Photography.Book.Now Announces Prize Packages

B&H, Canon USA, CENTER, Hewlett Packard, Induro, Maine Media Workshops, Tenba, Virgin America, Wacom, and X-Rite are prize sponsors in second annual photography book competition

SAN FRANCISCO, April 21 /PRNewswire/ – The Photography.Book.Now International Juried Competition today announced prize packages for all levels of achievement in its photography book competition. B&H Photography, Canon USA, CENTER, Induro, Maine Media Workshops, Tenba, Virgin America, Wacom and X-Rite have all joined Photography.Book.Now as prize sponsors. Hewlett Packard has previously announced its sponsorship of the $25,000 grand prize. Photography.Book.Now, hosted by Blurb(R), celebrates the finest self-published photography books – and the people behind them.

Prizes will be awarded to the most creative and innovative photography books in three categories -Fine Art, Editorial, and Commercial. There will also be one $25,000 Grand Prize winner. Prize packages are listed below; juror biographies and full category descriptions are available at www.photographybooknow.com.

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

$25,000, sponsored by HP

CATEGORY WINNERS

Ultimate Review Package

Personal Portfolio Review with a Judge in Your Category

Canon Powershot

Blurb Scrip

1st RUNNERS-UP

Photographic Experience Package

Admission to CENTER’s Review LA

Virgin America Airline Ticket

B&H Photo Gift Card

Blurb Scrip

2nd RUNNERS-UP

Professional Equipment Package

Wacom Intuos4 Professional Pen Tablet

X-Rite i1 Display LT Colorimeter

Induro Carbon Fiber Tripod & Head

Tenba Shootout Medium Backpack

Blurb Scrip

PEOPLE’S CHOICE (3 prizes to be awarded)

Maine Media Workshops Scholarship Package

“To have the support of these leading brands is truly exceptional, and brings tremendous credibility and excitement to the competition,” said Darius Himes, Lead Judge, Photography.Book.Now. “The photography community was already buzzing about the opportunity to get their work in front of our judging panel – now to see what’s actually on the table for them to win only adds to the opportunity. Thanks to all our prize sponsors for their generous contributions and support.”

“Supporting our partner, Blurb, by sponsoring Photography.Book.Now for the second year, is a great way for us to reinforce our commitment to the photographic community,” said Amy Kawadler, Western Regional Manager, PPMP Canon USA. “The Photography.Book.Now audience is a combination of professional photographers and enthusiasts – people who put a lot of thought into their photographic choices. It’s important to Canon USA that we have an ongoing engagement across many channels and Photography.Book.Now is the perfect example of that.”

“Virgin America is all about reinventing the flying experience with beautiful design and the latest technology – the same is true for Blurb and Photography.Book.Now,” said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing, Virgin America. “Partnering with Photography.Book.Now allows us to work with Blurb to support their contest, reach an engaged audience, and align our brand with like-minded groups. The awareness and visibility with this engaged community is a great opportunity for us, and we’re excited to introduce these folks to the Virgin America experience.”

Hundreds of photography books have already been submitted to the 2009 competition, and are available to browse and to buy in the Photography.Book.Now Bookstore at www.blurb.com/bookstore/pbn.

Submissions will be accepted through 12:00 pm PDT on July 16, 2009, at http://www.photographybooknow.com. The Photography.Book.Now International Juried Competition is presented by Blurb, the creative publishing and marketing platform that enables anyone to design, publish, share and sell bookstore-quality books.

About Photography.Book.Now

Photography.Book.Now is an international juried self-published book competition, and a celebration of the most creative, most innovative, and finest photography books – and the people behind them. Now in its second year, Photography.Book.Now offers photographers of all stripes the opportunity to showcase their work to a world-renowned panel of judges, and take a shot at a $25,000 grand prize. Submit your book by 12:00 pm PDT on July 16, 2009. For more information, visit www.photographybooknow.com.

About Blurb(R)

Blurb(R) is a company and a community that believes passionately in the power of books: making, reading, sharing, and selling them. Blurb is flexible and smart enough to help anyone make a book – photographers, creative professionals, bloggers, artists, writers, travelers, everyone. Blurb’s bookstore and online marketing tools let people share, market, and sell their books, and keep 100% of the markup. Blurb’s community features empower socially connected groups of consumers and professionals to create Blurb books together.

Blurb won a 2008 Webby Award for Best Services website, has been recognized as an OnMedia 100 winner by AlwaysOn in 2008, was named a Momentum 15 company by Dealmaker Media in 2007, and was the 2007 Pixel Awards Geek Winner. Blurb was founded by Eileen Gittins in 2005 and is funded by Canaan Partners and Anthem Venture Partners. Blurb BookSmart(R) software is free for Mac or PC at www.blurb.com.

SOURCE Blurb