Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A little lite Lulu gossip--veinglory


BBB Accreditation Status

"On February 6, 2008 the accreditation was suspended due to failure to respond to one or more customer complaints filed with BBB. The matter will be reviewed by BBB's Board of Directors at its next meeting ... When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints."

p.s. look like PODdy #2 is taking her (?) ball and going home. [shrug]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that the "When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints" clause is extremely pertinent, especially considering that the individuals most likely to file a claim against Lulu are writers who have been uniformly rejected by the publishing industry and already feel disenfranchised; many have Napoleonic complexes and wouldn't be satisfied unless christened as the next Rowling-cum-Brown, and how can any business fulfill expectations like that? Following that article, the only issue not listed as "resolved" is "service issues," which lists customers as dissatisfied; I've used Lulu's services, and I, for one, am an extraordinarily satisfied customer.

As for POD-dy, sorry to see the blog go, but it does seem the trend. I think the self-POD wave has passed, and now the real discussion of it can begin, taking place beyond the red-cheeked flush that came with the empowerment of new technology.

Though: "a little lite ... gossip" and a "[shrug]" don't seem to indicate any degree of support or solidarity, which may be why it's passed.

veinglory said...

I would argue they tone of the farewell was reason enough for the shrug. I was very supportive as can be seen in the comments section.

With blogs, as with self-POD in general, I give support and kudos where I judge it to be warranted.

Anonymous said...

Ah, see, I didn't click through to read PODdy2's post. I never really read that particular blog (the couple of posts I skimmed, back when I first heard of it, had to do with publishing itself, and specifically self-publishing, and I think one of the worst things a writer using Lulu or the like could possibly do is focus too completely on self-POD as a model. Also, I know enough about publishing already).

Having now read the post, I see what you mean, but then, I also have rather intimate experience with her side of things, as well, especially the "if the only people who are going to read and comment are the ones who dislike me, what's the point?" question. For reasons I can't fathom, I became myself a divisive issue with many people. Which is what I meant by the idea of fractious support among the POD community; there are times it seems even more a clique than self-published authors so often purport the majors to be.