Just got a curious email from www.lulu.com, which is the company through which I self-published
American Colossus.
You recently published American Colossus: The Grain Elevator, 1843 to 1943 and made it available to the world in the Lulu Marketplace. Thank you. We're thrilled to have such a remarkable work in our catalog!
Unfortunately, the world didn't get to see it as quickly as they should have. A hiccup in our system kept your book from showing up in search results immediately after you published.
The short of it is the gremlins got us. Fortunately, we found them - big, hairy devils with beady red eyes and the complexion of toad - and dispensed with them. (We'll spare you the details). Our systems are back to the Lulu standard and all books in our catalog now appear in our search results.
They go on to offer me a discount on my next purchase(s) of the book. Funny thing, though: I didn't really notice any problems that needed to be corrected. The book's sales aren't setting any records -- 103 copies sold so far -- but I'm not complaining. We'll see what happens now.
I got this same mail and it seems like a poorly disguised marketing ploy. They have you send a spam mail out on their behalf to promote the book. Useful in a way as it is promoting your book but one they profit from. Could the "Gremlins" really catch so many of us? And how did they (Lulu) know?
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