Blurb
Pilot Program Development and Management • Author Curation • Media Production • Technical Support
As the premiere self-publishing platform for photo-oriented books, Blurb wanted to expand from offering print only to interactive e-book creation services. A collection of new interactive books from diverse authors was key to their impending launch. But how do you produce these books when the authoring-creation tool is still in its alpha phase and you don’t have any authors willing to take on the challenge? I was brough in by the company’s Chief Product Officer - who said to the CEO “I’m not sure what we need to do, but I know that Liz can figure it out and make it happen.”
I curated a diverse group of first-time authors and worked with them through the concept, creation, and production of their short books. I often served as both technical support (when the software didn’t work), and as a creative producer providing copywriting and interactive design ideas.
One of the books, a fanciful children’s story, ‘Roy & Hydrants’, became a finalist for a Publishing Innovation Award. In the style of a classic David and Goliath story, this was an honor it earned alongside a book from a much larger publisher – Disney’s Hyperion Books.