Lulu.com, the Raleigh-based online book publisher, has inked a deal with Yahoo that will expand its potential audience.
Yahoo will post Lulu's weRead book discovery application on its redesigned homepage starting today.
The tool allows readers to use Facebook and other social networking sites to find new authors and recommendations from other users. Readers also can catalog their book collections and rate books and authors.
With the Yahoo deal, "more readers than ever are able to experience book discovery in a truly social way," said Harish Abbott, senior vice president of products at Lulu, in a prepared statement.
Posting the application on Yahoo's popular home page also could increase interest in Lulu's self-published authors and drive traffic to its main Web site. Yahoo ranked third in Internet visitors in August, after Google and Microsoft.
Lulu, which moved its headquarters into a historic, renovated building near N.C. State from Morrisville earlier this year, bought weRead last year. The company employs about 130 worldwide, including 80 in Raleigh.
The privately held company, run by former Red Hat CEO Bob Young, is profitable, said spokeswoman Gail Jordan, but doesn't disclose financial results.
Lulu also bought the Web domain poetry.com, and recently relaunched the site as Lulu Poetry. The site allows poets to connect online and submit their work for contests. Naturally, it also directs poets who want to self-publish their efforts to Lulu's main site.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or 
