LONDON, February 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --



Blurb Sets Sights on London Author Fair to Enable the Professional Author

Blurb, the creative self-publishing platform, today announced its founding partnership with and participation at the London Author Fair (LAF) 2014, put on by the leading author consultancy Authoright.

The first annual event, taking place in London's Covent Garden on February 28, will welcome authors across the country who aspire to publish, giving them an opportunity to network and learn more about the industry.

At the London Author Fair, Blurb will showcase its software and extensive author resources with the professional author community in attendance, demonstrating how self-publishing enables authors of all kinds to publish their bookstore-quality books, while they retain full creative control over the entire process.

Blurb's San Francisco based Founder and CEO, Eileen Gittins will also be in attendance, and will speak on two topics - Author Entrepreneur: Why Your Book is your Startup, and The Big Publishing Brain Storm: how can we get to where we want to be in 2020?

As self-publishing grows in popularity, authors have more ever more choices. Blurb offers software tools and resources to give authors what they need to create, produce, share, distribute, market, and sell beautiful, illustrated print and ebooks, including children's books, recipe books, architecture and travel books, and beautiful, coffee table books of all kinds - and keep 100% of the profits.

Blurb is built on the strong belief that authors should have complete control over the creative process and reap the benefits of their creative efforts. Until recently, traditional publishing has been the only way to accomplish this goal. With nearly 1.1 million authors creating 2.8 million unique books, Blurb has a global footprint that extends to more than 70 countries.

"Blurb's goal is to ultimately give a voice-and the power- to the millions of people who have stories to tell, and who might not make it through the gates of an established publisher," said Eileen Gittins, Blurb CEO and founder.

Gittins continued: "Our aim is to deconstruct the publishing industry by putting the author at the helm of their own work, offering them software, services and access to expert third parties to help them make the beautiful book they've always dreamt of making. Blurb is pleased to partner with Authoright, who shares our vision, and support the first London Author Fair to work with creators who want to have their stories heard."

Gareth Howard, Co-Founder and CEO of Authoright and the London Author Fair, said: "We're excited to launch the first London Author Fair and Blurb has already contributed so much in terms of their passion for authors, their energy and their enthusiasm. Our aim for the London Author Fair is to empower all authors through choice and access to information at a time when publishing is changing rapidly."

Gareth continued: "We want to aid in the democratisation of publishing, enabling authors to produce and promote their books with ease and with success. We greatly admire Blurb's ethos, its fantastic online production tools, and the beautiful books they enable. We're delighted that Eileen Gittins will be addressing the LAF, as her insights into author entrepreneurship - which is a real buzz term leading up to the event - will be of tremendous value to our audience."

About Blurb

Blurb® is the leading self-publishing and marketing platform that gives authors the freedom to create, self-publish, sell and market beautiful bookshop-quality illustrated books and ebooks, and keep 100% of their profit.

Blurb puts the control back into the hands of the author, providing a range of tools and resources to support the up an coming author of tomorrow; with award winning Adobe® software integration, a personal shop front, a digital dashboard and social and community features for sharing and promotion.

Founded by Eileen Gittins in 2006, Blurb employs a team of design, Internet and marketing professionals who are all passionate about helping others bring their stories to life. In 2011, Blurb shipped over 1.8 million books to 69 countries. In 2010, Blurb was ranked the fastest growing media company on the Inc. 500. For more information, please visit http://www.blurb.co.uk.

About Authoright

Authoright is the leading author consultancy working across all areas of the publishing industry, with offices in London and New York. Established in 2007, Authoright works with hundreds of authors every year - consulting for free with over 2,000 - both privately and through its publisher, platform and literary agent affiliates, providing affordable but effective marketing and publicity campaigns alongside bespoke editorial and design services. Corporate clients include HarperCollins, Kobo Writing Life and Faber and Faber. In 2013, Authoright founded The International Author Fair series, curating and staging author-focused events in different cities around the world. The series begins with the first London Author Fair on February 28, 2014, with the New York Author Fair following in September 2014.

About the London Author Fair

The London Author Fair is the first innovative event for all authors - traditionally published, self published, hybrid and unpublished - designed to empower and inform writers and content creators of the twenty-first century. A celebration of the author as entrepreneur, The London Author Fair will chart new territory for writers at a point when the publishing industry is changing radically. Authors are emerging as a force to be reckoned with, operating as creative consumers, able to curate their publishing and promotional experiences like never before. This day of live pitching events, seminars, crowd funding activities and workshops exploring the future of publishing, will celebrate the power of the modern author, providing opportunity, access and information on all routes to publication, empowering the writing community through choice and education. For more information visit londonauthorfair.com 

SOURCE Blurb.co.uk