The Lulu Global Distribution Network makes your book available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other online retail sites at no additional cost to you. Global Distribution also creates a listing for your book with the Ingram Book Company, which allows brick-and-mortar bookstores to purchase your book.


Important: Your book must be assigned an ISBN to qualify for Global Distribution.

Lulu’s Paperback and Hardcover product lines include book formats that qualify for retail distribution. These books are designated by this symbol:



For a complete list of distribution-eligible book formats, see Retail Distribution.


Your book must meet ALL distribution requirements.

See our article Global Distribution Print Exclusions to learn about which sets of products are eligible for Amazon and not Ingram, and vice versa.


Important: Lulu's ebooks qualify for Global Distribution if they are in English only and in EPUB format. See more information on the mandatory ebook distribution requirements here.


To be eligible for Global Distribution, your book:

  • Must have an ISBN. You can get a free ISBN from Lulu or use one you have purchased and registered.
  • Requires a retail markup.
  • Must be an eligible book size and binding type.
  • Must be an eligible language in non-Latin characters (eligible languages are shown in the book creator tool).

What Does Global Distribution Include?

With Global Distribution your book will be available for purchase on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com as well as online retailers around the world in as little as 6-8 weeks. Once your book is approved for distribution, book data is sent to major bibliographic databases, including Nielsen and Bowker. Additionally, brick-and-mortar bookstores can order and stock your title at their discretion through Ingram.


You will receive retail revenues on all books sold through Global Distribution partners. Sales made through Global Distribution listings are credited to your account approximately 6-8 weeks after a customer purchases your book. Payment from these sales is distributed according to the payment settings in your Lulu.com account.

How Do I Get Global Distribution?

Global Distribution is applied when you are creating your project.

  1. Sign in to your Lulu.com account.
  2. Click Create
  3. Select a distribution-eligible product type such as a print book or ebook.
  4. In the Select a Goal section, click Publish Your Book and choose Global Distribution.
  5. Continue through the publishing process.


Note: If Global Distribution cannot be selected, the product type is ineligible for distribution.


Before your book can be sent to our Global Distribution partners, you must complete the following steps:

  1. Ensure your book meets all Mandatory Requirements for Distribution.
  2. If you need to make edits to meet requirements, go to My Projects and click the Revise button to create a new version for editing.
  3. When complete, purchase a proof copy of the most recent version of the book. If you make any revisions, a new proof must be purchased and approved before the book will be submitted for distribution.
  4. After receiving and carefully reviewing your proof copy, you can:     
    1. Approve the book on your My Projects page (go to step 6).
    2. Deny the book and make the required revisions (go to step 5).
  5. If needed, make revisions and upload a new manuscript and/or cover for your project.
  6. After you approve your proof copy, your book will be evaluated by Lulu for technical compliance and to ensure your project meets the distribution and content guidelines put in place by retailers. Once the project passes our evaluation, it will be submitted to retailers for review before being made available for sale on their site. It could take an estimated 6-8 weeks for print and ebooks to be listed for sale with retailers. Each online retail channel updates its databases at various intervals and has its own process for reviewing, approving, and listing the products on its sites. 
  7. If your book is rejected for not meeting distribution requirements, you will be notified via email that the book must be revised.
  8. If during this time you make revisions to your book, the process starts over at step 2 with all the work and time involved.

Why Is My Retired Book Still Appearing for Sale on Amazon and Other Retail Websites?

After you retire your book, it can take 6-8 weeks for its retirement request to be fully processed by our retail partners. Once your book's retirement is processed, you may see listings for it on our retail partners' websites, such as Amazon. These listings will remain active as this information may persist to support activities such as sales of used copies through their marketplace. That said, no new copies of your book will be printed.


We cannot remove listings from Amazon or our retail partners' websites. If you believe your book is being sold illegally, please report it to the retail site directly.