Blurb is an American

self-publishing Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...

platform that allows users to create, self-publish, promote, share, and sell their own print and

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s. It also offers digital software for laying out books.

History

The company was founded in 2005 by Eileen Gittins and funded by Canaan Partners and

Anthem Venture Partners An anthem is a musical composition of wikt:celebration, celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of country, countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers mo ...

. Blurb's headquarters are in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California. Since its inception, Blurb has delivered more than 14 million books created by more than a half million customers. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine named Blurb one of 2006's "50 Coolest Web Sites". The company generates nearly $100 million in revenues per year. Blurb announced a partnership with

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

in April 2014. The deal allows Blurb-designed books to be sold and distributed on the Amazon platform. The partnership enables self publishing on the platform with a 15% cut on Blurb books—a discount from previous fees of up to 45%. Amazon agreed to the fee to access Blurb's nearly two-million authors, who have produced 8 million books since 2006. In May 2014 Blurb acquired

MagCloud MagCloud is an American online publishing service founded by Hewlett-Packard in 2008 and sold to Blurb, Inc. in 2014. Mag is an abbreviation for magazine, while cloud is a synonym for online. Product MagCloud allows users to self-publish S ...

, a self-publishing platform for magazines, under a licensing agreement from HP. In the deal, Blurb has taken over the company's technology and operations, and nearly 10,000 customers. Blurb was acquired by their print fulfillment partner Reischling Press, Inc. (RPI) for an undisclosed amount in August of 2020.

Services

Blurb's book-making tools include BookWright (a downloadable tool), BookSmart), Blurb's PDF Uploader, the Blurb iOS app, and Blurb's plug-in for Adobe InDesign which allows book makers to design and upload their book's PDF files from within InDesign itself. Adobe's Lightroom Classic has a built-in Book module that Lightroom users can use to create and upload their books directly to Blurb for printing or for creation in ebook form. Blurb authors can promote and share their books (including ebooks) using Blurb's free on-line marketing tools. They can also set their price and sell their books and ebooks in Blurb's online bookstore. Authors retain 100% of their markup with printed books and 80% of their selling cost with ebooks. Blurb's print-on-demand technology enables authors to print just as many books are ordered. Blurb offers seven book sizes, hardcover and softcover options, and a range of premium and professional-grade papers and end sheets. Blurb e-books are fixed format, enabling them to retain the same image and text placement when viewed on the

Apple iPad An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

as in the printed book version.

Awards

*In April 2008, Blurb was nominated for A 2008

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

. *In August 2010, Blurb was announced as 2010 AOP Open Award Winner. *Blurb was an ''Inc.'' 500 #1 media company in 2010.

References

External links

* {{Self-publishing Book publishing companies based in San Francisco Digital press Publishing companies established in 2005 Self-publishing online stores