My DL2Q Blog Book - Vol. 11

I have added Volume 11 of my DianeLoves2Quilt blog book to my ongoing series that I make from the online service Blog2Print. In making this volume, my twentieth+ blog book creation, I learned to be more careful with selecting my options for Page Layout. For the first time ever since using this service, I was disappointed with the results and it was not the fault of the site. 

There are many options to choose when  specifying how to make the book: date range, which posts to include, to keep or omit comments, what size photos, and a Page Layout option. The Compact option is the default for Page Layout but I alway prefer the Snapshot option. Here is a partial screen capture from the Blog2Print website explaining the difference.

The Compact version may use fewer pages and therefore be less expensive but text may not always fall by the photo under discussion, especially in a review post where there is a simple phrase or so and then a photo; those phrases may get lumped all together so pairing them with the appropriate photo becomes difficult. In my case, each post in Volume 11 had been printed with many lines of text, followed by page after page of only photos. The Compact option may work well in a text-heavy, photo-sparse blog, but mine is not like that. Here is the example of the difference from the Blog2Print website. It was my error for allowing the default Compact setting and for failing to choose the Snapshot option. Could I live with it? I angsted over it for a couple days and ultimately decided "not really". So I contacted customer service.

I had purchased the book with a limited time 35% off coupon. I told customer service I wanted to redo the book, at my cost, but would they still honor the 35% off after the deadline? I suggested that all the options the customer chose be displayed to them in the final review of the book before committing, so that customer oversight could be avoided in the future. They graciously thanked me for the website improvement suggestion. In lieu of a code to get the 35% off however, they sent me a cash voucher that almost %100 covered the cost of my disappointing creation. I used that to purchase my corrected book by having to add only about $20. This was a very reasonable compromise since the new book had more pages and therefore would have costed more anyway. By rights they had to do nothing since the error had been mine. They now have a pleased, dedicated customer in me. I am very happy with my reprinted book and it is what I discuss in the rest of this post.

Volume 11: Jun 23, 2018 - Dec 31, 2018
Volume 11 contains 308 pages and 25 posts. The quilt for the second child of my daughter's childhood friend is pictured on the front cover. The post for Gnomes was dated 12/6/18. Featured on the back cover is Blue Hues a laser cut quilt kit I bought while at the Houston Quilt Festival in 2017 with my daughter. The post describing the quilt is dated 12/30/18 and the post describing the event in Houston is dated 11/9/17. When I created this book, I deviated a bit from my normal solid colored cover to a printed one with a tree image. It seemed to go with the woodsy gnomes. The wrap around on the back cover looks like the quilt is hanging from the tree branches. I like it. I think it came out cute.

The Dedication for Volume 11 reads

My crafting activities are determined by holidays, home décor, and grandkids. My posts also describe items that inspire me during travels. Volume 11 showcases July 4th, Halloween, and Christmas. Quilts, drapes, and placemats  fit into home décor. Grandkid projects include stuffed toys, cloth books, a stocking, and a knit blanket.

– Diane I. Chambers

Here is the Table of Contents for Volume 11. The number of posts is 25. The maximum number of posts that will fit on a one-page Table of Contents is 24 but I opted to ignore my own self-guidance so I could have the book include the final post of 2018 for December 31. The second page overflow of the Table of Contents awkwardly contains, by choice, only the one line entry for the blog post titled 2018 In Review........... 281.

These are links to discussions of making my previous volumes:

DL2Q Volume 11 posted 03/03/2019 cover color Tree
DL2Q Volume 10 posted 07/05/2018 cover color Brown Swirls
DL2Q Volume   9 posted 06/22/2018 cover color Polka Dots - green
DL2Q Volume   8 posted 06/27/2017 cover color Polka Dots - blue
DL2Q Volume   7 posted 06/27/2017 cover color Polka Dots - pink
DL2Q Volume   6 posted 06/27/2017 cover color Red Swirls
DL2Q Volume   5 posted 12/16/2015 cover color Green Swirls
DL2Q Volume   4 posted 03/18/2015 cover color Plum Flowers
DL2Q Volume   3 posted 03/18/2015 cover color Flowers - yellow
DL2Q Volume   2 posted 04/14/2014 cover color Flowers - pink
DL2Q Volume   1 posted 04/17/2013 cover color Blue Swirls

This post is mainly a collection of notes to myself but I will also link it to Main Crush Monday #149 in case others want to make blog books of their own. My reminder notes for best layout and for consistency in future volumes follows.

• Refer to Volume 1 post for overall tips
• Do not add captions to blog photos (explained in post for Volumes 3 and 4)
• Keep number of included posts at 24 or less for one page Table of Contents
• Photo format for best cover layout are in priority order square, portrait, landscape
• Include comments in the book and maximize the photo size
• Opt neither to reposition nor resize photos to minimize pages; keep formatting same as when posts are published online; be sure to select Snapshot and not the default Compact when determining page layout options.