For the past week I have been struggling to find the ultimate self-published baby book website/design and order it in time for Mother's Day. Finally, an easy Mother's Day gift for Mom S and Mom G with none of the out of the house shopping required. Plus, neither moms really "internet" much (thats how mom says it) so I knew that they probably hadn't seen one of those photo books yet and would be impressed by the quality- just like a professional book. I was familiar with the basic options from Kodak and Shutterfly, but I was looking for a custom designed look that didn't take forever. Here is what I found.
1- http://www.photoworks.com/- This website has some nice options and I found it by trusting some reviews I found online. I didn't end up ordering from them and here's why. It took 4ever to load up photos to the website. I don't generally load photos to share with people, so I didn't realize how long it took. It took several hours (no we aren't on dial-up- wireless Cable internet) and it kept messing up and requesting that we make it try again. I finally got them all on there, and found an acceptable layout. This website had several layout options that I liked- I was looking for not too cheesy, but baby looking, yet sophisticated. So then it was time to add the photos. The program had some major problems with my images. It kept switching out photos on its own, and it even got to where I would look in the folder where I loaded the photos and there would only be one photo there, copied 50 times. It was really weird. I did their online chat help and they informed me that my java was bad and I needed to download new version. By this time I was pretty much tired of fooling with it and was ready to move on to a different site.
2-www.mypublisher.com - With only a few hours left to make the book and make the standard shipping deadline in time for Mother's Day, I decided to try this My Publisher that several of my friends had recommended. I downloaded the software from their website and was please to see that orders over $50 were 20% off and orders over $100 were 40% off! Plus, as soon as I logged in the emailed me a coupon for one book free. Naturally, you can't use the one book free with the other offers, but still, either was good deal. So I downloaded the program and flipped through their layout options. And then, I wasn't so happy. There were only a handful of design options and they didn't seem to be super customizable. Maybe if I had gone further with the process I could have found more customization options, but I didn't have time for another disappointment. I needed groovy designs and I needed them fast. Despite the great deals, I decided to try one other site I heard good things about.
3- http://www.blurb.com/
/ - Jackpot!
I am completely infatuated with blurb and its blurberati. It’s changing my life. I will take this opportunity to count the ways I love the blurb.
Their free software Booksmart is wonderful. It’s easy, fast and has super sophisticated layout options that totally customizable.
You can post your book on their site and sell it directly through them to the public. You set your own profit margin (if you choose to sell your book for profit).
After publishing with them you can "Announce" the publication of your book through them or through posting a blog badge of their site.
1- http://www.photoworks.com/- This website has some nice options and I found it by trusting some reviews I found online. I didn't end up ordering from them and here's why. It took 4ever to load up photos to the website. I don't generally load photos to share with people, so I didn't realize how long it took. It took several hours (no we aren't on dial-up- wireless Cable internet) and it kept messing up and requesting that we make it try again. I finally got them all on there, and found an acceptable layout. This website had several layout options that I liked- I was looking for not too cheesy, but baby looking, yet sophisticated. So then it was time to add the photos. The program had some major problems with my images. It kept switching out photos on its own, and it even got to where I would look in the folder where I loaded the photos and there would only be one photo there, copied 50 times. It was really weird. I did their online chat help and they informed me that my java was bad and I needed to download new version. By this time I was pretty much tired of fooling with it and was ready to move on to a different site.
2-www.mypublisher.com - With only a few hours left to make the book and make the standard shipping deadline in time for Mother's Day, I decided to try this My Publisher that several of my friends had recommended. I downloaded the software from their website and was please to see that orders over $50 were 20% off and orders over $100 were 40% off! Plus, as soon as I logged in the emailed me a coupon for one book free. Naturally, you can't use the one book free with the other offers, but still, either was good deal. So I downloaded the program and flipped through their layout options. And then, I wasn't so happy. There were only a handful of design options and they didn't seem to be super customizable. Maybe if I had gone further with the process I could have found more customization options, but I didn't have time for another disappointment. I needed groovy designs and I needed them fast. Despite the great deals, I decided to try one other site I heard good things about.
3- http://www.blurb.com/
/ - Jackpot!I am completely infatuated with blurb and its blurberati. It’s changing my life. I will take this opportunity to count the ways I love the blurb.
Their free software Booksmart is wonderful. It’s easy, fast and has super sophisticated layout options that totally customizable.
You can post your book on their site and sell it directly through them to the public. You set your own profit margin (if you choose to sell your book for profit).
After publishing with them you can "Announce" the publication of your book through them or through posting a blog badge of their site.
You can browse their bookstore for inspiration- and I highly recommend it. They hav
e some incredible books in there.
They have great templates, including a cookbook template and blog template that will automatically link up with your blogger account. Genius.
Their books are reasonably priced- even as low as $13, full color. I chose the hardback- 40 color pages fro $25.
They just came out with a facebook option for getting photos off your facebook page. It's amazing.
I can't stop talking about how much I love this site. I have ordered Davis's baby book (don’t tell the moms) and I am in the process of designing a family cookbook, my design portfolio, my art portfolio, and I'm teaching my dad to use their software to do a book of my great uncle's photography.
Here is a link to Davis's baby book, a preview of which is currently available in their bookstore under new releases. The photos in this posting are from his book.
e some incredible books in there.They have great templates, including a cookbook template and blog template that will automatically link up with your blogger account. Genius.
Their books are reasonably priced- even as low as $13, full color. I chose the hardback- 40 color pages fro $25.
They just came out with a facebook option for getting photos off your facebook page. It's amazing.
I can't stop talking about how much I love this site. I have ordered Davis's baby book (don’t tell the moms) and I am in the process of designing a family cookbook, my design portfolio, my art portfolio, and I'm teaching my dad to use their software to do a book of my great uncle's photography.
Here is a link to Davis's baby book, a preview of which is currently available in their bookstore under new releases. The photos in this posting are from his book.
I named it "Here Comes the Son"
Enjoy your own Blurb creation.
Enjoy your own Blurb creation.
Jenn
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