Blurb Coffee & Quill Society
“If you can write it, you can publish it.”
For:
Blurb
2014
A pioneer expands its frontier
Blurb pioneered the self-publishing revolution, democratizing the process so anyone could print high-quality books, whether they wanted 1,000 copies or only one.
Already established as the premier source for self-published photo books, in 2014 Blurb made a push into novels, memoirs, and nonfiction. We launched new text-friendly formats, a network of professional service vendors, and new ways to sell those books through Amazon or other platforms.
“We’ll get you started — and keep you going.”
The big news called for a bold new campaign. Why not meet our new audience where half a million of them were already gathering?
We launched the Coffee & Quill Society, a content program designed to help writers complete National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) — an annual challenge to write a novel in just 30 days.
Coffee & Quill gave authors friendly support through online guides, video, podcasts, and swag. And we put our product where our mouth was. Anyone who successfully completed the challenge could use Blurb’s design & layout software to get a free copy of their novel.
Building a world around the story
I gave the campaign a face and voice — writing most of the copy myself, conducting webinars with NaNoWriMo’s leaders, and producing a series of podcasts covering all stages of the publishing process.
I also teamed up with cartoonist Tyler Page to create a series of comic strips for social media. Tyler’s comics followed the emotional roller-coaster of the month, from initial exhilaration to the inevitable crash into writer’s block, and finally powering through to achieve a “bucket list” goal.
The campaign received tremendous press coverage from Adweek, the New York Daily News, Lifehacker, and publishing blog GalleyCat. But it didn’t just spread the word about new product offerings, although that was important. It established Blurb as a new player in the author market.
Most importantly of all, at least from my point of view? It helped aspiring authors take a major step to unleashing their potential. There’s no experience quite like holding a professionally bound copy of a book and a world you created. And tapping into that kind of magic is why I do what I do.
Project Team
Creative Direction — Forrest Bryant, John Parsons
Design System —Thomas Whitehead
Copywriting & Scripts — Forrest Bryant
Comics — Tyler Page
Media Production — Allister Willems
Social Media — Kent Hall
