Product Review: Blurb

Unlike my last product review, I unfortunately did not receive any free 'incentive' to post my opinion this time. However, I cannot help myself because I am sold on this product: hook, line and sinker! Also, since many of my readers are bloggers and parents, this will hopefully be a post that will benefit others. (And hey, if Blurb decides to throw a free publication or two my way, it wouldn't be the end of the world!)

Last week I commented how much I've grown to love blogging for its memory-keeping purposes. ele5.com, then Confessions of Eli's Mom, and now The Tales of Eli & Maddux are what I rely on more than baby books to keep record of milestones. More importantly, my blogs provide the little details and corresponding pictures so I can remember these early days when my kids are grown. When Eli was younger (back in the ele5.com days), I had a hard time finding a publication service that was user-friendly for bloggers. Luckily blogging has taken off in the last year or so and publication companies have noticed. For the time being, I've chosen Blurb to print out my blogs. Not only do they have an easy-to-use website with free download-able software so your blog can be copied directly into your working 'document', but they print in color and allow pictures!! This is a huge plus for me since I love to include pictures (in case you hadn't noticed). You can choose from a wide selection of covers, which are color (even though I chose b&w) and pretty 'customizable'. The cost depends on your book size as well as number of pages. I've published two books so far, and even my larger one (all of 2006 and I blog LOTS) wasn't too expensive (less than $50).

To sum up, I'm posting this product review to inform those of you who blog that this service does exist and it's a great way to preserve your writing. Especially if you blog about your families.....unless you don't want them to know what you've been saying about them, of course.