[Typepad] Make your own book

FYI for Typepad users--I'm not one but I thought I'd just pass this along...

This morning Blurb, the creative book publishing service, released its Blog to Book beta service to 200 SixApart TypePad bloggers. As a blogger, thought you’d be interested in hearing about this. Blurb thinks there are hidden books in many blogs, and that you don’t need Simon & Schuster to get your work out there in a professional-quality format. They’ve made a product that makes it easy for bloggers to do that, and we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Blurb looks at this beta release as a great opportunity hear from its users, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is – literally, with free books for everyone invited to try the service. With this beta release, Blurb hopes to get some quality feedback from a key audience before the company distributes Blog to Book more broadly.

The full press release is pasted below, and following are a few highlights:

- Each TypePad blogger will be invited to test the new service that enables them to convert their blogs into bookstore-quality books.

- In return for some honest feedback, each beta tester will receive a complimentary copy of their first book.

- They’ll also have an opportunity to invite a fellow TypePad blogger into the program (who will also receive a complimentary copy of their first book).

More information follows below. If you’re using TypePad, let me know and we can look into adding you to the beta list. If not, we’ll be sure to give you the heads-up for the full release after Blurb works out some of the kinks with its beta testers. If you’d like to chat with someone at Blurb about the product, let me know and I can set that up as well.

Best,
Mike

Mike Barash
Senior Director
Atomic PR
415.402.0230 (office)
650.520.0120 (mobile)
mike@atomicpr.com

Blurb Introduces Blog Slurper in New Blog-to-Book Program Blog Slurper Automatically Creates Draft Book

San Francisco, Calif. — September 27, 2006 — Blurb, the creative book publishing service, today announced that its new BookSmart™ blog-to-book beta is now being released to a select number of SixApart TypePad™ bloggers. These TypePad bloggers have been invited to test the new service that enables them to convert blogs into bookstore-quality books automatically, using Blurb’s new Blog Slurper.

“We’ve met with many, many bloggers, and a surprising number expressed a desire for the technology-free permanence books provide,” said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO of Blurb. “In some cases, bloggers just want an archive of their work. Others want to share with their off-line friends and family, and many would like to sell their books for profit to the audiences they’ve amassed.”

Blurb’s Blog Slurper allows each blogger to identify how they want their blog slurped — by date or topic — and whether to include pictures, comments, and links. Blurb’s BookSmart application then inserts the slurped blog directly into a professionally designed book template, producing a draft book in minutes. The blogger can publish the book as is, or embellish it with more pictures and text, different fonts, borders and backgrounds, and other design details.

In return for their feedback, each beta tester is offered a complimentary copy of their first book, as well as an opportunity to invite a fellow TypePad blogger into the program. Support for additional blog services including Moveable Type, Blogger and WordPress will follow, incorporating feedback from this first beta release.

BookSmart™ runs on a Mac or PC and is free to try; users pay only when they publish. Each book is then printed on demand, in any quantity – whether that’s one for a gift, a couple dozen for family members, or several thousand to reach a wide audience. Besides blog books, popular book types include conference books, portfolio books, travel books, cookbooks, and photo books. Books cost as little as $29.95 for a single copy of a 40-page hardcover 8”x10” book, custom dust jacket included.

About Blurb
Blurb is a company and a community that believes passionately in the power of books: making, reading, sharing, and selling them. Blurb’s creative publishing service is simple and smart enough to make anyone an author — every blogger, cook, marketer, photographer, traveler, entrepreneur, poet, everyone. Founded by Eileen Gittins in 2004 and funded by Canaan Partners and Anthem Venture Partners, Blurb is bringing book publishing to the masses. For more information about Blurb and the Blurb BookSmart™ software, visit www.blurb.com.
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This Post was written by Amy from Cooking with Amy