Blurb

In 2010 I embarked on the trip of a lifetime; spending the year travelling a few countries and working abroad in Australia. With a tan, friends all over the world and a few extra stamps on my passport, I was back on English soil and looking for a way to keep all of my memories together.

Having accumulated a few thousand photos and hundreds of pages of text, in the form of a journal I’d kept along the way, I decided I wanted to collate the lot into a nice memento of my time away and that’s when I stumbled upon Blurb.com – an online service which allows you to create professional quality books with complete design control. Within seconds I had downloaded the easy to use software and I was ready to begin.

The software is incredibly easy to use – don’t worry, you don’t need any photoshop or design skills. There are hundreds of different layouts you can choose when creating pages or, if you’d prefer, you can create your own layout from scratch. There are plenty of other edits and inserts you can play around with to create your ideal book too. For those really tech savvy customers there are other softwares to download which give you even more creative control!

Once you’re happy with your book you simply upload it to the website where it sits for 14 days waiting for you to place your order. During the order process you can choose your preferred cover (hardback, soft cover, with a sleeve, without a sleeve etc) and select your page quality to create your perfect personalised finish. As simple as 1,2,3 my 262 page book was ordered for a very reasonable £60. My estimated arrival time was 20 odd days but exactly 7 days later there, on my doorstep, was my package from Blurb.com.

I’ve never been so excited and nervous at the same time. After months of working on the content and layout, on my computer screen, I finally had the actual book in my hands. I tore it open like an excited child on Christmas morning and gave a squeal of excitement at the book I’d spent the best part of a year putting together.

The result is fantastic; I’m so impressed with the entire process. It was both easy and efficient and the end result is everything I’d hoped for. The best part, my book is available in an online store for others to purchase which means my fellow travelers can buy a copy of the book too.

Blurb can cater for any type of book you are looking to create. From a simple 10 page picture book to mammoth novels. I’ve created photo books for presents before and I’m usually restricted to what I can create. Sites have been slow and the results have been satisfying but not wow. I couldn’t recommend Blurb highly enough and I know exactly where I’ll be going from now on. What’s more, their product would make the most amazing personalised gift.