Self-publisher Lulu joins with Borders

Bookstore kiosks will cater to writers

Bob Young is betting that bookstores aren't a dying business.

The technology entrepreneur founded and leads Lulu.com, which helps authors and artists self-publish works online. On Friday, Morrisville-based Lulu announced a deal with Borders, one of the country's largest book retailers. Lulu will run interactive kiosks at new Borders stores where customers can upload, showcase and ultimately sell their works via Lulu.com.

The free kiosks are aimed at aspiring authors, artists, and travel and food experts who spend hours at bookstores reading, writing and sipping coffee.

For Lulu, the arrangement expands and promotes its online marketplace, where it makes money taking a cut of self-published media sales.

"Our customer acquisition cost is a critical metric for us to watch," said Lulu operations chief Andrew Pate, who engineered the agreement. "This deal drives a huge amount of traffic without a huge additional expense."

Authors also can get limited professional assistance for $299. A $499 package includes professional editing and design.

Borders recently opened the first of 13 new concept stores with a Lulu kiosk in Michigan. Borders also has deals with Ancestor.com to help with genealogy searches and Shutterfly.com to support photo sharing.

Borders, which has lost customers to Amazon.com and retailers such as Target, plans to expand the Lulu kiosks nationwide.

"Our relationship with Lulu is just one example of how Borders is evolving into a digital destination where our customers do far more than shop for books, music and movies," said Borders CEO George Jones. "They create and share, and they come to us for the tools to help them do it."