Yesterday, Mama Pea posted about the books I've had some of her blog posts turned into (the idea being to get ALL her posts in book form at some point), and it generated a lot of comments - mostly people wondering about how to do this. So, glass of Merlot in hand (I just got in from cutting maple - ugh! - and plowing), here's what I can tell you.
A few of your comments mentioned Blog2Print, and this is the company I've used in the past. However, for people not 100% comfortable with computer technology, it's not terribly easy to navigate. Specifically, if you get to the very end of the process and the book is either way too spendy for your pocketbook OR they give you the error message that you've chosen too many posts for one book, you have to start ALL over again (you can't just go back and edit the dates)! This is definitely a huge negative to their program (and one which I hope they'll change). I've noticed that Blurb supports turning blogs into books now as well as bookenom. I'm interested in looking into their services more closely because . . . .
Blog2Print is EXPENSIVE! (I think so, anyway!) Believe me, it was NOT one of the Christmas gifts I gave this past holiday! For someone who blogs a lot and includes a lot of pictures (like Mama Pea), it's in the neighborhood of $150 - $200 per book. That is to say, per the maximum number of posts you can fit into a single book. I don't know WHY it's so pricey when self-publishing is such a popular thing. I'm guessing because it's NEW and there just isn't enough competition yet. ?? Like I said, I don't know how much it would cost via Blurb or bookenom, but those are both companies who bear a look-see. Especially Blurb - I've been impressed with the results I've seen from people who've used it (unfortunately, no blogs-to-books).
The other thing I'm not thrilled about with Blog2Print is that there are a minimal number of options for cover designs. Well, I guess there are 20 or more, but I didn't care for ANY of them! Plain, solid (BORING!) colors were the best I could come up with.
Blog2Print advertises that the books start at $14.95 . . . and I'm sure this is true: if you didn't actually include any of your posts!
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who uses another service for doing this. Mama Pea's books COULD have been shorter (money saved), but that option okays Blog2Print to fit your photos & posts to the printed page vs. where they fall in your actual blogging. And, for me (and her, I think), that would be a great loss.
It's been suggested that I offer this service as part of my graphic & web design business, and I'd like to put the word out there now that I am! I won't bump up the price of the book at all - I'll only charge for my time ($25/hour) putting it together. Invoices are sent via PayPal.
How would this work? Well, you'd e-mail me (at mama@chickenmamaoriginals.com) and say, for example, that you'd like to have as much of your blog published into book form as you can get for . . . $150 (including - or not - my time). I'd ask for your blog's address, give you the options in an easily-understood format, and away we'd go!
So, I hope that's answered all the questions clearly enough. Feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me directly if you have more! :)
P.S. Yes, if some of you sillies want Mama Pea's blog in book form, I could do that, too . . . assuming she gives approval. And, hey, if you paid for the additional shipping (to Mama Pea and then on to you vs. drop-ship), I'll bet we could even get the author to autograph it! ;)
I agree with your review of Blog2Print. Too few covers and they are not very attractive. I wonder why they don't let me use one of my own pictures?
ReplyDeleteVery expensive, I think because of the many pictures. The interface is not very user friendly at all.
I will be curious to see how your publishing works out price wise.
Forget that part where Chicken Mama said you could get a book of my blog posts. I mean . . . good golly Molly . . . who would want to pay that much money for my posts? Not me. Oh wait, I AM going to pay that much money to get my own books. But spend your hard-earned money to get books of your own posts, that is what will mean something to your family in years to come!
ReplyDeleteThanks, daughter o' mine for taking the time to do this post. (Have another glass of Merlot on me!)
LOL! I don't have that kind of money until I win the lottery but I forgit to get tickets. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteOK-so far over my head to comment ,but I wanted to stop by and tell you congratulations on the new job and how envious I am a real "Wall drug store,I have never even been in one. Can't wait for following insider stories of the "Wall Drug Store"
ReplyDeleteYou can self-publish any book at Amazon.com You simply go to the bottom of the page - click - self publish with us - and get started. There is only a tiny learning curve - and so easy to understand. They give you templates and help all along the way - and if you mess up - you just reformat in your word program (where you originally formatted the book and saved it) and resubmit when done. You can edit a zillion times over - use all the photos you want - with no charge for photos at all (you just have to slip them into the places you want).
ReplyDeleteWhen completely done you submit it in the form they ask for and they check it (not for content or spelling - that is for you to do) but for formatting so the photos show up well and things are in their preferred order.
Then they send you back an email - within 24 hours - saying if it is formatted properly - and if not - they give specific helpful ideas how to achieve your goal - you fix things and submit again.
Once it is approved you order a proof copy (small cost) then when it arrives you check it over and you can order your own copies for a very small fee (much cheaper than ordering at full price). They help you with pricing, giving pricing suggestions - and you can even resubmit for kindle if you want to.
There is a one time 39.00 fee - and then you can publish as many different titles as you want - no more fees.
You might have to do some cut and paste from the blogs - they won't feed directly into the format - but it is time consuming - not money consuming.
We are doing our family history - genealogy and photos with amazon - and then only buying copies for ourselves ( the family history books will be available for sale but I doubt anyone else wants them). There are not rules about having to put the book up for sale - you can only buy for yourself and family if you want. The books can be large or small - you get to pick.
I've published a book I've written about growing up in Alaska before it was a state - Are We Walking To Alaska? - on Amazon and love the way it turned out, so that is why I am using Amazon publishing (called Create Space, for the family histories. If you have any more questions please contact me. I adore amazon publishing (no connection - just a happy happy customer)
Oh - and you get to pick your own photo for the cover - you can make up your entire cover if you have graphic skills or you can choose one of many options for covers and edit colors, etc.
You are bookmarked for the day I'm ready to do it. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a service that would just import my blog posts because there are a ton of them, but I agree that Create Space is probably a cheaper option (though I don't necessarily agree that it's easier to format, having done 4 novels with them. The headers / page numbering can be a beast due to quirks in Word!)
ReplyDeleteI'm still on yesterday time so congratulations on the new job,I'm very envious,a real "Wall Drug Store" have never been in one but wanted too
ReplyDeletebad me,I commented 2x,did not mean too,just forgot
ReplyDelete