Deborah Woehr

I had come across Blurb late last year, I think. At the time, it was brand new and there were only a handful of books listed on the site. One of them was a blook by that airline stewardess. I quickly forgot about it.

Then I saw a mention on Grumpy Old Bookman, who stated that it has the potential to rival Lulu. After downloading the BookSmart software and giving it a test run with a photo book (see the photo reference below), I see his point. It is extremely easy to lay out your book.

BookSmart offers a good dozen layouts each for text, text with photos, and photos. The first qualm I had was the inability to import text into a book file. Blurb is working on adding this feature. For now, you’ll have to copy and paste.

Adding headers and footers is a snap. Simply click on the second page of your chapter, enter your header information, and click apply to all pages. Your change will appear on every page but the chapter pages. I’ve included a sample below. Click the images to get a better view.

Now, I will list the cons, which are significant to novel writers.

1. Blurb doesn’t offer the 6×9 trade paperback size. They offer 8×10, 7×7, and 13×11. This affects the price, which can be very expensive. According to Washington Post, it can cost up to $80 to publish a 400-page novel. That’s definitely a severe price jump, compared to Lulu.
2. Blurb doesn’t offer an ISBN service. You will have to obtain the ISBN number, EAN, and list the book with online retailers. They plan on offering an ISBN service in the future.
3. You don’t have the multiple publishing options that you do with Lulu: paperback, hardcover, ebook and audio book.

That said, I’m going to watch this company and see how it evolves. Right now, it is still in its infant stage but I think they might become a serious rival to Lulu. Check out the Washington Post article, which talks about Lulu, Blurb and the self-publishing industry. Very interesting reading. Also, visit the Blurberati Blog to keep informed.