Make Your Blog a Book {GIVEAWAY}

When Gabrielle and Alaina surprised us by arriving 12 weeks early, my husband and I started a blog called And Babies Make Four.... to keep all of our friends and family updated on their progress.  The first few months of their lives were spent in the NICU, where we experienced some amazing moments as well as some truly terrifying ones.  Our family blog was an outlet for us during that time and I'm so glad that we have that record of everything we went through.  After both girls came home, I continued to post on the blog but with less and less frequency, and by their first birthday, Facebook became the place where we shared our pictures and updated on new milestones and achievements.  But the thing about Facebook is that I can't easily look back and see when Gaby took her first step or figure out when Alaina said her first phrase.  I really regret not posting more regularly on our blog so all things Gabrielle and Alain could be contained in one place.  Lucky for me, there's a way to assemble everything just the way I want it.

When Gabrielle and Alaina turned two, I decided that I would have our blog made into a book for them through Blog2Print, a website that transfers blogs on Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad into books.

It's such a simple process - enter in your URL, choose a cover design and whether you want a hard cover or soft cover and you're on your way.  You can include every post and picture or pick and choose (you can re-order them, too) and I love that you can also include the comments people left in your book as well.  I laid out more than 100 posts in no time.

But remember when I mentioned being able to incorporate all of the things I'd posted on Facebook instead of the blog?  That's where Everything2Print comes in.  On this site, you can access your Facebook photos, status updates, notes and more, and choose to include any of that information in your book.  In addition, you can add Twitter updates, pictures from Picasa, Word documents and PDFs.  When they named the site Everything2Print, they weren't kidding!  So all of those little things I posted on Facebook - funny moments, silly comments, etc. - are a part of our book now, too.

I am so excited to get my bound version of And Babies Make Four.... and I'll post pictures here once it arrives.  Just putting it together and reading all of the blog posts and messages we received made me extremely emotional.  Thanks to Everything2Print, someday we'll be able to sit down with Gabrielle and Alaina and read them the story of their miraculous road from 2 pound preemies to healthy, happy little girls without missing a step along the way.  Now I've learned my lesson and vow to get back to posting all about the girls on our blog.  But just in case I don't and slip back to my Facebook ways, I'm glad to know that those memories won't be lost. 

Want to publish your memories?  I've got great news - Blog2Print has generously offered to give away one 40-page book to a lucky AFOMFT reader!  To enter, leave a comment here telling me why you want to transfer your blog into a book (this is mandatory).  For additional entries:

• Subscribe to AFOMFT or let us know you are a subscriber
• "Like" AFOMFT on Facebook -- http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN
• "Like" Blog2Print on Facebook
• Ask your friends to "like" AFOMFT on Facebook by sending them this link - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN - and post a comment here with the names of each one who does.  You'll earn one entry per new friend who "likes" our page and names will be cross-checked.  
• Follow Blog2Print & AFOMFT on Twitter (@Blog2Print & @AFOMFT or click the birdie icon on the sidebar) and tweet this post by clicking the graphic above or this giveaway:  @blog2print lets you easily transfer your blog into a book. Want to #win a 40 page one? Head over to @AFOMFT now! http://bit.ly/di4lRz
• Click here to vote for AFOMFT on Top Baby Blogs and post a comment here that you did - .  You can vote once per day per computer so if you vote every day or on different computers, be sure to post one comment for each one.
• Grab our button and put it on your blog or website and post a link here showing us.
• Blog or post on Facebook about this giveaway with a link to this post (worth 2 entries so please post two comments) and make sure your comments include a link to your status or blog post.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry (two if you've blogged about the giveaway) and make sure to include a link to your tweet, blog post, etc. All entries must be posted on AFOMFT as a direct comment to this post.  Comments on Facebook will not count as entries.  This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and ends September 30th at 11:59 pm EST. The winners will be selected by random.org and announced on AFOMFT on October 1st. If the winners don't contact AFOMFT within 48 hours, a new drawing will be held so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

Image: Blog2Print