I'm so pleased to announce our fifth featured artist for the Blurb Book Page of the Month. John Farnan presents beautiful, unique views of New York City in his project, "Impressions of NYC." You can take a look at a sample spread from John's book.

Oh, and BTW, we're already accepting entries for Feb. You can learn all about it by reading Win by Entering "Blurb Book Page of the Month".

I'm so pleased to announce our fourth featured artist for the Blurb Book Page of the Month. Kenji Maeji has spent four years capturing images for his book, Snow Monkey. You can take a look at a sample spread from Kenji's book.

Oh, and BTW, we're already accepting entries for January. You can learn all about it by reading Win by Entering "Blurb Book Page of the Month".

I'm so pleased to announce our third featured artist for the Blurb Book Page of the Month. Craig Tooley has taken an artful approach to photographing rusted metal in the Southwest. You can take a look at a sample spread from Craig's book.

Oh, and BTW, we're already accepting entries for November. You can learn all about it by reading Win by Entering "Blurb Book Page of the Month".

Blurb is launching its first-ever U.K. pop-up store on Wednesday, November 3. Lots of activity will be happening through November 14, with free workshops, guest speakers, and special events.

If you're in the London area, you may want to stop by and take a look. Their customer support wizards will be on site to demo the latest in all things Blurb and answer any of your bookmaking questions. Plus, they’ll have a fully stocked library of Blurb books so you can see and feel the quality for yourself.

Each day will focus on a specific type of book project you can accomplish with Blurb, from photography books and portfolios to travel books, fashion and brand books to wedding books, cooking books, blog books, fundraising books and more. Go to the Blurb pop-Up/London page to check out the schedule. Unless noted, all events will be free and open to all.

I'm so pleased to announce our second featured artist for the Blurb Book Page of the Month. Jane Hamilton is currently working on a project of photographing old boats. Her hope is to show that aging can be beautiful. You can take a look at a sample spread from Jane's book.

Oh, and BTW, we're already accepting entries for October. You can learn all about it by reading Win by Entering "Blurb Book Page of the Month".

Karen Riggert is a mom who loves photography and lives in a small New England community. She's just published a book on Blurb titled, Groton, Massachusetts. It's a terrific collection of images that you can browse through using the preview function on the Blurb site.

In the article, Through photographer's eyes by Pierre Comtois, Karen explains how the idea came to her to start this project.

With family concerns to keep her busy, Riggert said that she had little time to do any serious kind of photography until she found herself outside St. James Church in West Groton one day, thinking "Boy! I could do a small book just on the churches of Groton!"

"That notion expanded to include the whole town, which has so much more that's beautiful and interesting," said Riggert. "Meanwhile, I was also taking pictures of local wildlife, including some found in my own yard. So I sort of came to realize that I wanted to try and capture various aspects of Groton that I loved..."

I'm mentioning Karen Riggert's book today to illustrate that the things you love often make the best expressions of art. What is it that you love? And wouldn't it be wonderful to capture that passion in a book?

Blurb on The Digital Story is a sponsored site dedicated to using Blurb tools for telling your story through photographs and words.

I'm so pleased to announce our first featured artist for the Blurb Book Page of the Month. Not only did David Bream submit a great looking book spread, I think you'll enjoy the story he tells about the project. You can read all about it in the article, August 2010 Featured Book Page - David Bream, "Window Seat". Great work David!

Oh, and BTW, we're already accepting entries for September. You can learn all about it by reading Win by Entering "Blurb Book Page of the Month".

"This method existed long before the computer, the printing press and even a defined measuring unit. No picas or points, no inches or millimeters. It can be used with nothing more than a straight edge, a piece of paper and a pencil."

This fascinating post by Alexander Ross Charchar, The Secret Canon & Page Harmony, shows how to design a harmonious page. And even though these concepts were conceived long before computers and book production software, I think they are as relevant as ever.

Take a look at the diagrams in Alexander's post before starting your next book project. They may just take you to a new level you never thought you'd achieve.

Blurb on The Digital Story is a sponsored site dedicated to using Blurb tools for telling your story through photographs and words.

One of the toughest aspects of printing is translating what your see on a backlit RGB screen to a CMYK output process using ink and paper. Fortunately for us, the folks at Blurb understand this challenge throughly, and they've created the Color Management Resource Center to help us make that transition.

The Color Management Resource Center provides feature videos, technical documents, and even a downloadable ICC profile. This will help ensure that the book you receive in the mail feels like the book you designed on your computer screen.

Blurb on The Digital Story is a sponsored site dedicated to using Blurb tools for telling your story through photographs and words.

Once you become comfortable with the mechanics of making a book, such as understanding the layout software and how to prepare your images, you're faced with the "art" of bookmaking. And that's a different animal all together.

Fortunately Blurb has just what we need: How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book. This 80 page hard cover guide tackles important topics such as, The right kind of photography, editing, sequencing, layout, typography, and exploring your creativity. And since it is a Blurb book itself, you get to feel in your hands how these techniques play out.

Spread from "How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book"

Some of my favorite passages include:

• Documentary Photography: Documentary work is about truth and reflecting the reality of life around us, and isn't about orchestration, setups, or the fabrication on the part of the photographer.
• Editing & Sequencing: You could compile your favorite 100 photographs, but then it wouldn't be a book -- it would be a photo album. A photo album gives pleasure, but it isn't a sequentially unfolding story, each image related to the thread of the story you're telling.
• Captions: Providing captions will slow down the pace of your book. Captions can be brief titles or they can be explantory. These decisions affect the way someone will move through the book.

There are so many helpful professional tips in this guide. Considerations such as: What type of margins are best for your subject material? How does your font selection affect the voice of your book? Should you include front matter?

You can purchase "How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book" for $37.95 (or the soft cover edition for about $12 less), or you can win a copy free of charge by being featured in our Book Page of the Month feature right here on "Blurb on The Digital Story." Not only will you have this wonderful guide to help you create the best book possible, you'll receive a $75 certificate to put toward the production of your book.

Blurb on The Digital Story is a sponsored site dedicated to using Blurb tools for telling your story through photographs and words.