SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 /CNW/ - Blurb(R), the creative publishing and marketing platform that allows anyone to become an author, today announced the launch of Blurb for Good, a platform that enables citizen philanthropists and nonprofits to create and use books as a means to generate awareness, goodwill and monies for social causes.
"The vision for Blurb has always been inclusive of a platform for social good," said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO, Blurb. "We have now reached the scale and platform richness that makes this dream possible. Even before the launch of Blurb for Good, we have seen authors use the Blurb platform to sell over 17,000 cause-related books and raise over $500,000. Blurb for Good provides a means to supercharge efforts to use Blurb books as a means of raising awareness and generating funds for a specific cause."
Citizen philanthropy is a fast growing trend around the world. Social media has given individuals the tools to motivate their friends, family and others to get involved and support causes. In 2009, in the midst of challenging economic times, 92 percent of non-profit organizations saw an increase in the number of gifts received due to online promotion of fundraising for their causes.(1)
Anyone and any organization can join Blurb for Good at www.blurbforgood.com. Blurb for Good leverages the benefits of the Blurb platform, making it easy to design, publish, market and sell professional-quality books, using Blurb's award-winning Blurb BookSmart(R) software. Blurb for Good authors can set up a unique page in the Blurb Bookstore to help promote their cause, and their books will be featured in a special section of the Bookstore reserved for cause-related books. Blurb's social and community marketing tools, including the new Blurb BookShow(TM) widget, allow customers to share Blurb books anywhere online - on Facebook, blogs, web sites, iPad, anywhere.
Today, Blurb authors keep 100% of their profit. With the launch of Blurb for Good, Blurb is introducing a contribution program that will help authors raise even more funds for their causes. Authors can apply to receive a contribution from Blurb for every book sold. Blurb will provide contributions to qualified authors who are raising money for registered non-profit organizations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
"Earlier this year, I wanted to do something to support earthquake victims in Haiti," said Julie Van Rosendaal, Calgarian and founder of the popular food blog DinnerwithJulie.com. "It struck me that a cookbook created by the food blogging community would be a personal way for us to collectively do something that would make a difference by producing a tangible product to sell and raise funds. Thanks to the Canadian government, who matched sales of the book, and to Blurb, who made it possible to get the book from concept to online bookstore in under three weeks, and available to buyers worldwide, Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti sold more than 1,800 copies in 7 days, raising more than $45,000 for Haitian relief." Due to popular demand, Julie's book is once again available for sale on the Blurb website.
"Photographers at Microsoft produced a 160 page fine art photography book as a Giving Campaign fund raiser for the United Way in fall of 2009," said Daniel Moore, participant in Photographers at Microsoft 2009. "The project was wildly successful, raising over $50,000 for charity. This was possible due to our partnership with Blurb, who provided high quality print services, on-demand order fulfillment, online store-front, funds collection and disbursement. We were able to deliver a quality product without being either in the printing business or the online sales business. Blurb has been a fantastic partner for us."
"We have seen Blurb books make a real difference in communities around the world," said Gittins. "With the launch of Blurb for Good, we look forward to enabling more of these projects and featuring them prominently in our Bookstore for all to discover."
About Blurb
Blurb(R) is a creative publishing and marketing platform that unleashes the creative genius inside everyone. Blurb's platform makes it easy to design, publish, market and sell professional-quality books, using Blurb's free, award-winning Blurb BookSmart(R) software. Blurb's bookstore and online marketing tools enable customers to market and sell their books, and keep 100% of their profit. Blurb's social and community features allow customers to create and share Blurb books among friends and colleagues with ease.
Blurb was founded by Eileen Gittins in 2005, and includes a team of design, Internet and media veterans who share a passion for helping people bring their stories to life. In 2009, Blurb shipped over 1.2 million books to more than 60 countries and generated over $45 million in revenue. Blurb is based in San Francisco with offices in London.
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(1) Convio Online Non-Profit Benchmark(TM) Study, March 2010
For further information: visit http://www.blurb.com
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