Saturday, March 04, 2017

On Printing a Blog



A number of commentators expressed interest in how I had my blog printed into a book. Here's a fast rundown of how I did it. 

The company I used is Blog2Print. It's an American company, so the price was in US dollars. It crossed the border without incident. The blog book was pulled from the internet, with very little effort on my part. 

One minor hiccup occurred - About the time I thought my book should be arriving, I received an email from a kind woman, Jen, in the southern states who had received a copy of the book. She found my email address through the blog. Any of her attempts to contact the company to let them know were useless.

I contacted them, and they said to check the tracking number given, and that the book was on the way. I did, assuming that they had sent another book. No. They hadn't. So I contacted them again, and they printed another copy and sent it off. They also gave me a discount for all the hassle. 


For this first book, I went with the basics - medium sized photos, hardcover with a dust jacket. You can see that the layout isn't all that artistic. The pages are 8 1/2 x 11, printed on a medium weight glossy paper. The colours are great. The book is 212 pages. No comments, although I believe you can get them included as well. 


I also chose the Compact (default) layout. Thus, the photos do not line up with the text, the way they do in blog posts. Sometimes I'll write, "in the above photo" to explain something, but in the book, the text does not necessarily fit. For me, that's okay, although I'm planning to go through the book with a pen and explain a few things. 

It's possible to choose another layout that will use more pages, but keep the photos and text layout as it appears on the blog. I will likely do that next time, and make the photos larger.


While writing this post, I've been creating my second book, for 2015. However, I just received a message saying that I posted 1391 photos that year, and the maximum number per book is 1150. They recommend narrowing the date range and creating 2 books in place of one. I may do that.

It's also possible to delete certain posts and photos. I'm still learning as I go along. I'd like to figure out how to have some photos large and some medium.

I hope this is of use to some of you. I'm sure there must be other companies that do this, so if you know of any, mention it in the comments. And if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them.  

34 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this post Lorrie, it is very useful. Oh ... I would love to have Todolwen printed ... maybe one day.

    Many hugs,
    Karen B. ~ Todolwen

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  2. How lovely, Lorrie! I'm glad it wasn't too arduous a job to undertake. I've thought about doing such a thing, but it was never a priority. Until more recently when I started thinking what if Blogger ever went down, I'd be very, very sorry to lose all my posts, so many memories would be lost.

    Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Have you made books for each year since you've been blogging?

    Brenda
    xox

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  3. I am glad you explained all that as I have often wondered how I could have a blog book printed. I imagine I would need to find a company in UK. Your book does look so attractive.

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  4. Good information! Is the lady keeping your book? 😉 I have often thought of doing this, but I imagine that I will let it go because of cost.

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  5. Your book turned out beautifully! I have often thought about printing out my blog. But with 9 years of posts/pictures to sort through it is not quite the right season in my life to undertake such a project.

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  6. Thanks for all the info. Your book looks great.

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  7. I've been interested in knowing what to do and it's nice to actually see a book. It must feel so good to have it in print like that! I started going through my blog to pick and choose certain posts, like the ones that tell of times with the grandkids .. but it is overwhelming. Not sure what I will do, but I would love to print it. Did you have a choice of which posts or did they print every post of a certain year of time frame?

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  8. This is a lovely keepsake, Lorrie! It looks beautiful!

    I think it would cost a fortune for me to print my 9 year + blog into a book. I was thinking about finally putting together my life story, and also my husband's, and printing them up as a book for each of our children. , I think this may be the best way, by beginning a private blog and writing our stories with family photos and then have a book service like the one you used to print it up.
    I know very little about my grandparents, as they died very young or when I was very young,and I feel a lossa about that. I'd like to be able to pass along our stories to my grandchildren for when they are old enough to care, so they won't feel the same loss.

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  9. I have debated about this very thing so many times and then not done anything. I am now over 2000 posts in the past 8 1/2 years, that would be alot to print. How wonderful to see your book. I have another friend that has printed her blog. I should ask her where she has hers printed. She does one every year. Now I am thinking. Hummm? Thanks for the stimulus, I think.

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  10. Anonymous5:40 PM

    Lorrie, thank you so much for the information! I will definitely look into this. Your book is gorgeous!

