Blurb

Blurb is a print-on-demand book company that prints photo books, layflat books, paperback and hardcover books, magazines, notebooks and journals, and wall art, and sells them for creators through its own bookstore, Amazon and Ingram. The homepage describes the company as specializing in "custom books and book printing services for photographers, businesses, and creative storytellers alike," and sums up the offer as "Create. Print. Sell. Share." A seller designs a book, sets it up for sale, and Blurb prints one copy or many when orders arrive, handling shipping and distribution itself.

What a seller gets

The offer runs in four steps that the homepage names: book creation, printing, selling and business services. For creation, Blurb gives away its own desktop software, BookWright, and lets designers work online or in Adobe tools. For printing, the homepage says on-demand printing "lets you print the quantity you need whether that’s one book or hundreds," and adds "We handle all shipping and distribution, too." For selling, a book can be listed on the Blurb Bookstore, with Amazon or with Ingram, "all through one convenient dashboard." For businesses, the company offers "Customized support, API tools, bulk discounts, and all your print needs fulfilled. Plus, quick quotes and consultations," through its Large Order Services and API Printing pages.

The volume FAQ spells out the money side. Blurb "charges no distribution fees for printed projects and no commission for print sales." Volume order discounts start at 10 or more copies of the same book, and for 750 copies or more the company offers offset printing "for better economies of scale." The cost per unit falls as the number of copies rises, and a seller can print one copy at a time or buy many copies upfront at a lower price per unit. Costs vary by format, page count, paper, size and quantity, and the FAQ points to a pricing page with a chart and a pricing calculator; a shipping calculator sits beside it.

The self-publishing FAQ describes the full path: choose a format, dimensions, cover and paper; pick a tool and design with templates or page by page; edit; design a cover yourself or have a professional do it; then submit for printing. Blurb says it offers both volume printing and print-on-demand and handles shipping and fulfillment as needed. The footer links to a Hire an Expert service for creators who want design help.

Formats and starting prices

The homepage lists four main book and paper product lines with starting prices in US dollars:

• Photo Books, starting from US $12.00. The company calls them "our most premium format," for anything from high-end photography albums to family keepsake books, available in six sizes, with photo-quality papers and three cover types. Layflat books have their own product page.
• Paperback and Hardcover, starting from US $4.99, for books that mix art and text or are text alone: portfolios, cookbooks, novels, poetry, children's books and graphic novels. The FAQ says this format comes in four print options to balance cost and quality and is "printed with a free ISBN for broader distribution."
• Magazines, starting from US $7.00, in one standard size on premium paper, which the FAQ suggests for serial content, catalogs, work samples and promotional portfolios.
• Notebooks and Journals, from US $14.67.

Wall art is a fifth product line in the company's menu, next to the book formats.

The notebook page adds detail on the stationery range. Four covers are offered: a Softcover Notebook starting at US $14.67, an ImageWrap Hardcover Notebook starting at US $27.67, a Linen Hardcover with Dust Jacket Notebook starting at US $28.67 (in Standard Grey linen), and a Wire-O spiral-bound notebook starting at US $14.67. Sizes are 5x8, 6x9 and 8x10 inches, though the page's comparison table lists the linen hardcover in the two smaller sizes only. Every notebook takes from 72 up to 480 pages on White Uncoated paper, which the page gives as 70# and 105 GSM. Six page styles can be mixed within one book: blank, college ruled, wide ruled, narrow ruled, dotted grid and solid grid, and a creator can add photos or illustrations between pages or design their own layouts. The Wire-O notebook lies flat and flips back, and the page suggests the dotted grid for bullet journals. Notebooks can be sold through the Blurb bookstore, Amazon or the seller's own website.

Design tools

BookWright is Blurb's free bookmaking software, with custom templates, layout suggestions and image retouching. For Adobe users there is a Blurb plugin for Adobe InDesign, Blurb presets for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic and a Blurb PDF uploader for finished files; the homepage FAQ also names an Adobe Photoshop plugin. Creators who prefer not to install anything can design online, and BookWright templates have their own section of the site.

The homepage shows three examples of books made this way. A brand consultant published a second-edition 6x9-inch paperback on standard color paper, which the page says sells for under US $3.99, using the InDesign plugin. A travel photographer chose a layflat book on Premium Lustre paper for a coffee-table piece. An artist-publisher has made 32 magazines with Blurb to feature the people and culture behind his work.

Production, shipping and quality claims

The FAQ says it takes "about five business days to print and bind a book," with shipping adding 1 to 5 business days depending on the method chosen at checkout, so production and delivery together run 6 to 10 business days. The company calls this an estimate that varies with the format, the number of copies and the distribution option, and says it "does not offer expedited production times, so be sure to plan accordingly."

Under "The Blurb Difference" the company describes its formats and covers as "all printed and shipped in-house," says it is "Backed by 20 years of in-house expertise and full production control" with "No outsourcing, no compromises," and states that its photo books are "crafted in the US with Forest Stewardship Council-certified papers and printed at the facility nearest you, reducing emissions and supporting sustainable publishing." Those are the company's own claims. The site runs country versions for the United States, Australia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Canada in English and French, plus an option for other countries.

The footer links to a return policy, a shipping page, an affiliate program and a refer-a-friend scheme. New newsletter subscribers are offered 30% off their first book.

Who it suits

Blurb fits creators whose product is the book itself. A photographer who wants premium photo books or layflat portfolios for clients, an author publishing a novel with a free ISBN and Amazon and Ingram distribution, and a designer selling custom notebooks or journals can all start with a single copy and no inventory. InDesign and Lightroom users can stay in the tools they already work in, while a newcomer can use BookWright or design online.

The volume structure suits sellers whose runs grow: discounts from 10 copies of one title, offset printing from 750 copies, and Large Order Services with quick quotes and consultations. Businesses that want to automate orders have the API Printing route.

It suits sellers less well when timing is tight, since the company offers no expedited production, and when the product is not a book or wall art, because the range stops at printed books, magazines, notebooks and wall art.