[uccemebug]

I'm about to print a number of books via Blurb and wonder if anyone's got the most recent newsletter that contains the current discount codes?

Current code:

BOOKSFORSUMMER

Offer: 15% off through June 30, 2013 | Code: SUMMERFUN | Dates: 7/1/13-7/31/13

Beautiful photo books and book printing. Make your own book | Blurb Books

[r0ckstarr]

Here's what I have.

Greetings,
Some projects are simpler, just begging for a streamlined solution. If what you want to create is a beautiful photo book - tonight - then you really should give our new online bookmaking tool, Bookify, a spin. It's a fantastic new way to make books at Blurb.
Bookify features a specially curated set of our most popular layouts - or you can just drag and drop your photos and the page will design itself. Amazing. Plus, the whole thing is online so you can make a book from wherever you are.
While BookSmart is fantastic for more involved projects, Bookify is ideal for simpler work. Here's why:
It's streamlined. Curated layouts and our most popular fonts.
It's convenient. No download necessary. Simply import your photos from Flickr® or your computer, and start making your book instantly. You can even work on your book from more than one computer.
It offers all the Blurb goodness - professional quality, stellar image printing, great paper choices, hardcover or softcover, and five of our book sizes - and all at affordable prices.Bookify is a ton of fun. But don't take our word for it. Make a book with Bookify by November 2 (11:59 p.m. PDT) and save 25%.* Just type in the appropriate promo code at checkout and you're set:
USD $ coupon code: BOOKIFY
GBP £ coupon code: BOOKIFY1
EUR € coupon code: BOOKIFY2
CAD $ coupon code: BOOKIFY3
AUD $ coupon code: BOOKIFY4Don't hold back. You may love it so much that you'll get that holiday gift list wrapped up early.
Happy bookmaking,
The Blurberati

[uccemebug]

Thanks, r0ckstarr!

Have you tried Bookify on a Mac by any chance? Have run into some show-stopper bugs (which I reported; and which they reported are fixed) but I'm a bit leery.

[r0ckstarr]

Sorry, Windows user here. The last time I used Blurb to make a book was January of 2009 and it was called BookSmart then. Surprisingly, the book is still selling to this day.

[uccemebug]

Sorry, Windows user here. The last time I used Blurb to make a book was January of 2009 and it was called BookSmart then. Surprisingly, the book is still selling to this day.

I've never sold anything from their site. Story of my life. Send me the link, would you? Here's one of mine:

streets without names | Book Preview

[r0ckstarr]

I've never sold anything from their site. Story of my life. Send me the link, would you? Here's one of mine:

streets without names | Book Preview

Sorry for the delay in response.

I now understand your avatar.
I like your book. Some very good photos and info. I'm surprised it hasn't sold any. Have you advertised it anywhere? Anywhere local to you?


Here's the link to mine.

The Storm of 2008 | Photo book preview

Some info over my book. If you don't live here, or never been here, you won't know what is missing, or what used to be there. But, the destruction is well documented, as you can see. Boats on the road, cars in the water, etc..

I was here for Hurricane Alisha in 1983. I remember the destruction caused by this storm, but an internet search yields nothing showing how bad it was. I could not find any books or pictures from Hurricane Alisha. The only thing you find are stories from others that tell you what was and what used to be.

Alot of people don't know what to expect when a Hurricane hits here, and that's why alot of people chose not to evacuate. Alot of people either assume that it will be as bad as Katrina, or that it will be nothing like Katrina in Louisianna.

Being that Galveston has not had a bad hurricane in 20+ years, I wanted to put something together to show what happens. Something to document the storm. Something to document how Galveston (and surrounding area's) were after the storm hit.

We took Hurricane Ike head-on in 2008. I did not evacuate like some did. Once the sun came up, I was outside with a camera. From sun-up to sun-down I was out with a camera every day for nearly a month straight documenting the devastation as much as I could before it was all cleaned up.

I set the chapters by each city around here that was affected, and the destruction gets worse the further you go into the book. I had alot of pictures and wanted to include as many as possible, so I filled as much page space as I could in some area's. It is 400 pages long. I don't expect you to go through all 400 pages, and if you chose just a few to check out, Galveston and Texas City had the most destruction.

As a warning, you will not see dead bodies, but you will see cows, alligators, and other wildlife. Be warned if you have a weak stomach.

