What You Should Know About Blurb

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

So last week I shared a bit of the Blurb story and how they came to unleash the power of self-publishing. But Blurb is actually way more than a self-publishing platform. They are really a tour de force of creativity that strives to help give your story – your inspiration – a stage.  And they provide some really incredible tools to make that possible. 

Here are a few of my faves:

1. Free book making tools – This one may be obvious, but there’s more here than meets the eye. Blurb offers multiple easy-to-use bookmaking tools and templates to give you complete creative control and customization:
   BookWright: The only desktop publishing software built for creating professional-looking print books, magazines, and ebooks. It’s super simple to use, which means you won't need to hire a fancy designer, know a line of code, or buy expensive software. BookSmart: A user-friendly book-making tool that allows you to create beautiful, professional-quality photo books, notebooks, and planners.
   Adobe InDesign Plug-In: If you use Adobe® InDesign® then this Blurb plug-in is for you. It lets you create and lay out books and magazines directly within InDesign and output in both print and digital formats. It also includes free professionally designed starter templates for photo books, cookbooks, portfolios, and magazines.
   Adobe Lightroom: This book creation tool is fully integrated into Lightroom, so users can make a gorgeous photography book without needing to leave the Lightroom workflow. It also includes 5 paper choices, including high-end photo-quality paper from Mohawk Fine Papers®.
2. Online photo books – With this tool, you can create your very own online photo book in less than an hour. The online templates and layouts are gorgeous. All you have to do is drag & drop your photos from your computer, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
   Instagram Photo Book: Blurb allows you to make a little 7 x7 book that’s as unique as your Instagram feed. You can start with up to 60 images and go up to 240 pages! It’s like a tiny museum devoted to your style!
   Facebook Photo Book: Now you can turn those favorite socially-shared memories into a book-store quality book! You just curate your photos and any Facebook comments you want to include and voilà! You’ve got a beautiful 60-page book of shared experiences.
3. Step-by-step Tutorials & Webinars – If you ever get stuck on how to do something or just need some creative inspiration, you’ll definitely appreciate Blurb’s interesting and informative Webinars and Tips and Tutorials sections. So helpful.
4. Free Tools to Use - Not sure what size book you want? Blurb shows you what a 10 x 8 book would look like versus a 13 x 11 with their creation and layout tools. You can also see what different paper types would look like, such as Premium Matte or Proline Uncoated and what makes them different.
5. Pricing Tool – Blurb’s Pricing Calculator will save you from pricing surprises. You just select your book type, number of pages, type of cover, and paper you want and this tool calculates what your book will cost. They also have special pricing on large orders (e.g. 300+ books).

I encourage you to take some creative time for yourself and explore Blurb’s unique and valuable book-making tools. And remember that from now through 4/30 you can get 20% off any book you create, just use code: APRILLIGHTS! If you are thinking of self-publishing or starting a fundraiser use code: BIGAPRIL and get 20% off 20 or more books! 

What are your favorite Blurb tools? 

An Intro To Blurb

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

I really enjoy Blurb and the quality of their books, and yes I know that there are other companies out there that do the same, if not similar work.  But having seen other books, Blurb tops them all. 

 I want to share with you Blurb's story.  

Like many great companies before it, Blurb was actually started by accident.  In the early 2000s, Eileen Gittins, Blurbs' Founder, rekindled a passion for photography while trying to figure out her next career gig. 

She wanted to compile her photos into a nice coffee table photo book, but she only wanted to print a handful of copies. The conundrum was that every publisher was quoting her hundreds of dollars for each book! She found this curious – and frustrating.  So she asked herself, are there other people like me who want to affordably create their own high-quality book from their photos? The answer, of course, was yes, and it changed her life – and book publishing – forever. 

In 2006, Eileen launched Blurb, a simple book-designing platform and a publishing process that could quickly produce beautifully made books at game-changing price. 

Everyone from award-winning photographers, to couples wanting to commemorate the birth of their child started using Blurb – and they continue to do so today. Even after almost a decade, people are still blown away by Blurb’s user-friendliness, quality, and affordability. People trust Blurb to create every kind of book imaginable, including:

• Cookbooks
• Photo books
• Yearbooks
• Ebooks
• Magazines, and more

Blurb doesn’t just help people make books and magazines, they also help market them by providing publishers with their own dedicated sales page. Blurb’s dedicated sales pages allows authors to:

• Make their book or magazine available to the public or by invitation-only
• Write a compelling book description
• Customize a preview of their book
• Share their book with others on social media

Blurb also created their publishing platform to work seamlessly with Amazon and Apple iBooks Store so authors would have even more options for how they sell their books. 

There are so many remarkable things to share about Blurb – too much for just one post! So keep an eye out for next week’s post, because I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Blurb tools and tips -- which, if you’re like me, will leave you thinking … “I didn’t know Blurb could do all that!” 

Oh! And I almost forgot to mention that now through 4/28 you can get 20% off any book you create! 
Can’t wait to see what kind of book you create! 

Words Matter Letterpress

Aren't these wooden letter blocks cool?  They have a simplicity to them and yet have a big
impact on any home decor when put to good use.  My favorites are the numbers on the
front of the home and the Est. sign as well.  You can find these over at DaySpring by clicking the images.

DaySpring is currently offering these lovely letterpress blocks so that you can create
your own words for your decorating needs.  Drop by their site and view some of the decorative ideas that they have available.

What is your favorite?

*(This post contains affiliate links and may be compensated if you make a purchase.  
   Thank you so much for your support.)

Valentine Ideas

(via)

St.Valentine's Day is right around the corner, I want to share a few ideas on how to make it special for you and for your family.  If you click on the image from the list of photos below, it'll direct you to the post where you can get tutorials, free prints, and recipes for that image. You can also get more inspirational ideas on the Project Gallery Tab on the top and on my Pinterest board "here", be sure to follow me there and stay inspired!  
I hope that you enjoy!

Linked to:
Home Stories A to Z
Tip Junkie
Salt Tree

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Blessed 2015

Thank you for your readership.