Palo Alto, Calif. – An expanded relationship between Lulu and HP customers will allow Lulu to take full advantage of the advanced capabilities HP Indigo Digital Presses and HP Inkjet Web Presses offer.

HP and Lulu executives announced the expanded relationship today at the INTERQUEST 2011 Digital Book Printing Forum in New York.

Through the expanded relationship, Lulu’s volume of HP-printed pages is estimated to grow in the next 12 to 18 months, with the publishing firm transitioning more of its color and monochrome work to HP Indigo and HP Inkjet Web presses installed at various HP print service provider customer sites.

Lulu, the leading “open publishing” provider of online print-on-demand self-publishing services, currently publishes approximately 20,000 titles per month and is experiencing rapid growth. Several HP print service providers worldwide would take on new and expanded fulfillment contracts with Lulu to facilitate the transition and handle the expanded volume.

Lulu sought HP digital presses because they can reliably meet increasing customer demand for quick-turnaround, high-quality books, calendars and other printed products. Plus, HP’s overall IT expertise and technology leadership give Lulu extended capabilities in cloud-based publishing and scalable systems needed to drive further growth.

“Lulu continues to redefine publishing, by empowering creators to sell their content to more people and gain more profit. We are developing cutting-edge partnerships with companies like HP to deliver our creators and their audiences maximum value, both today and into the future,” said Bob Young, founder and CEO, Lulu. “Thanks to HP’s high quality, consistent color, and dedication to developing brilliantly innovative digital presses, we’re able to offer our creators just that.”

Lulu’s work with HP builds on an existing relationship between the two companies in delivering high-quality, highly productive digital print. Last year, Lulu customers collectively published more than 400 million pages’ worth of books, mini books, photo books and calendars. Many of Lulu’s photo books and calendars are produced by HP customers using HP Indigo presses.

Positioned for success in a growing market

The self/non-traditional publishing market Lulu serves is one the most dynamic, fast-growing segments of the publishing industry. In 2009, these types of titles outnumbered traditional titles by a three-to-one margin in the United States, according to bibliographic information management solutions firm R.R. Bowker.

“Leading service providers like Lulu make it possible for anyone to create a professional-quality book that is personal and meaningful,” said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Graphics Solutions Business – Americas, HP. “HP’s digital printing technology provides Lulu with a stronger publishing platform for mass customization and personalization, giving Lulu’s customers more power than ever to create and market high-quality work.”

Significant trends in the printed book market, such as short print runs and diverse substrate variety, are making digital printing a preferred production method. The combination of HP Indigo and HP Inkjet Web presses would give Lulu the ability to profitably and cost-effectively address these trends.

With a shift to HP printing, many of Lulu’s books would have Inkjet Web Press-printed book blocks paired with Indigo Digital Press-printed covers. Lulu also would continue its current use of HP Indigo presses in printing photo books, calendars and other high-value color print products.

High value and high productivity in digital printing

With more than 5,000 Indigo digital presses installed worldwide, HP is a leading provider of digital printing technologies to the global printing and publishing markets.

HP Indigo digital presses use a unique liquid electrophotographic printing process to combine the look and feel of traditional offset with genuine photo quality. HP Inkjet Web Presses deliver highly-efficient production of signatures, full-broadsheet formats or multiple-up documents across a range of printing applications.

HP digital presses integrate with other many finishing and workflow technologies, so printers can establish efficient, automated book production lines that decrease costs, reduce waste and speed time to market.

More information about HP Indigo and Inkjet Web Presses, including the recently announced HP T400 Color Inkjet Web Press, is available at www.hp.com/go/gsb and through the HP Graphic Arts Twitter feed.