My apologies. I read the original article from Digital Book World in a hurry and thought that Lulu.com, a legitimate company that helps authors self-publish, had added certain 'author solutions' to its site. Unfortunately, on closer inspection, that is not the case.
As Paul pointed out in his kind comment, and as I have known for a while myself, Author Solutions has been flagged by Writer Beware a number of times and I would not recommend it.
Here is what Writer Beware has to say about Author Solutions:
Some POD services have trouble with timeliness in book production and order fulfillment. The companies owned by Author Solutions (AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Xlibris, and Trafford) are the subject of frequent complaints about customer service. Before choosing a POD service, it’s a good idea to scout for complaints, and to contact writers who’ve used the service. (From POD Service Issues To Consider)There are many legitimate print-on-demand services (such as lulu.com, createspace.com and lightningsource.com) that help authors by enabling them to produce, distribute and sell paper copies of their work and I feel good about recommending any of these companies. Author Solutions is not a company I would recommend.
Because I don't like deleting things, my original article is below.
UPDATE (July 3, 2012):
Here is a link to another post on Writer Beware about AuthorSolutions:
Victoria Strauss -- Author Solutions Acquires Xlibris
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This is from Digital Book World:
In the continuing arms race between self-publishing platforms, Lulu.com has added a new feature designed to entice authors.You can read the rest here: Self-Publishing Site Lulu.com Launches Author Advice Tool.
Lulu’s Publishing Advisor is designed to give authors customized recommendations on how they can most effectively create, publish, market and sell their title. The recommendations are customized based on the author’s answers to a five-question questionnaire.
Lulu.com is just one of a number of self-publishing tools recently to go to market with improved services and pricing to attract more authors.
Author Solutions is currently offering authors 100% royalties in perpetuity on books published through the site by July 4. The company is also offering authors a something called BookStubs where authors can distribute physical cards with a code for readers to download their e-book to enable in-person e-book sales or giveaways.
A new company called Your Ebook Team just launched and says that it offers authors “360 degree” service, from editorial to distribution.
Major publishing companies are also now reaching out to authors to tout their ability to serve them. Random House, for instance, recently put out a video discussing all the value it offers to authors.
