Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Blog 2 Print 4 U~contest

One of the reasons I started my blog 3 1/2 years ago was because I wanted a record of my thoughts and stuff--ya know, in addition to inspiring the world :-)  I started out very 'instructional' but as with many things in my life it's become far more casual as time has gone on; become more like the real me, I suppose. At some point I heard that you could turn your blog into a book--very cool! I looked into it and every program seemed very complicated; most of them required downloading a program which just didn't make sense to me since I would be using it for one blog book a year or so. My hard drive space is precious, people.

So I kept looking and finally found a program that's completely online--you just upload your blog to it, set the date perimeters and BAM, it's all there. There is no charge until you publish the book. It has each post titled and dated just like the blog, it includes all the pictures and you can choose to keep comments or not. I did find that the comments for my older posts didn't come through, but after being disappointed in that for about five seconds I realized that keeping comments was going to triple the size of my book. I then decided to not include any comments at all, since it was the posts I wanted most to preserve.



Without comments my book ended up being 295 pages long--9 of those pages is a very user friendly title of contents which allows me to find specific post easily. I have a dedication page and got to choose a template for the front and back cover, to which I uploaded my own photos. The best part about it was that it was so, so, so easy. I uploaded it and then spent a total of about 2 hours going through it, but this two hours was over a 2 month time period. When I was ready to publish it I hit the 'publish' button and a week later I had my finished book. the binding is good, the pages of a good weight, the photos well rendered. I really couldn't be happier.

A few tips to get the most out of Blog 2 Print:

*Know what dates you want to use before you start the process if you're doing a date-specific book--such as 5/21/06-3/13/09. I couldn't figure out how to fix this once I put in the dates the first time. (that's not to say it can't be done, only that I lack the ability to be patient enough to figure it out)
*You can hand pick posts if you prefer.
*If you keep comments, understand they take up a lot of room due to the spacing in between each one.
*Pictures turn out great and do a good job of breaking up the pages of words, and words, and words. Upload any photos you want in the book itself before you upload your blog content.
*Realize it isn't cheap, but that said I wasn't horrified. My book cost $143 w/shipping and is 295 pages long and covered 3 years of posts. I've recently done some digital scrap booking and this price is comparable.
*Blog 2 Print works with Blogger, Typepad, or Wordpress.

AND--after I finished the book I was sent a quick survey. Upon completion I received coupon for 20 free pages but since I don't plan to publish my blog for awhile (I like big thick books) I thought I'd pass it on to someone else whose been looking for a blog-book solution. So, if you're interested, just leave a comment saying as much. In a few days I'll do a random drawing to find the winner. The coupon doesn't have an expiration date.

IN THE MEANTIME, Blog 2 Print has given me permission to share a 20% discount with all of you, BUT it expires on 11/9/09. You can totally do your book in that time, it's really simple, so if you're interested in that option the code is: fall4b2p  and you'll put it in at checkout. It must be used by 11/09/09 so time is of the essence!

Anyway, leave me a comment if you're interested in the free 20 pages (can't be used with the 20% off). Happy Blogging!

13 comments:

Annette Lyon said...

Stinkin' cool! I want to print out my blog sometime. And I already want to print out the mini blog I made up for my Finland trip, which is pretty small, so the 20 free pages would go a long way there (and I would have no need for comments on it).

Sign me up. (Or, rather, PICK ME!)

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

That is very cool. It's a way to keep a journal in a round about way. I love the idea, but am too tired to do anything about it at the moment! lol

Tigersue said...

I did the first half of my blog with blog2print, and my second with blurb. I like blurb a bit better because I could add photo's and arrange them the way I wanted. It came in handy with all the things I didn't blog. It was also about half the price of blog2print. That being said, blog2print is the easier of the two to use.

I have a blogging friend that was publishing her blog every month with blog2print and she was spending roughly 25.00 a month for that. If someone wants to invest in that it is a bit more affordable one or two months at a time.

Anonymous said...

What an awesome idea! I've always wondered if my kids (future generations) would ever want to read some of the things I wrote. I may have to do this!

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I so want to do this some day! Looks so spiffy!

Carolyn V. said...

That is so cool! I have to add more posts to my blog. =)

Heather Moore said...

Nice! What a great idea!

Rebecca Talley said...

Great idea. I didn't even know you could do this. Can it count as my journal?

BTW, saw a great ad for your book tour in Latter-day Trumpet. Wish I could see you guys on tour.

amberargyle said...

Neat! That would be awesome if you did a family blog.

Sandra said...

I have been looking for a good blog to print book. So fun to know of another place.

A Musing Mother said...

Okay, I definitely need these 20 pages. I'm ready to publish. I've only been blogging over a year but I do it A LOT. Too much. Yeah. Addicted.

Unknown said...

Hey, just surfed the net for a neat and cheap way to print my blog. I found www.bookfabrik.com! It great you get a PDF for FREE and the book prices are well below those of the other services. Check it out!

Anonymous said...

I found your blog when googling Blog to Print online. I saw on their Facebook page they have a 15% discount code... newb2p going on and wanted to read some feedback before taking the plunge! Can't believe I am just hearing about this! LOL

I really like the way your book came out...thank you so much for sharing this! I will definitely be placing an order today.