Word: blurbs
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When Michelle Kaufmann discovered Blurb, she thought the Web-based publisher might help her make a book of photos from a recent vacation to Costa Rica, something to show her friends. "I downloaded the software on a whim," she says. "It just looked like something people did for personal...
Kaufmann, an architect who specializes in sustainable design, soon realized that Blurb could help transform her business. Impressed with the quality of the finished product, she turned to a more important task: a book that would feature the work of Michelle Kaufmann Designs, the Bay Area firm she founded in 2003. She had been approached by conventional publishers in the past, but as a small business, she didn't want to wait years to accommodate publishing's long lead times. "I thought, This is the book we've been wanting to do," she says. She spent two months pulling together...
...Architects, photographers, interior designers and Japanese anime artists are using self-publishing websites to produce books that showcase their work in a style comparable to that of established art-book publishers. Professional books like Kaufmann's "are the fastest-growing segment of our business," says Eileen Gittins, CEO of Blurb, which launched in May 2006 and is based in San Francisco. She expects revenue to reach $5 million to $10 million this year, as the company expands its printing operations with partnerships in Europe and Asia...
...Blurb, like other publishing websites such as Lulu and Picaboo, is producing its share of baby books, family-recipe cookbooks and wedding albums. But its most enthusiastic users are drawn to the company's extensive design tools. Stone Yamashita Partners, a consulting firm in San Francisco, recently published a 300-page book detailing the kind of strategy work it does with clients. "Blurb provided the highest quality with the quickest turnaround we could find," says David Glickman, principal at the firm, "as well as the flexibility and control over the look, the feel and the flow...
...Several European publishers are said to be clamoring to print the story in their respective territories. Murdoch's high-profile rejection has only made the book more attractive. (Imagine the cover blurb: "The book that Rupert Murdoch doesn't want you to read!") Indeed, soon after the cancellation, says the source, Simpson's camp asked Murdoch's representatives to surrender the rights earlier than the original deal stipulates so that Simpson can cash in overseas...