I get asked all the time for ideas on printing and binding your personal histories, so this email will focus on some of my favorite options.
When we made my mom’s book, I typed all of her stories into “Word.” We (my sister and I), then copied and pasted her stories into Blurb and added photos and other documents.
When you copy and paste your text into Blurb it will automatically populate the text onto the next pages. It’s was a little tricky for me to add photos and other documents, but once you get the hang of it, it’s do-able.
You will only be interested in the “Bookwright” or the “PDF to Book” tabs in this website. Here is a link so you can check it out, if you're interested:
Bookwright: https://www.blurb.com/bookwright
PDF to Book: https://www.blurb.com/pdf-to-book
Here is a list of more photo book companies that I have worked with. You can drop your short stories into the text boxes and add photos and other documents to fit your stories. It can be a little tricky to copy and paste because it doesn’t recognize paragraph breaks so you will have to insert them yourself.
PHOTO BOOK COMPANIES (You can search for these online):
Mixbook – best quality for best price, large library of content
Printique – more expensive, large selection of content to work with, best quality
Shutterfly – large library of templates, good quality
Costco Photo Center – Cheaper, flexible templates, small library of clip art and backgrounds
Snapfish – full customization, average quality, not as flexible but fun to use
Mpix – limited abilities, average quality
CVS Photo – average quality, great price, limited abilities
Another idea that I have used is typing my stories into “Word”, adding photos and re-adjusting where needed to make the stories fit nicely on the pages. Then I saved it in a PDF Format (to keep the integrity of the pages in tact) and printed it out and had it bound with a spiral binder. Most office supply stores and copy/printing stores can do this for you. Here are a few to check out:
SPIRAL BINDING* COMPANIES
Staples
Alphagraphics
Office Depot
FedEx
You can also find spiral binding companies on line. Search “Spiral Binding”. Spiral Binding holds the pages and cover together using a durable plastic or metal coil that is shaped like a long spring. I'm sure you've seem them before but here's a photo of what they look like:
There are many ways to put a book together. You will want to do a little research and find the one that works best for you and your book.
AND Remember, the most important part of the book is the memories inside, so I encourage you to begin writing...one story at a time!
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