Shortest Blook Ever?

I've just discovered what may the shortest blook-to-be in all these months of blogging about blooks. I've no idea what the treasure will be called, but the blog is Yanalogues. It's written by the mother, Karina, about her toddler, Yana.

The blog began on Oct. 9 and just over 2 months later, Mom's giving up. Nine posts only - and that includes the last one which announces:

"So I've decided this will be my last entry. I'm not so comfortable with being so public about Yana and my life, my emotions, etc. I used to be so private and quiet and I miss that. PLUS Blogging has just stopped being fun and well...once the joy is gone what's the point? The next FUN thing I'm going to do is make Yanita and the Yanalogue sites BLOOKS. I'm going to print them and get them bound into one or two books. I'm so excited! They're TOTALLY going into Yana's time capsule for safe keeping."

So, here's the question. You have a minimal amount of text, lots of photographs, where do you begin creating your blook?

The answer for me, since it's a Blogger blog, is to head on over to Blog2Print and give the previewer a whirl. Using Karina's URL I did just that. Cute cover - which the software created (and which can be customized) - $26.95 hardcover, $21.95 paperback.

No, I don't get any compensation from Blog2Print! It's just that to use the free versions of Blurb's BlogSlurper or LABAsprise's BlogCollector, also free, you have to download the software to your machine. I wasn't willing to do that just for giggles. [Maybe YOU are ... would you be willing to share your results?]

On the other hand, if Karina had been truly concerned about privacy, I could wish that she had checked out the pyxlin option before starting her blog. The results are pretty impressive.

Your chance to influence transformation software

I confess. I'm fascinated by SharedBook's cost estimator and preview option for printing my blog. I suppose it's a bit like that "My blog is worth" from Technorati.The trick with SharedBook's Blog2Print is that you have to have a Blogger blog. Simply plug in the URL, select a date-range (or not), choose the order (I always pick oldest to newest), provide a cover image (or not), push the button, and voila!

It occurs to me that for a blog like mine it might be much more useful to be able to select by label than date. For instance, I have many posts which deal with blog transformation. If that is someone's particular interest, why burden them with printing the entire blog? Or if a person is only interested in how other authors have managed to blook anthologies, how about an option to plug in that label and letting them print only those entries?

I wrote to Ann Manby of SharedBook with my suggestion. Here's her response:

"We are looking at different ways to give individuals more control over which posts they want to include in a book. By category is one of the options we're considering.

"Do you think that would be the most helpful, or are there other options that you think we should consider? Please let me know what you think."

Well, Blook Folk, what do you think? Remember that the service comes with a handy-dandy widget to place on your site so that YOUR readers can print and purchase YOUR blog.

Color, Cost and Lulu

In my post about Hanna Andersson's blook, A Creative Year, I noted that Andersson was a fan of Lulu, which she had used to self-publish her blook. I wanted to take a closer look at that because Andersson's book makes extensive use of color photographs.

The book is 242 pages, 6" x 9", perfect binding, full-color interior ink, and priced at $44.58. I wasn't the only one who choked on the price for a paperback. I found this at Kelly Kilmer's blog:

"At first I balked about spending $45 for a creativity and then it hit me 'Dummy! This is a self published book. You love Hanna's blog. You need this book.'

In Andersson's FAQ she writes:

"Was it expensive to make?

"To upload a book cover that you’ve designed and the content of a book (a manuscript) costs nothing at lulu.com. To make it available for others to buy costs nothing. I have bought one copy of my own book so far, and I paid just as much as everyone else gets to pay. The price is at lulu for everyone to view and consider! I make about 2 dollars from each book sold I think."

Yours truly is really curious, after all I helped produce Anniemac's garden blook, about what format Andersson chose. We opted for a photo book at Lulu -- no text -- although we could have added captions. If you'd like to see what Andersson's book looks like, Kilmer graciously provided photographs!

One of the commenters asked, "What program did you use for your layout and is that the file that was used to upload the manuscript with?" Andersson replied:

"To answer your question I used Microsoft Word to edit the text that I copied from my blog. The images moved around a lot, but in the end it looks like I want it too. I downloaded a word document from lulu.com where the borders/margins were correct to the book format I wanted and when you upload the document lulu-site converts it to a pdf, but you can also do that before you upload it so really you can use any program (for layout I recommend Quark Express or Illustrator or InDesign if you know them) and send the file as a pdf to lulu. I hope that helps?

