Blurb Launches Coffee & Quill Society to Support Writers Taking on the National Novel Writing Month Challenge

Blurb aims to help indie writers complete their 50,000-word commitment this November

San Francisco, Calif.— October 28, 2014 — Blurb, the indie book and magazine publishing platform, today announced its partnership with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a nonprofit that helps inspire anyone with a story to tell to write a full novel every year during the month of November. Blurb has established the Blurb Coffee & Quill Society in support of NaNoWriMo and its participants throughout this month-long creative writing challenge.

Blurb’s Coffee & Quill Society will be there for writers every step of the way, leading up to, through, and beyond their 30-day novel-writing journey – from the raw idea and first words to the ultimate goal of publishing their own 50,000-word novel. Throughout the challenge, Blurb will supply writers with tips via webinar and email on planning their novel, meeting their daily goals, along with specially pre-designed downloadable novel layouts and professionally designed cover templates. Following the challenge, these layouts and templates can be used with Blurb BookWright™, Blurb’s free downloadable book design and writing software, which enables anyone to publish a manuscript as a bookstore-quality printed book and reflowable ebook for the Amazon Kindle.

Blurb is such a believer in new and emerging writers that all Coffee & Quill Society members who complete the NaNoWriMo challenge will receive one copy of their novel in print and ebook form for free. Blurb is the only platform supporting the challenge that enables writers to upload their manuscript and create an ebook and print book from one file. Once writers have uploaded their book, they can utilize the Blurb Global Retail Network that, through a partnership with Ingram Content Group, will enable them to distribute their work to online retailers and bookstores around the world, helping global sales.

“NaNoWriMo is a great chance for anyone who’s had even the fleeting idea of writing a novel to go all in and finally make their dream into a reality. We want to help them get there and then reward them by getting their novel published as a beautiful print book or ebook,” said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO, Blurb.

“We’re thrilled to have Blurb as a partner and we think that Blurb’s Coffee & Quill Society will be an excellent resource for all authors looking to take on this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge,” said Grant Faulkner, Executive Director, National Novel Writing Month. “We’re expecting over 400,000 participants, many of whom want to self-publish their novels, so we're happy that Blurb can help those writers continue their creative journey beyond 50,000 words."

National Novel Writing Month was established in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes stories matter.

For more information on NaNoWriMo please visit https://nanowrimo.org/.

About National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes stories matter for a diverse, engaged, creative world. More than 400,000 writers from around the world tell their stories through NaNoWriMo's programs every year. They write from the 2,000 classrooms involved in NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program, the 600 libraries in the Come Write In program, and at local write-ins in their community, organized by 800 international volunteers.

About Blurb®
Blurb® is a self-publishing platform and creative community that enables individuals to design, publish, share, sell, and distribute photo books, trade books, and magazines in both print and digital formats across the globe using its free, innovative book creation and layout tools. Founded in 2005 by Executive Chairman, Eileen Gittins, Blurb has nearly 2 million independent book authors worldwide, resulting in 3.9 million unique book titles, with more than 14 million units shipped to 80 countries around the world. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and can be found online at www.blurb.com.