Blurb launches enhanced service to Canada and Blurb BookShow(TM)

Easy to buy and easy to sell - Canadian authors can now share and sell their books anywhere

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 22 /CNW/ - Blurb, the creative publishing and marketing platform, today announced enhanced service for Canadian customers, and the launch of Blurb BookShow(TM), which enables authors to share their books in an experiential format wherever they are online.

Blurb is a company and a community that allows anyone to become their own author and believes passionately in the joy of books - reading them, making them, sharing them, and selling them. Customers can build books using Blurb's free, award-winning Blurb BookSmart(R) Software and then order, share and sell them online through the blurb.com website.

Blurb has been in business since 2005, but has recently launched a number of features to help make book orders more streamlined for Canadian customers. For example, books can now be ordered online in Canadian dollars, with some orders now being printed and shipped from within Canada.

Blurb is also launching its BookShow feature, which is an exciting new way for bookmakers to share their work with their communities. BookShow will enable their friends and fans to easily pass the book along to others and drive interest in their printed book. The highly engaging BookShow experience is similar to turning the pages of a book, as users can flip through the book's pages online. Additionally, Blurb BookShow has been optimized for viewing on the iPad, which is soon-to-be-released in Canada, leveraging Apple's multi-touch experience without the need to download an application.

Bookmakers control how much of their books to share in Blurb BookShow. BookShow is free to use, and has been designed to maximize the potential for online sharing. Friends and fans can instantly share your book via email or on their own blog, Facebook or Twitter pages by clicking the "Share" button. They can also easily buy your book - the "Buy" button directs to the author's personal bookstore page at Blurb.com.

"Authors are eager to share their stories," said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO, Blurb. "Blurb BookShow makes an author's book more discoverable, more exciting to experience and drives interest in the printed book. We know that some of our customers will use BookShow to simply share their work with friends and family, and that's great. Other Blurb authors will take advantage of BookShow to share and sell their books among their communities. Whatever the intention for sharing, we are incredibly excited to help our customers facilitate a deeper level of engagement with their friends and fans."

Already, Blurb BookShow has proven to significantly increase visibility, community engagement and sales for Blurb authors. During beta testing, Blurb authors using Blurb BookShow experienced 6x more visits to their bookstore pages compared to the control group who did not use Blurb BookShow(i). The Blurb BookShow test group also saw an 88% increase in book sales compared to the control group.

To build, buy or view a Blurb book, please visit: www.blurb.com

To view an example of the Blurb BookShow widget, please visit: http://blog.blurb.com/index.php/2010/04/06/introducing-the-blurb-bookshow%E2%84%A2-widget/.

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. For more info, visit http://www.blurb.com.

    
    ------------------------
    (i) The test and control group during beta testing was comprised of over
        25,000 users enrolled in the Blurb Set Your Own Price program. The
        control group utilized Blurb's existing online marketing tools while
        the test group utilized Blurb BookShow. The beta test period ran from
        4 March - 6 April 2010.
    

For further information: Paula Worthington, Brookline Public Relations, [email protected], [phone] ext. 104