one of my new years resolutions for 2011 was to start putting my blog in to book form. finally. since i started blogging almost four years ago, i’ve been saying “i want to make my blog in to a book!” and this year, i found a way to get that done. in the past two years, i have started laying out my blog in blurb at least three times. and each time, i realized – with all i do – after the time i spend blogging, i could not figure out when to spend time designing the book layout.
then. i heard that blurb had a community of publishers that could design your blog books for you – bingo!
it’s called blurbnation. you can read more about it, here.
i chose to use suzanne from picturia press. I first contacted her from blurbnation, she perused my blog and gave me a book price quote for each year. i started with 2007, which is only August – December of that year. i then sent her a list of blog posts to not use in the book, because often times my posts are for ads/reminders/movie reviews/etc. – and i wanted my book to only include posts about our family history. then she got started. it took her about two weeks to pull together a rough draft. i was sent a draft to proofread, and once i gave the approval, the book was available for me to purchase from blurb.
then the kids and i gave big papi the book for father’s day. he loved it & even though he’s seen all the posts on my blog, he spent the entire afternoon on father’s day looking through the book {that was only six months of that year!}. in fact, he loved it so much – he put in a request that all of his future gifts are something like this. ::smiles::
when my book arrived in the mail, and i had my first look at it {after screaming with excitement that it had arrived!!!} – it totally confirmed how valuable blogging is, to me. the book will always be available for sale via blurb, so if we ever want more copies for our kids/etc or they want to buy them one day, more can be purchased.
i didn’t get great pictures of our book because it was almost-time-to-move-crunch-time, but here’s just a few from the day it arrived in the mail – it was literally SO EXCITING to open up!
…i have heritage makers books & shutterfly books for previous years of our family history, that i designed… but out of all the books i’ve created – this blurb book is by far the best quality, and the best layout & design…it’s gorgeous. and i can’t wait to get started on the next one!
Love Blurb! I’ve used them for christmas presents in the past and cherish the outcome.
Yay! I love blurb too! One year for mother’s day I took my mother-in-law’s old binder of favorite recipes and turned it into a cookbook for her. I had a photographer take pictures of her kitchen, dining room and artwork while she wasn’t home. She travels alot and collects artwork and recipes from all over the world. I used those photos for the cover and to personalize her book. She LOVED it!
Jane, You never cease to amaze me ! So many projets at one time, thanks for all the inspiration
Love it…almost enough to start blogging. Almost.
These look great…I always use MyPublisher.com to make my photo books. Have you ever tried them? If so let me know which one you like better. I can’t wait to try this with my blog!
oh i have to do this. i get worried ALL THE TIME that i will lose my blog and all the blood sweat and tears of writing that have gone into it. i’m totally going to do this!
I have done the Heritage Makers books too! One of my besties has a family member who is a rep. Such a fun fun way to keep the memory alive in case our blogs ever go into oblivion (knock on wood!) Nice to know other services out there are good too 🙂
It looks beautiful! I have been wanting to make one…but I haven’t yet…need to keep working on it, thank you for the motivation!
yah!! i love that book, and can’t wait to get going on some more of mine!!
xxoo
I love it! I’m going to check it out too. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful! What a treasure! (And I am TOTALLY looking into the Blurbnation option! Thanks for the tip!) 🙂
wow nice to have it in print so generations to come will know you and your cute family. congratulations.
i love all my blurb books but i’m loving the idea of having someone else do it for me!!!
I had the first year of my blog printed recently too and I LOVE it! It truly is a treasure. How’s Boston? Can’t wait to hear all about your new adventures. Take care.
I am sure you are so busy trying to get settled but, I miss your posts…
I am so excited to hear how you guys are liking Boston! Also I think this is the longest you have gone without posting:)
we miss you! come back!