"Good luck, can’t wait to read your books everyone!"

Should we understand from that that she used a standard template and that Lulu was smart enough to spot the images and make them color? Has anybody else tried this? Are all interior-color books so expensive? The God Interviews by Natalie d'Arbeloff is 112 pages, 6.14" x 9.21", perfect binding, full-color interior ink, priced at $25.01.

Not Hannah Montana, iHanna from Sweden!

Are you beginning to feel as if I'm working my way around the world with these blooks? I sure am! I found a mention of Hanna Andersson's blook, A Creative Year: the Diary of Hanna Andersson 2006, at CraftyPod. If you'd like, you can listen to a podcast on how Andersson put her blook together. It runs just a little over 14 minutes. If you haven't got the time, here's some highlights:

While downloading her blog, Andersson was amazed at how much writing she had produced. She had always wanted to try to write a book and having the large raw manuscript amounted to an epiphany. She realized that while other bloggers were getting offers for blooks, nobody was contacting her. She headed off to Lulu, which she says gives an author real power over their own book.

She started off with a document of 400 pages in Microsoft Word. She rewrote, removed links, etc., taking nine months to craft her book, not wanting it to look like a blog on paper, but with real chapters so it would read like a book. The result looks professional, she says, with photographs mingled with text on glossy pages. She was especially keen on the idea of a permanent record. Why a book? So people like her grandmother who have no computer could see what she'd been doing.

Simply reading her blog offline gave Andersson such a different perspective on herself that she encourages other bloggers to read back through what they've written. "I've learned which words I misspell all the time, which subjects I return to so often."

She had kept a diary since she was 12, but the blog interaction, feedback, suggestions -- made her more curious. Archiving is an important way "to remember how much you've done." Her blook allows her to talk with a reader, as in a conversation, asking you to do things, to see possibilities, in a way that online posts cannot.

At Andersson's blog she posted an FAQ about her blook. This topic really grabbed me:

"Can I/anyone make a book?

"I don’t know! It took a lot of time for me, and I’ve done both layout and design before, so it probably depends on how much time you have and how good you want your book to look. To upload a manuscript is not difficult at all and then the rest is easy, so if you want to have a book of your own I think you should go for it!

"I had a good year last year, it was very unlike this one I’m working through right now. I’m glad I picked 2006 to become a book. I had so much then that I’ve now lost and miss greatly. And when life goes on constantly a book can be ended on a nice day where the future is bright. I really like that about a book, that you have the power over what to include and what to exclude, when to start and when to stop. I love books with a good ending so my ending is bright and glorious!"

Remind me to let Andersson know about the Blooker competition!

Is this a blook from the Academy?

Gypsy Teacher: A Yank in 'Brum is a blook by Kathleen Dixon Donnelly. It's described at Lulu (where she self-published) this way:

"After about 18 months of partial employment in Florida, chronicled in Gypsy Teacher: “Every Wednesday... ?!”, in June of 2004 I was offered a great full-time teaching job…in England. So in the middle of four hurricanes we packed up and moved suitcases, boxes, and eventually cats from coastal Florida to inland Britain. And I wrote about it every Wednesday."

You can read the blog entries at www.gypsyteacher.blogspot.com. In her last post there she wrote:
"I’ve been posting things on H2G2, a Wikipedia-type site started by The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy author Doug Adams that is linked to BBC. Anyone can join and post, but they are running some of my pieces in their monthly newsletter, The Post, as “Explaining the British Isles to Americans.” Some are re-cycled blogs, but some will be new. I’m now linked to a link to BBC! Ever closer to being published."

I've included that for you folks who think that self-publishing dooms you forever to the so-called inferior ranks of the self-published! I also want to mention that Donnelly's blook was entered in the 14th Annual Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards. The link there survives as do all the links from blooks that competed for the Blooker Prize. And speaking of the Blooker ... I was surprised that Donnelly had not entered. Then I spotted this on Lulu's site ... it's a comment left by Donnelly:

"what about the 'blooker'?

