Saturday, October 31, 2009

Blog Book

Has anyone else been stressing out about getting your blog printed off for years now? Been wondering the best method/website to use? I finally turned my blog entries from 2007 into a book and I am very satisfied with the process, cost, and result. Here are some pictures:
























I downloaded Booksmart from Blurb, which proved to be very user friendly (and free). When chosing to create a blog book, I selected to "wing it" instead of having Booksmart format each page for me. I don't recommend selecting the latter. Like I mentioned, the software is very user friendly and only took me a few minutes to figure out how to format my own pages, although I discovered more "tricks" as I went along. It will let you know how large you can make a picture considering the resolution so that each photo is crisp and clear. Booksmart will also show you where each page will be trimmed.
My book is almost 100 pages, printed on premium paper and bound in hard-cover with a dust jacket. Including shipping the book cost me about $50. Check the website for more details. This is cheaper then printing out hundreds of photos and buying an album! And the best part? Sitting on the couch propped up by pillows under a warm blanket and watching TV while making my blog book...oh how I love the digital age.

10 comments:

Grant and Stacy said...

Um, yeah, I have questions. How much did it cost? How much did you have to reformat? What is the quality of the pictures? It looks great btw!

Unknown said...

That is great! I have been wanting to do this too. :) Thanks for the info.

Grant and Stacy said...

I think I might just do it! Thanks! And wow, so cheap!

Janelle said...

I've been thinking of doing this for ages. Thanks for the tips!

Kirstin said...

I am so excited to see your book. It looks so good. You have enspired me to do the same, what a great idea!

author said...

I love it!!! I will try to figure it out but I want to make one! If I have questions, I will def. be asking you! Your book looks great!

Jenn said...

Cool! Thanks for the reminder, I need to get going on that...

Patricia Costello said...

NICE! I've done lots of photo books, and while Blurb is the only one that I know of that easily translates a blog into a book, I have to tell you about another company that makes books: it's called Artscow.com. (They're based in Hong Kong, hence the wacky name??)

Anyway, they have so many ways to manipulate the pages, the backgrounds, etc. and they always have killer deals on their books. I do a photo book for each of my kids each year. (well, so far. Which means I've done two.) Have fun!

-Hughes Family- said...

Thanks for doing the research and sharing it, Olivia. You are truly awesome. I want to do this, after I catch up on the blog. Still not very consistent. Thanks again!

Julie Renee Holland said...

What a great idea. Thanks for sharing that.