BookThisBlog .com — "On-Demand Publishing for Blogs"

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• 1 - DrPat

  Feb 20, 2005 at 3:31 pm

  I know how Print-On-Demand works, from the technology side. I'm not sure how the "Blog This Book" site intends to implement the technology in the way they describe at the site.
  
  For one thing, they seem not to have any mechanism in place yet to actually print books (they're looking for investors). They also offer a button image for your blog if you sign up, but not HTML code.
  
  Not that that's a problem, except there doesn't seem to be a member code to insure you get credit for click-throughs. Perhaps you are credited when it's your blog that is booked - although the sign-up form allows you to enter someone else's blog to make into a book, too.
  
  Thanks for catching this one, Joe!

• 2 - Matt Lee

  Feb 21, 2005 at 8:02 pm

  The infrastructure is all worked out on paper, I just need some time and resources to put the programming together. I put the site up as a trial ballon to guage interest, and it looks like it is generating some momentum.
  
  For the short term it looks like I should change some of the messaging on my site, for the long term I need some programming help, so if you know any programmers looking for an opportunity, send them my way.
  
  Thanks for the review!
  
  Matt

• 3 - DrPat

  Feb 21, 2005 at 9:27 pm

  Matt, thank you for answering the questions I sent you by eMail in response to my sign-up confirmation. Knowing what I do about POD, I am excited by this concept, and would like to be able to recommend it highly.
  
  For BC folks, here are the questions I asked:

  1. HTML Plug-in code for the Buttons (I would like to add the Book This Blog button to my site, but I want to see the code, please.) Also, do I need to copy the button image to my own host?
  2. Why do I need to change my Blogger answer settings? (You can be technical in your answer.)
  3. On what approximate date will you be ready to supply this service when and if someone clicks the button on my blog?
  4. How does it work if someone signs up to "Book This Blog" for an URL they do not own?
  5. Can someone select specific items/dates to be printed, or does the service print all the active pages? Also, can one "book" an archive set from a site?
  
  
  Matt's reply to these questions is excerpted here:

  The html code at this point is just a link to the site, to help me aquire the critical mass needed to continue. Once the infrastructure is in place we will be supplying IDs to the blogs in order to identify which blog the order is for and who should get a check. Also apart of the yet to be created infrastucture will be the date range, typographical settings, cover art and many other pieces of meta-data that will have to be entered by the Blog owner at the time of sign-up or at a secondary stage.
  
  I've got to change the messaging that makes it appear that you can sign up a blog that is not owned by the signee. This would be a copyright violation.
  
  I can host the banner image, shouldn't be a problem, though I will have to include instructions on how to add the image link and url link to the blogger's site.
  
  Blogger Feed settings need to be adjusted to post full messages in their Atom XML feeds. Other systems may need this same type of adjustment.
  
  I've heard from a number of printers who are excited to offer their services, that will not be a challenge, the true challenge is capturing, storing and formatting the data.