"by Kathleen Dixon Donnelly on Sunday 06 of May, 2007 [17:04:04 UTC]

I'm seeing all kinds of publicity here in the UK about the upcoming Blooker prize, sponsored by Lulu (isn't this the second year?), but nothing on your site. I subscribe to the newsletter, but don't remember being asked to submit my Lulu books!

Maybe we should suggest that she become a regular reader here at Blooking Central ;-)

Searching for Blooks from the Academy

If you rattle my cage long enough, all sorts of things will shake out! When I wrote my post on Blooks in Academia, I was reminded that Novelr had a post, "Gosh! A Thesis On Blog Fiction!" The thesis belonged to Betsy Friedrich. You can check out Novelr for her chapter highlights. Friedrich on blook-stuff is here.

That, in turn, reminded me of James Smythe working on his Ph.D. [something to do with online fiction]. Novelr was interviewed by him.

Are there other blooks coming from academia? And yes, if Friedrich and Smythe are posting content -- which will appear in print as part of their thesis and dissertation -- the result will be blooks.

Keep the Door Open

When I had trouble commenting, When I couldn't comment on Robert Gould's blog, I tracked him down through his website and sent him email. The gentleman had added Blooking Central to his Blogroll after all! As Windvein remarked, "It may be just an oversight by the author. I accidentally had my comments restricted to only registered users. I didn't discover it until a kind reader emailed me." His diagnosis was correct. Gould replied:

"Thank you for trying to comment!

Hopefully I've cured the comment problem now. (I unchecked the 'Users must be registered and logged in to comment' box) - could you try that and tell me if it's successful?

Thanks for trying to comment anyway!

As to what I'm trying to do:

I started writing this story about 2 years ago. I was fairly regular in my updates, but for whatever reason it started to slip as my work and family commitments increased (up to the point where I'd not touched it for about 6 months).

And then I'd read on my company's intranet about a novel that had been published that had first started its life as part of a blog - [Wouldn't you love to know which blook that was?] so I thought I'd try that approach. At least then I would be able to gauge my work and see how it was being taken my readers and perhaps take on-board whatever good comments and ideas they'd suggested. (plot developments, storylines, character construction, use of language etc)

No comments yet though :( [And now we all know why! :-) ]

Hopefully, it will start to generate some as people find it.

I also know that my writing is not to 'professional' standards and that it's just a bit of fun for me (I'm a graphic designer and not a writer per se) but if something comes out of it then fine. If not, at least it was a good exercise in writing!"

I wish Gould luck. My own online fiction venture has garnered exactly one comment and I just posted the sixteenth chapter, "He Put the Panties in his Pocket." Is there a trick someone would like to share with Gould and me for attracting readers? After all, we've seen that site statistics and reader comments play a big role in selling a manuscript to a publisher. There's gotta be a way!

Blooks in Academia?

Hard as it may be to believe, blooks have either arrived or are on their way into the sacrosanct halls of academia. I've picked up hints here and there [Brent Kado's Blues And The Machine: Music, Politics and the Death of Post Modernism, master's thesis], but then I received a definitive email from Razima Shahira. You'll remember that she's the one who graciously provided assistance verifying the last three Malaysian blooks I highlighted. I thanked her for her help and was startled by her reply:

"you're most welcome...

"you didn't have to post my reply on your blog, it's wayyy too flattering. i didn't do much, the info was already thr to begin with. a mention would have been enough...

"i don't have a blog, i just read them...my fav are food blogs on eating spots around kuala lumpur, i try to check em out after reading them.

"bout how i came about ur blog... i'm a publishing student at Universiti Malaya. i'm looking for a subject to do research on, blooks seems intersting... a new medium gaining popularity fast... i typed blook on Google and ur link came out... very intersting, i learned a lot about blooks from ur blog and others and comments... havent decided on a research subject yet, but... will you help answer my Qs if i need help? it'll be soooo helpful...and much appreciated.

"and thnx for answering my Qs, Fall In...yeah, i think dats it...

"i'll be reading more of your blogs after this, i'd love to research on something new, it's relativly new in Malaysia.. looking forward to ur blogs... cheers!

"you can look me up on Friendster if u want, with this add: razima-shahira@lycos.com
or just type Razima Shahira on Yahoo, d frenster link will pop out.

"ooo, my frens call me Ira... short for Shahira.