So far, I have sold over 250 copies of the book (have to check my spreadsheet for an exact total). 99% of the sales have been local. I advertised with MOO cards, word of mouth, and had a vinyl ad made up for the tailgate of my truck showing the website name and telling a little about the book.

[uccemebug]

The Storm of 2008 | Photo book preview

I don't know what to say, what a body of work.

While I remember the storm in the 80's (and was surprised to learn how far Galveston really is out into the water so to speak) I just didn't hear about Ike!

Galveston and Texas City had the most destruction.

I'll say. You note some things that just don't make sense like a boat sitting in the remains of a gas station or something and it has a bit of a surreal feeling to it. But to see someone's home gutted, or that one pic of a store that was washed clean out .. that drives it home.

As a warning, you will not see dead bodies, but you will see cows, alligators, and other wildlife. Be warned if you have a weak stomach.

No you need to show that. Given that animals usually come through these scrapes intact it's very educating to see a dead alligator. Those things have always struck me as nigh on invincible.

So far, I have sold over 250 copies of the book (have to check my spreadsheet for an exact total). 99% of the sales have been local. I advertised with MOO cards, word of mouth, and had a vinyl ad made up for the tailgate of my truck showing the website name and telling a little about the book.

Impressive! So you hand out the cards you made with moo to .. people you meet? Or to passers-by?

I now understand your avatar.
I like your book. Some very good photos and info. I'm surprised it hasn't sold any. Have you advertised it anywhere? Anywhere local to you?

I've tried advertising it on Facebook, Google, and Yahoo but only generated a modest amount of interest. On the advice of a friend in Ontario with some media experience, I'm going to take the book to the U of T bookstore when I get back to Toronto and ask them about getting it properly published. But before that I'll add in the pics from the remainder of my time here in Tokyo (about six-nine months) and bring the coverage up to the full five years.

I did find some codes that worked, by the way.

[r0ckstarr]

Thanks!!!

I couldn't publish pictures of dead bodies, because their were none to take pictures of. A few area's where I was one of the first people to venture down, I was afraid of walking up on someone, but all I found were wildlife. I don't mean to sound harsh about it, I wasn't hoping to see one, and I don't wish it upon anybody, but I was documenting a major storm, so that would have been included.

When I first published the book, it had generated so much interest just by word of mouth that I was doing bulk orders to save on shipping so I could sell them at a lower price than what it would have costed if they ordered through Blurb. I was selling them through me. I would go meet the customer somewhere, or just drop it by their home/work if they weren't too far away.

When I gave someone their book, I would put a slice in the plastic wrap and drop about 5-7 MOO cards in. Those people would pass them out to their friends, and their friends would contact me about a book. Sometimes, I had people come back to me wanting more cards saying that they showed their co-workers and now their co-workers want to get a copy. I had one guy come back to me about 5 times just for his friends.

One copy of the book somehow ended up on display at a big convention for the city, which generated interest in it. Some good interest, and some bad interest.

One city (I'd rather not name names) offered to buy the rights to the book, including all of the pictures. Their offer price was under $200.00. I declined, obviously. They threatened me saying that since I took the pictures within their city limits, I have to hand them over and that the price they offered was just a way of saying thanks. I refused, and after a few more threatening emails, I contacted another unnamed certain person who was running for election in the state at the time and have never heard another word from the city about it. That person running for election bought a book!

I had two people that claimed they were from a certain local news outlet want a copy of all of the pictures on cd so that they could show them during a seminar or presentation. I suggested that they buy the book and show that. The same news outlet tried to scan and upload pictures from the book and display them on their website as their own. I filed a Notice Of Infringement with them and had the pictures taken down. The main person from their end sent me a huge apology.

Because of the negative attention, I registed the book with the Library Of Congress showing that I own all rights to the book and the content inside. It may not be the greatest book in the world, but it is the largest known documentation of Hurricane Ike. Now think, 50 years down the road and someone comes across a copy somewhere. I'd say that it would be a very interesting thing to have if you live here, and if you're here no knowing what to expect.

When I do car shows, I am always talking to people, and sometimes they ask me who I shoot for, and I tell them myself. I'm just a hobbyist. I tell them about my website and I hand them a card to the website, and also a MOO card for the book. When I hand them a card, I ask them if they stayed around for Ike, how their car did during Ike, or some other random question relating to Hurricane Ike and go from there.

