The Baby Steals Your Time (2009 Travel Blurb Book)

And your heart. I'm just in a blogging funk, but I really have a lack of time.


I'm trying to get my book out before the end of August (Free Shipping!). This will be my third keeper book from blurb.com (I made one for my mom for Christmas one year). 2007 Travel, Pennsylvania State Parks, and now 2009 Travel. I could easily make a 2006 Travel book, but I don't have the interest, time, or energy right now. I could also do the same for the PA State Parks. But it's really a huge undertaking. There were 120 of them that we visited, and it was hard enough to make 120 cover pages for the book that I did make.

This year's book will be 240 pages long. My last two books were 440 pages, the maximum allowed at Blurb. I hope that the shorter book will be ultimately more interesting. There are 13 sections, one for each day of travel. Some days are as short as two pages, others span 30 or more. I tried a new design style for this book, to make it interesting and structured. It's important to have a good balance of imagery and text, because I include a ton of full page images.

Pages as thumbnails.

I took some of my favorite elements of my past books and tried to include them more. One of them is story telling. Past the title page for each section, I tried to include at least one page that was a map with a short story on it. I find myself showing my travel books to friends and relatives and having a hard time explaining where things were at. Including the map pages I believe would make the book far more dynamic.

Another favorite of mine was two page panoramas. I'm not sure if it's the official count, but I believe I have 12 of them in the book. Usually I would include 1-3 of them. They are really impressive once printed out.

For the title page design, I created a template to use for all of them. The calendar view with the highlighted day was my favorite part. I originally had this in neon pink instead of white, but Rachel vetoed that. I use Alte Haas Grotesk for all type throughout the book, as a consistent typeface heightens the professionalism and readability of the book.

I have finally finished placing all of the images. Now comes proofing. Rachel and I will both look over the 240 pages and approve/disapprove photos and spelling. Once that is done, we cross our fingers, upload about 1GB to blurb, and order the book! Then comes the hardest part of all. Waiting.