides true one-off
production for authors.

5. June 2004
Largest Traffic Influx to Date
Promotions from Lulu’s presence at
HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC were so
successful, the site crashed over the
following weekend.

6. July 2004
Lulu.com gains coverage
on Slashdot.com
Lulu’s arrival to the technology circuit is
trumpeted by its first Slashdot.com story.

7. March 2005
Lulu introduces professional services.
Lulu users can now take advantage of editing and formatting
options to make their content more marketable.

8. July 2005
Lulu offers even better distribution
options.
Amazon marketplace distribution is available without an
ISBN for the first time.

9. August 2005
Lulu begins globalization.
Lulu adds the United Kingdom marketplace.

10. November 2005
Lulu offers hardcover options.
New print partner Berryville Graphics
expands Lulu’s product line.

11. November 2005
Lulu.com is now home to over
10,000 published works.
A milestone moment for Lulu.com.

12. February 2006
Lulu makes their first move.
Lulu moves to a larger office space in Morrisville, NC
to accommodate continuing expansion.

13. April 2006
Lulu goes international.
Lulu.com expands international reach and is now available
in Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Italian.

14. June 2007
Lulu makes publishing even easier.
Lulu becomes the only place where users can
publish a single ISBN for a book.

15. June 2007
Lulu wins Web 2.0 award.
SEOMoz.org awards Lulu with the
First Place Web 2.0 award in Books.

16. September 2007
Lulu introduces the Lulu Studio.™
The Lulu Studio™ offers new photo book products with
enhanced image options.

17. May 2008
Lulu increases image selection.
Lulu adds stock imagery. Now Lulu users can seamlessly
pull in a huge selection of stock photos to enhance their
work.

18. July 2008
Lulu announces 38% growth over last year.

19. April 2009
Lulu moves to its new global
headquarters.
The abandoned NC Equipment Company building
in Raleigh, NC is revitalized after being converted
into the new global headquarters for Lulu.com.

20. May 2009
Lulu expands author services
and adds professional publishing
packages.

21. August 2009
Lulu services increase business 300%.
Lulu’s “done-for-you” service packages help people
make their book look as professional as possible.
Lulu services can increase sales an average of 34%
within a year.

22. September 2009
Lulu announces Life-Time
Revenue Sharing
The Lulu Publishing Partner Program encourages
US organizations to motivate employees to publish
by offering a lifetime revenue share of all services
purchased and books sold.

23. October 2009
Lulu’s global headquarters
wins the Sir Walter Raleigh Award.
Since 1983, the prestigious Sir Walter Raleigh Award
has been presented to various designers, developers
and organizations that have helped improve the
overall character, environment and appearance of
the Raleigh community through unique design.

24. November 2009
Lulu adds over 200,000 eBooks to its catalogue.
Lulu pioneers “open-publishing” by literally placing Lulu authored
books right next to traditional titles like Dan Brown. Lulu treats all
content equally and gives all authors an equal shot at success.

25. November 2009
Traditionally published authors
begin switching to Lulu.
An exciting and validating time at Lulu as more and
more authors such as Cory Doctorow and Warren Ellis
turn down traditional publishing methods and decide
to publish through Lulu.

26. December 2009
Revenue is up 40%.
Lulu reports the largest number of total sales
in the company’s history on “Cyber Monday”.

27. February 2010
Lulu Opens Doors to Developers
Lulu provides direct access to its publishing platform, creating new
opportunity for publishing innovation.

28. March 2010
iBookstore Aggregator Status.
Lulu becomes one of only seven aggregators for the iBookstore.
Acclaimed, traditionally published author John Edgar Wideman turns
to Lulu to gain more control and reach more readers.

29. June 2010
Wall Street Journal Names Lulu
One of the “Stars of Self-Publishing.”

30. October 2010
Lulu adds printers to serve explosive growth.
Seeing an 80 percent growth in creator registrations, Lulu expands it
global print network to France, cutting shipping costs and time for
delivery for customers across Europe.

31. March 2011
Cooking Up Success with Paula Deen.
Kraft Cheese and Paula Deen partner with Lulu to publish a
community cookbook to be promoted on Paula’s web-show,
The Real Women of Philadelphia.

32. May 2011
Lulu Launches World’s First True
Open-Publishing Platform.
Lulu adds to its APIs with tools for document conversion and the first
glimpses of an eCommerce platform. Lulu also expands its print
network to Canada to serve growth.

33. September 2011
Lulu simplifies eBook creation with
a new EPUB converter.
New free eBook converter technology speeds up time to market for
self-published authors seeking to capitalize on the growing e-reader
trend. Later, Lulu announces a partnership with Barnes and Noble,
expanding eBook distribution to the NOOK.

34. November 2011
Lulu Short Story Contest
In support of popular annual writing event National Novel Writing
Month, Lulu provides authors with a chance to upload a 600-word
short story, have it distributed to popular retailers and devices like the
iBookstore and NOOK and can win some incredible prizes including a
NOOK and $500 cash. Lulu received over 2300 submissions.

35. December 2011
Award-winning Author
Stephen Stark Comes to Lulu
Stephen Stark, award-winning author of the New York Times Book
Review “Notable Book of the Year” Second Son, and his publisher,
Shelf Media Group, have chosen to release Stark’s latest work
through Lulu.com, breaking from the traditional model he has
used to successfully publish his previous titles.

36. December 2011
Lulu Names December 26th
National Download Day
The day after Christmas, Lulu sees a spike in e-
sales due to people loading up their new e-reader
devices. Interestingly, print sales tripled three
days later indicating that e-sales drive print sales
and vice versa.

37. March 2012
Lulu partners with NACS; Provides
Custom Community-Based Publishing
Solutions for College Stores
Launching a beta platform for campus stores, Lulu
seeks to empower these stores to become centralized
hubs for cultivating knowledge-based content among
their customer bases – furthering their ability to help
educators, students, and others share their valuable
ideas and expertise for years to come.

38. March 2012
New York Times Bestselling Author David
Thorne publishes through Lulu.
Thorne shares his latest
collection of the hilariously entertaining emails and
articles he is known for in his new book I’ll Go Home Then,
Its Warm and Has Chairs.

39. March 2012
Lulu raises the bar in self-publishing – again.
After a year of hard work, Lulu launches a new eCommerce platform along with
major site upgrades that will give authors and readers the absolute best self-
publishing experience for buying and selling books in any format across the globe.

40. April 2012
Congressional Candidate and Political
Bestseller Kevin Powell comes to Lulu.
Former TV star and current activist Kevin Powell, publishes his
11th book, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and the Ghost of Dr. King
through Lulu.

41. April 2012
Lulu releases new Google Drive App.
In what Triangle Tech Talk calls a “company milestone,” Lulu announces
integration with Google Drive, enabling creators to take a document from
collaboration to published in one-click, right from their Google accounts.
Lulu is one of only 20 companies invited into the Drive beta program.