Same goes if I meet people on the street outside. After all, this is a tourist town and you would be surprised how many people you meet on the weekends that don't live here.

I plan to update the book and find a better publisher. There's a few things I don't like about it, and I wouldn't mind cutting out a few chapters to save costs and possibly try to get it into some stores.

I found a publisher in Houston that claimed they could match Blurbs quality at half the price, but the paperwork I was supposed to sign would have given them rights to publish and sell the pictures as they please, so I backed out.

Just out of curiosity, I contacted Barnes & Noble to see what all was involved with getting a book in their store. The reply I got back pretty much said that they would order X-amount of books at my cost and see if they sell. If they sold, they would take more interest in the book and make a larger purchase out of their pocket. If the books didn't sell, then I retrieve the books from the store at my cost and pay for any unsold books.

I also contacted Starbucks about it. They were interested until they seen the price of each book and said that they wouldn't be able to sell a book at that high of a price. I don't know if there are Starbucks Coffee Shops where you are, but being that your book isn't nearly as bulky as mine, and at a more affordable price, you may want to look into them. I found all of the info and contact information somewhere on their website when I was looking into it.

Basically, what they told me was that they would set up a display table in the store with the books on it. They get a very small percentage of each sale for helping you out. It was a good idea, but, like I said, a 400 page book that costs nearly $100.00 doesn't go much further than local sales based on interest of content.

I sold the most books within the first 8 months. Now, I am down to 1 sale per month for the last 6 months with no sales in September, and that's all been through Blurb.

[uccemebug]

Thanks for the update. I imagine that any real publisher (not just a printer like blurb) would get you into the whole sad business of returning you the unsold remainders .. it's tough! Another way to go might be to find someone to create the book layout in PDF via InDesign or a similar "pro" software package and then go to a fulfillment company like bookmasters. They would provide your book to Amazon & B&N for a fee.

BTW, Blurb has sent me a discount code just for Pentax people. Here are the details:

====

And here is a code for you... and you can share with your Pentax Group. We made it a 25% discount in appreciation for your support!

Use this code at checkout and hit "apply" : PENTAXGROUP

And some more info on the code:
Get 25% off your product total - up to US $100.00 off. Share this promotion.

Each customer can use this promotion 1 time.

Offer valid between 2010-10-28 and 2010-11-30.

Promotion valid on your own books or any book in the Blurb bookstore.

[r0ckstarr]

25% off isn't a bad deal for us Pentaxians. Thanks!

[uccemebug]

I've just received this additional discount.

The holidays are fast approaching and we wanted to send a little pre-celebration goodness your way - 20% savings on your next book.*

We appreciate all your support – and we want to give you huge thanks for selling your fantastic books in the Blurb Bookstore. Plus, we figured there’s nothing like some great savings to help you get started on the best gift ever – a book made by you.

So go for it. Make a book and when you’re ready to order, just type in the appropriate promo code at checkout and you’re set.

* USD $ coupon code: PROMO
* GBP £ coupon code: PROMO1
* EUR € coupon code: PROMO2
* CAD $ coupon code: PROMO3
* AUD $ coupon code: PROMO4

This offer is good until November 26, so get going and have fun.

[r0ckstarr]

I got the same one.

[uccemebug]

Here's another discount from Blurb, albeit a very short-lived one.

+----

Order two books or more by April 4, 2011 and we'll give you 20% off your product total*. Just type in the appropriate code at checkout:

USD $ coupon: BLURBQUALITY
GBP £ coupon: BLURBQUALITY1
EUR € coupon: BLURBQUALITY2
CAD $ coupon: BLURBQUALITY3
AUD $ coupon: BLURBQUALITY4

Happy bookmaking,

The Blurberati

* Offer valid through April 4, 2011 (11:59 p.m. local time). A 20% discount is applied toward one order of two books or more. Maximum discount is USD $200.00, GBP £125.00, EUR €160,00, CAD $210.00, or AUD $230.00 off product totals. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

[uccemebug]

Some recent codes that might work:
NEWBLURB (good for me June 2011)
ADBLURB (good for me July 2011)
JULYOFFER (valid as of time of posting at 20% off, but good on multiple book orders only)
BLURB15 (15% not sure if it's still valid)

[r0ckstarr]

Thanks! I'm not far from making an order.