Today Blurb announced that they are offering a new series of books. Called “ProLine” these books are for photographers who want to print on higher quality paper. Offering genuine Moab paper, real linen covers, and a choice of lining sheets (in coordinating colors) this “ProLine” series looks very promising. It’s bound (excuse the pun!) to tap into the wedding photographer’s market a bit, yes, but it will also appeal to a lot of photographers and artists who want to make a strong portfolio style book.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I kind of want my books to be one of a kind, unique, handmade and all of that. On the other hand, it’s always nice to have options and Blurb is offering us just that. Options, options, and more options-heck, I mean, how can you complain about that?
Blurb is also offering a new app for the mobile users, one which offers a way to combine storytelling aspects into a single piece of “work.” This new mobile app will allow user to combine video, text, still photos, and sound clips into a storytelling content that they can then distribute. This seems like it would be a great idea for all of us running around with mobile phones who want to share more than just still photos. I can just imagine all of the things people could be making with something like this-everything from porn, to complete works of art, to sports applications, and the works.
The one thing I wish Blurb had, which they do not, is a way to sort of “Friend” people in their interface. I need a way to connect with my friends, so that I get automatically notified, on my Blurb dashboard, when they upload a new book. That would be something nice and a feature I could use. Come on you good folks at Blurb, please make you social media site, well, a bit more social why don’t you?
Also, really nice silk covers would be a big plus although, after looking at their new linen collection, they are obviously moving in that direction. Can silk be far behind?
I also really just wish they would lower their prices. It just seems so expensive, too expensive really, to make a profit off of anything they put out, although having a book is a wonderful thing. A “make my book cheap” option would be really very nice, don’t you think?
What do you want to see from Blurb? Where would you like to see them going next? It must be a bit hard for them now, seeing as everybody seems to want a piece of what they are doing, and they are getting pulled into some very different directions. Still, they make a great product and offer up a great service to photographers so, frankly, I’m not surprised to see them grow and venture into new directions.
Until next time…