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  11. Thanks so much the information, Lorrie. I have several volumes in books and I used Cutest Blog on the Block. I know when I exceed a lot of pics(and words) I need to divide the year in half. Need to do the last 3 years...I've been blogging for 10. I'll definitely check out your place and compare prices. It sounds great!

    Jane x

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  12. I love blog books! I have been printing them since 2008. I still need to do last years. I love how it puts all my notable events in print form. And they look wonderful! :) Kit

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  13. Thank you for sharing how you were able to put your blog in to book format. I was going to send you a note to ask and then this post appeared. Such a great idea. Thanks for sharing Lorrie! X Chy

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  14. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience, Lorrie. It is something that I have thought of doing. It seems like a good way to preserve precious memories!

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  15. How interesting Lorrie - I have never heard of this. I think your book looks great and indeed preserves the memories. Have a great Sunday!

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  16. bonjour
    super l'idée du livre
    j'en ai fait un il y a quelques années avec la FNAC
    en répertoriant tous mes IRIS
    mais sans commentaires juste des photos
    c'est assez long à effectuer
    merci de la visite
    gros bisous et bon dimanche
    edith 'iris)

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  17. I'm definitely going to check this out. I've already looked around a bit but I need to spend some time on it. Would be SO very cool! Love yours and thanks for sharing your smart ideas! Hugs, Diane

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  18. Weirdly I've never even thought about turning my blog posts into a book but now I want to know more. I'll have to take a look around and see what choices there are, thank you so much for sharing the idea.
    BTW Your book looks fabulous

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  19. What a fabulous idea to turn all your blogposts into a book, and the cover looks so beautiful.

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  20. Thanks so much for all the info on publishing a blog book - I may just consider this as I'd like to save my travel posts especially.
    Would cost me a small fortune to do all ten years of posts so will have to edit perhaps!

    Nice work Lorrie - you are good to take time to share.
    Mary x

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  21. Your book looks as lovely as your blog, Lorrie. Thanks for telling us how you went about creating it.
    I've thought about doing mine, mainly because the reason I started to blog was to record for my DD & DGD where my treasures came from & who owned them before me.

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  22. What a really great idea! Especially for particular posts that you want to keep, memories of travelling and so on. I loved that I noted my name on one page! I wasn't looking it just popped out at me, funny to think that I am named in someones book, I never thought of anything like that before. Enjoy making the rest of your book(s) I hope you enjoy it!

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  23. Intrigued. . . thanks for showing the results and describing the process.

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  24. Thanks for sharing, Lorrie! I've always wanted a hard copy of my blog so I'll have to check the link out!

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  25. What a wonderful, wonderful idea, Lorrie! Thank you so much for sharing all of your tips and the company that printed your book. :) This is my first visit to your blog (via Susan Branch). Can't wait to look around and read more! Wishing you a great week! ♡

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  26. I use that company too and have been very happy with my blog books.

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  27. Thank you for sharing this information Lorrie. What a great idea this is. Your book looks lovely. Must think about doing this too :)
    Helen xox

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  28. I have printed mine over the years so it's not a huge price at once, none the less it is a little pricey. I have learned you can choose to omit some posts, such as if you repeated one, etc. And adding comments would really jack up the price. Printing your blog had quite a little story to go with it. I hope the recipient enjoyed your blog book as much as we all enjoy your blog! Maybe she'll become a reader of it!

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  29. What a lovely follow up and much appreciated, I am definitely going to look further into this so thank you for taking the time to share.

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  30. My sister has several books from her blog. Yours looks fantastic!

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  31. I think your book looks brilliant ...

    All the best Jan

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  32. I've seen a few bloggers over the years do this ( with various companies ) and it is such a great idea! Yours looks wonderful!

    Just saw one the other day....a quilter...she only displayed her quilts year by year.

    Every time I see such a thing I put it on the bucket list :)

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  33. I love the idea of having a blog book and looked into it several times. We even tried a couple of companies and found it complicated to get the look I wanted. It is also not possible when using truncated posts as I do. We have tried Blog 2 Book and Blurb. I appreciate your thoughts and insights about it.

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  34. Dear Lorrie,
    You write such a beautiful blog. Your photos and your written words are exceptional. So glad it can all be seen in your book.
    I published a book with Blurb. It was very easy. I only picked one subject, my hand painted ceramics. It's a good way to get started.

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Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

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