Thursday, June 05, 2008

Adding 'publisher' to my resume ... (I kid, I kid)

With Father's Day fast approaching I thought I'd give you all a preview of what the dad in this house will (hopefully*) be getting from Blurb come the third Sunday in June. I say "hopefully" because my cheap thrifty ways may thwart this goal since I refused to pony up the 20 smackeroos for speedy shipping.

The lovely and talented (and really and truly published) Binky from 24/7 turned me on to the idea earlier in the year when she posted about her experience creating a book for The Partner's birthday.

Back then I had been trying to get a Blurb book going as kind of an official hard-copy record of this here site, you know should something happen in the technical universe that slurps all this stuff off the page forever? But it was SO Slllllllllooow.

I had e-mailed Binky to see if she could walk me through the subtleties of Blurb's interface.

Turns out she used the good old cut and paste method while I tried the less than eloquent "slurp" feature. Slurp, in a word, sucked.

So I revised my objectives and decided to break in Blurb by making a much smaller book for Jed celebrating Father's Day. (Don't worry, he won't likely see the book before it arrives in our mailbox because he doesn't read these here ramblings of mine).

Blurb was still slow, but it worked. The photos were a little easier to work with than the text, but all in all the process wasn't that painful. I was a little shocked at how little I've written about my husband that HE would appreciate (hense why he likely doesn't read here) but I was kind of glad, too. Working with text was pretty clunky and on occasion made me want to push the laptop off the couch.

The best news, I guess, is that once I started working with it it seemed to get easier. I realized how long things would take to upload. I knew not to upload too much, and to have folders ready with images. I also learned that when text overflowed onto textboxes on the next page, editing in the original page didn't necessarily make it go away on the overflow box. Cutting without pasting was necessary. In other words, it forced me to be somewhat organized.

I was getting so comfortable with it that I made another book. For my dad.

Now, I can't tell you how they turned out just yet, (remember I'm too cheap for anything except parcel post atop the slowest of slow moving snails) but I thought if you were willing to take a risk (and aren't adverse to shelling out for a more speedy delivery) you might want to just throw caution to the wind this Father's Day.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just noticed your son is walking!!! Oh my, time flies.

As for the book, that is a great idea.

I'm planning on one for Boo for Christmas. I made books for everyone after Bug died. I thought it would be a nice keep sake and a good way for them to remember him by.

Your hubs will love it.

Binky said...

Those cover photos are classic! Those books must've turned out so well. And it's such a good way to put blog posts to use for posterity. With your talent with words and pictures, you can't go wrong with a book like that.

I don't remember if I wrote this on my original post or not (or if it was in my email to you), but when I gave my husband the book, he said "You know me so well. The only way I'm going to read a book is if it's short and about me." Hee hee. He truly loved it, as I know yours will. Happy Father's Day to Jed (in advance).

Baccus Family said...

I've been making books on shutterfly. The photo layouts are pretty easy, but the text is somewhat more difficult. Blurb looks like it has more photo layout options, though, so I will have to check it out.

Congrats to your little big man on the walking thing. Boy, are you in trouble now!!! :) :) :)

-Shelley

Anonymous said...

Oh, what a fantastic idea! I doubt I'd have time for Father's Day, but I bet I'd have time before his August birthday or the holidays. But I need some good pictures.

Your book (at least the covers) looks like something that one would find in a bookstore, such is the quality of your pictures.

Anonymous said...

That is the best idea I've heard in a long time...and I can only hope that mine (someday when I get around to it) looks half as good as yours!

Anonymous said...

That looks like it's going to be an awesome gift. Can't wait to hear your review about it.

Anonymous said...

Ahh. I just love your photography.