Bloggiesta Mini Challenge: Print Your Blog!

September 28-30, 2012
@Bloggiesta
#Bloggiesta

I've been a journal keeper for a long long time, ever since my dad gave me a blue notebook when I was 12 and said, "Here, write in this!" I've loved writing over the years.... it's waxed and waned in its regularity, but there's always been something.

My first journal, started in 1977 when I was 12.
(Totally giving away my age, but you all already know I'm old, right?)

A little glimpse of the inside, this entry detailing my 13th birthday .

The journaling went through several changes over the years. Of course in the beginning, I just sat with pen in hand and wrote (in high school I wrote weekly about 10 pages or more each entry.) Then in the early 90s I started keeping it on the computer (just using WordPerfect) and printing it off. Then, I thought that was too impersonal, so I started handwriting it again (which I think was a big mistake since I have terrible handwriting and it's hard to read!)

And then I started blogging.

Suddenly, I felt like my journal was online. Strange feeling. I found myself NOT doing my original mainstream "normal" journal anymore. Besides, I liked what I was doing online, it felt more me anyway.... sort of... in a different way. So I figured this was my new method. And then I thought, so if I want to "save" this in a form that will be accessible no matter what happens (think apocalypse,) I need to print it! I need a hard copy! If this is now my journal, for real, I have to have something tangible to show for it.

So I began to copy and paste my blog posts. At first it was pretty ruthless and ugly, I'm not sure why I had such a struggle, but those first posts are nevertheless copied and in a binder no matter their state of beauty!

My second blog post ever
 (on my first blog which was not the book blog)
 was a monthly reading wrap up!

 Slowly, I figured out a system, which is still copying and pasting, and even though it takes a lot of time (not to mention paper and toner) it seems to go smoother. But despite the issues with doing this, I must say, having a hard copy of my thoughts makes me feel so good.... and complete.

Here's a page from November 2006
(still the original blog and not the book blog yet!)
My first Josh gush...I think.
It looks a little prettier than the above page, yes?

Then I wondered if this is something you all do? Are you feeling the need, as I do, to have a printed hard copy version of your blog? Have any of you found a perfect cost effective way to do this? I have since realized that there are several online places to help with blog printing. Here's a list of the most popular:

These sites will print your blog and turn it into a bound book... for a price that ranges from not much to quite a bit! Depending on the number of pages and the quality of the book:

Blurb.com
Blog2Print.com
Lulu.com

On these sites, you plug in the URL of your page and it will spit out a printer friendly version, which you then print yourself:

PrintFriendly.com
PrintWhatYouLike.com

And a more recent printed post,
a Sunday Salon from early last year.

As for me, I think I'll stick with just the copying and pasting using this simple method:

HOW TO PRINT YOUR BLOG

1.Go through your blog, a month at at time.

2. Make a folder for that month in Google docs (or wherever you like to save your documents)

3. Copy the whole post, pictures and all, if you feel it worthy to be saved. (I don't copy every single one, but certainly personal posts, lists, reviews of books I loved, random posts, anything that would show my posterity, or anyone in the future, who I am)

4. Paste them into the folder you've made (in chronological order,) then go through them all and fix the pictures, or delete them if they are not good, or resize them, etc. and make sure the headings and dates are bold and nice-ish looking. (I also change everything to a small point size, usually about 10... sometimes I change the font, sometimes the colors, whatever my mood and time allows.)

5. Print them! (For me, each month usually ends up being about 20 pages or so, that's a post a day though as I said I don't print them all.)

6. Then three hole punch them and put them in a big binder. (I can fit about two years worth in a big 2 inch binder from Costco.)

All my journals and blog binders.
Big ones on the left are the blog binders.
Little binders in the middle are when I was journaling on the computer.
Random ones on the right are my first handwritten notebooks.

I put my finished printed blogs in 2 inch binders from Costco.

Currently, I'm a year behind in printing! So as part of my Bloggiesta list I hope to catch up on this!

For your challenge,  I'm encouraging you to print at least a month's worth of your blog! Use one of the sites above, try my way, or figure out your own method. Comment here with how it went.

If you have other suggestions for printing blogs and/or/if you are much more experienced than I am, please, let us know in comments what works for you. I'd love to hear everyone's ideas.

Participant Prize: From those participating through comments, I'll choose a random winner using random.org to receive a book (paperback) of their choice from Amazon. I'll do the picking a few days after Bloggiesta is over, say Friday, October 5.

Now go buy some toner, paper and binders, then have fun printing!!

(If you are stumbling on this post and have no idea what a Bloggiesta mini challenge is, click here to learn more and join us! We officially start on Friday, September 28.)