Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Turn your Blogger blog into a book!

Ok - in just 20 mins I was able to upload the Black Threads blog and see it online as a book that can then be printed! WOW! The service is called SharedBook. I learned about it from Blogger Buzz.

Here is the cover of the book- automatically taken from the first post I had on Black Threads. This book includes all my 549 posts and comments. I've read there is a feature to allow me to edit the posts, but I haven't located it. Anyway, the historian in me wants the entire blog. The service provides about two dozen cover templates. You can get your blog as a hardcover or softcover. If you have a Blogger blog, you might try the service. I'll let you know what I think when the book arrives. Enjoy!

Update:
I rec'd my book and it is WONDERFUL! If you have a blog, it is a much different experience to see the blog in book format. My book was about $180 - but it is also 425 pages and includes all my posts since 2006 through May 2010 - including comments. The book is sturdy - the pages are white and heavy stock to show the color photos in best light. One thing I noticed is that no images from video posts were included. The post are printed, just not the video image. Overall, however, I was completely pleased with the quality of my blog as a book! What a way to document quilt history!

Here's what I've learned in the process. The Blog2Print SharedBook service is very easy to use. If you have a blog by Blogger, Typepad, or Wordpress, you can use the service. You input the blog URL, decide what date range to include in your book, decide whether to include comments or not. The service can automatically format the pages to maximize page layout (I did this - and it looks great!). By default, the first two photos in your blog will be used for the front and backcover photos - or you can select your own cover photos. The service has a simulator that shows you what the interior pages will look like.
The entire process for my book - all 549 posts - really was about 20 mins! Enjoy!

12 comments:

Karoda said...

i plan to do this with Seamless Skin at some point...maybe when I reach the 10th year anniversary in 4 years.

Ashley Ashbee said...

I've thought about doing this too. I don't know if I could get a Kindle and have all my books electronic because it's so lovely to have a physical book, to run your fingers down the pages, to hear the spine crack and the pages turn. Soon you will be able to do this with your own blog! That's very exciting, but I'm wondering: will comments be published in the book too??

Valerie (discerningchichi) said...

Wow, not seen this before! Hope they do a wordpress version! will have to investigate :)

Valerie (discerningchichi) said...

Kyra - have included you in a blog award - if you are interested (just copy the jpg pic from my blog).

AFRICANFAB said...

WOW!! Thanks for sharing this. I love it. You are so resourceful.

Cindy Cooksey said...

What an exciting idea! Thanks for sharing it.

KarenQuilt said...

Wow! Thanks for alerting us to this, Kyra! It will be fantastic for my family history blog too!

Lauren Cross's Art Blog said...

This is great Kyra! I will certainly look into this for some of my blogs.

Sheila said...

Thank You!... I'd been printing my blogs posts at work and then velo binding them by year and so far have 3 years worth. However, I would so much perfer the way you did yours. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Very interesting and useful site. When my blog will be a lot of posts, I will definitely make your blog in book form.

Big Mama said...

Kyra,
Your blog book is sheer class. The pages are so thick that as I began reading, I would catch myself thinking I had truned two pages.

What a interesting photo on the cover. I have started reading the book (am somewhere near page 50) and see that, yes, the outfit on the cover was quilted! Since I never think to go back to previous years' entries on your blog, I was surprised to see 2008 comments to some of your 2006 entries.
LOVEABLE HOMEBODY, yes, all of the comments for all of the entries for all these years are in the book.
KARODA, I "re-met" you in the book.
When you memntioned being on the Prodigy bulletin board, I, too, would come to the quilting section and participate. I made a quilt (my first and only) sharing eight
9" squares from 11 other ladies from that quilting section.

Keep on showing us new ideas, Kyra!
Mom

Big Mama said...

Really, really interesting to go back. I'm on 186. The Gees Bend lawsuit really generated comments!
Keep on keeping on, Kyra!