Blooks

When I wrote a table of contents to my Blog a thought about publishing some of my postings in a book, sometime in the future appeared on my mind's screen.It seemed to me that I'm inventing a new concept here and that many Bloggers may use it, but then I stumbled upon Tom Evslin's article which had a totally different concept about Blooks: Tom is planning to write a "regular" book in his Blog and tries to solve the problem of Blogs' time sequence that contradicts building mystery tension.

Then I Googled "Blooks" and got 67,500 results. This number shows that although Blooks are a new phenomena it already starts attracting attention.

Reading the top ten results on Google I saw that my concept of extracting the best Blog-postings for a book is not mentioned there. So Bloggers are still invited to check if they have Blogs that fit publishing.

Eventually I QT'd "Blooks" (used QTSaver to retrieve results for the word "Blooks") and got the following:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blook
o On October 10, 2005, print-on-demand publisher Lulu announced the Lulu Blooker Prize limited to blooks which exist in a print edition by the conference deadline.
o An Instance of Shining Light and Madie's Bear Tribe Journals by Marsha Loftis are self-described as blooks. Other blooks available as of 10/12/05 include The Boy Who Heard Music by British rock star Peter Townshend, Time to Play the Game by Tim Jousma, A Novel by Tao Lin, Death Sucks: On being a vampire kitty-cat by Ray Rhamey, Rad Decision by James Aach, The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Book, and Fiddle and Burnby Jason Pomerantz.
2. http://www.salutor.com/2005/10/blooks.html
o And Lulu, not surprisingly, finds itself host to an increasing number of books based on Blogs, or blooks. It's worth noting, while we're on the subject, that since a Blog is really just an easily updated web site, a large number of the best-selling books on Lulu qualify as blooks, from web comics like Boy on a Stick and Slither - Vol.
o And an update: Hard to tell the exact moment the term blooks came into being, but I suspect it is here to stay.
o Listed below are links to weBlogs that reference Blooks!:
3. http://www.lulublookerprize.com/
o The 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize for Blooks
o Comics About the Blooker Prize Create A Blook Blooks are the world's fastest-growing new kind of book and an exciting new stage in the life cycle of content, if not a whole new category of content.
o The Lulu Blooker Prize is sponsored by Lulu, the world's fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books, including an increasing number of blooks. However, the judges are independent of Lulu and no favor will be shown to blooks published on Lulu.
4. http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/10/emw295297.htm
o Prominent Internet figures will award prizes for books in fiction, non-fiction and webcomics categories. Blooks, declares Lulu.com, are a new hybrid literary form for a new publishing era: "Blooks are the new books!" Details can be found at www.lulublookerprize.com.
o The Lulu Blooker Prize (www.lulublookerprize.com) is the first contest to honor blooks, a hybrid literary form that has evolved in recent years from web sites, particularly the web sites known as Blogs. “Blooks are the hottest new publishing trend,” says Bob Young, CEO of Lulu.
o The prize will reward the best blooks in three categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Comic-Blooks (based on web-comics), but with one overall winner. It is open to blooks published anywhere by anyone, provided they are in English.
o Although the prize is sponsored by Lulu, the judging is independent of Lulu. No favor will be shown to blooks published on Lulu.com. The Lulu Blooker Prize will take place annually.
o Winners will be announced April 3, 2006. Details for submitting blooks for the prize can be found at www.
5. http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2005/11/have_you_heard_.html
o Loic Le Meur Blog: Have you heard about blooks ? --
o A blook is a printed and bound book, based on a Blog.
o It seems like more than 100 blooks have been published till now, there is now also "The Blooker Prize" that has been launched on the 10th of October 2005, the world's first literary prize for blooks, organized by Lulu, a website that enables anyone to publish and sell their own book.
6. : http://www.lulu.com/static/pr/10_10_05.php
o Announcement of "The Blooker" — whose name is an affectionate nod to another important literary prize — marks the 450th anniversary of Gutenberg's invention of moveable type in 1455. "Blooks are the latest landmark in the history of books," says Young. "They represent a new stage of books, if not a whole new category of literature, with its own emerging literary style."
o "Blogs encourage their authors to publish in small, partially formed chunks," says Doctorow. "Previously, such jottings might have been kept in the author's notebook, but something amazing happens when you post them online: readers help you connect them, flesh them out and grow them into fully-fledged books or blooks." Doctorow also co-edits BoingBoing (www.boingboing.net), the world's most linked-to Blog.
o "Blooks differ from books in several ways," says Doctorow.
o Some blooks are written as the product of multiple voices and perspectives, filtered through discussions and feedback from online communities. Chris Anderson (longtail.typepad.com), editor of Wired magazine, is working on a much discussed book called The Long Tail (Hyperion 2006), which he is developing through a series of Blog postings, feedback and online discussions.
o Some blooks are written and published at great speed. An example is Katrina and the Lost City of New Orleans, a blook just published with help from Lulu.
o More Likely To Take A Serial Form. Some blooks, especially those based on online journals or diaries, take a serial form, which harks back to the Victorian heyday of the novel when Dickens and others first published their novels as serials. Belle de Jour is a good example.
o Although the word "blook" itself is new, scores of blooks have already been published. As the publishing industry catches on, the number is growing.
o "We already know of over 100 blooks — almost half produced by mainstream publishers," says Doctorow. "But this is just the start of something much bigger."
o At least one significant new publishing company has placed blooks at the heart of its publishing strategy, making it arguably the world's first dedicated "blook publisher". The Friday Project (www.thefridayproject.co.uk) is a London publishing house that bills itself as "a completely new breed of publishing house, specializing in turning the Internet's best-known brands into the world's finest books."