A publishing student? Who knew that you could study publishing?!! And blooks as a research topic? Guess I arrived just in time to ride the wave!

Copy Editor

Since a number of blooks are published without benefit of professional editing, I wanted to be sure that you know that there are folk out there ready to help, if you want it. One of them is Deborah Woehr, author of the blook God's Last Twilight. I asked Woehr about her services, especially copyediting.

"Thank you for inquiring about my services. My specialty is copyediting, where I comb through each page to check for typos, awkward sentences and plot inconsistencies. I also check for design errors. Check out my home page, if you'd like to read the testimonials from some of my clients. My rate is $1 per page, up to 320 pages. For each page after that, I charge 50 cents. I also require a 50% retainer before I start the project."

I only had one follow-up for her ... "What's a page?"

"By defining page, I mean full-bodied manuscript pages. It just occurred to me that when I gave you that figure, I wasn't thinking about title pages or section pages. For those, I charge 25 cents each."

If you know of someone [Assuming they have a connection to at least one blook!], I'd like to hear about other "helpers" -- agents, publishers, publicists, cover artists, etc. I'm happy to pass the info on.

Hardback Blogs - Croatia

I had such good results the last time that I asked for help that I thought I'd try again! In an article at Javno.com, "Hardback Blogs - Through Blogs to Literary Fame" by Lajla Mlinaric, she mentioned three blooks:

• "Zrinsko pismo, or Zrinka Pavlic, even won the Kiklop award for her debutant book of the year, 'World and the Practical Woman' that consists of texts published in Cosmopolitan and her Internet diary."
• "Igor Kokorus (Lebowski), one of Croatia's most famous bloggers who enjoys cult status among other bloggers, is the author of Men are from Bars, Women are from Markets, hardback entries of his blog, 'Fruits of the Earth.'"
• 'Buddha in the Supermarket' is a collection of short stories by Dario (Porto) Rukavina who has made many an entry in his blog.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• blog addresses that the blooks were based on;
• any information about how the blook came into being:
• is the blook simply a collection of sequential posts?
• is it arranged topically?
• was it self-published or was there an agent/publisher involved?
• what does the author have to say about the adventure?

That's the mission, Blook Folk. Now, go and ferret with aplomb!

Online Conundrum

I don't understand. Lots of things. But I especially don't understand things like this: "Comments and constructive criticism are especially welcomed as I continue to write" when comments are closed!

Robert Gould, "A Change in Weather," is posting an online fairy tale. But that's where I found the comments welcome, comments closed scenario. What's up with that?

Q & A with Eric Anthony Galvez

When Galvez, author of Reversal: When A Therapist Becomes A Patient, wrote to me asking if I would add his blook to my list, I wrote back with lots of questions. I've posted his initial response, but had even more questions! Here's the outcome:

Blooking Central: I'd like you to explain a few expressions and terms that you used, like "Multiple perspectives". How was that accomplished if the text for print was your blog?

Galvez: I asked people closest to me to write essays about their experience having someone close to them undergo serious medical issues. Included are the perspectives of my family, friends, and therapits/ former co-workers/ friends

Blooking Central: What does "real time format" mean in terms of print?

Galvez: "Real time format" refers to the blog/journal entries of my portion of the blook.

Blooking Central: Book soundtrack -- explain why there is a soundtrack -- what's the point? Should readers download this to listen to while reading your blook? If your blog is still available, can I read and listen at the same time? Who created it? Where can I find it? [I should mention that this is not the first soundtrack for a blook that I've encountered]

Galvez: The book soundtrack is a collection of chapter/essay titles used in the blook. Most of chapter/and essay titles are titles of popular songs. The collection of songs is available as an iMix on iTunes. The book soundtrack does not need to be played while reading the book although the songs do elicit emotions associated with each chapter/essay.

Blooking Central: How big a role does ethnicity play in the book?

Galvez: The conflict of being a 1st generation Filipino American vs my Filipino parents contributes a large portion to my conflict of being an independent young adult vs tradtional overprotective by-the book immigrant parents. They wanted me take things slow, while I wanted to push the limits. I'm not sure this is ethnicity specific, but I have no other point of reference.

Blooking Central: Tell me about your selection of iUniverse.

Galvez: I choose iUniverse because of their print on demand format. I thought it would be easier to distribute the book that way.

Blooking Central: Lastly, you still haven't told me how you actually got the text into the book.

Galvez: The book is divided into 4 sections: My Story (my blog), Perspectives (essay contributions), Random Things, and the Appendix. The book was not formally edited so it is still "rough around the edges". I will be shopping the manuscript to a larger publisher. I submited the manuscript to iUniverse in word format. I didn't purchase copy editing. In a few weeks they sent me link to a PDF proof of the book. I filled out a form to edit the proof. After I subbmitted the proof edits a few weeks later the book was ready!

Here is a preview of the book from iUniverse.

***

I appreciate Galvez's willingness to share with us! Were you impressed with the phrase "real-time format" to describe a blog in print? I was. I'm still not sure about this soundtrack thingy, but it is a clever ploy to distinguish your blook. Wonder if that will make a difference when Galvez submits his blook to the upcoming Blooker competition?

Reversal: Therapist Becomes A Patient

The following is a letter which I received from Eric Anthony Galvez, author of Reversal: When A Therapist Becomes A Patient.

***

I spent my entire adult life preparing for a career to help others rehabilitate from catastrophic diagnoses. After almost 2 years working as a physical therapist, I received shocking news that I was the recipient of a catastrophic diagnosis. In September 2005, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I became someone I've spent years preparing to help. Reversal: When A Therapist Becomes A Patient is about my experiences as a young rehab patient and healthcare professional. It is unique because it contains:

1. The humorous perspective of a young active male brain tumor patient that many people can relate
2. The logical perspective of a patient with a medical background when faced with difficult medical dilemmas
3. Multiple perspectives from the loved ones closest to a patient
4. A real time format that is easy to read and validates the authenticity of the situation
5. A book soundtrack available exclusively on iTunes
6. The perspective of a 1st Generation Filipino American patient vs. the views of his overprotective traditional Filipino parents

The manuscript was originally intended for the physical therapy, cancer survivor, and healthcare student demographics. I just recently became aware of your blog. I self published through iUniverse, so the book is very raw. Much of the content is straight from my old blog which I entered on the spot with minimal editing.

During my recovery: I led a team that raised over $11,000 for the National Brain Tumor Foundation ; created a support network for young survivors named TUMORS SUCK!; led the development of a unique website called "mAss Kickers" designed to empower cancer/brain tumor patients; organized a national book tour with stops in Evanston IL, Flint MI, Oakland CA, and New York NY; became active in "I'm Too Young For This," a young survivor network with strong ties to the Lance Armstrong Foundation; and have initiated a few more projects yet to be revealed.

This is the latest review of the book in Advance Magazine, a national physical therapy publication with a circulation of 75,000 and an online circulation of 85,000.

***

Several things struck me as I read the letter:

• another soundtrack for a blook? [Is this a trend?]
• he capitalizes on his ethnicity [this is not a bad thing, only useful]
• how are "multiple perspectives" portrayed in a book based on a blog?

In my next post I'll have a Q & A with Galvez that deals with these and other issues.

Attention, Blook Authors!

I recently received a comment from a gentleman who has published a blook, asking me if I would add it to my list. Of course! However, "advertising" doesn't come for free ... I'm inquisitive ... I like to follow up requests like this:-) Here's the sort of disconnected email that I send -- if you would like me to take a look at your blook -- expect to see something similar.

***

I'd be happy to add your blook to my list. Will you tell me about your blog, where the idea for a book came from, and what it took to turn the blog into a blook? What influenced your decision to self-publish? How did you attract readers to your blog? How are you marketing the blook?

I rarely look at content since I don't do book reviews. However, I'm very interested in process. I hope to demonstrate to my readers how they can blook!

Anything you would like to share would be welcome. For instance, did you write your posts offline (spellchecking, etc.) before posting? Or did you save editing for later? Did you dump the blog and work offline to create a manuscript or did you cut-and-paste from the web? Did you include all the posts from a specific time period or did you select certain ones? If you selected, what criteria did you use?

Obviously, these questions are not in any particular order. But if you send me the answers, I will re-order them and probably have follow-up questions.

***

There you have it -- that's what Blooking Central is about -- that's what I hope you'll find within these posts.