Once you become comfortable with the mechanics of making a book, such as understanding the layout software and how to prepare your images, you're faced with the "art" of bookmaking. And that's a different animal all together.

Fortunately Blurb has just what we need: How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book. This 80 page hard cover guide tackles important topics such as, The right kind of photography, editing, sequencing, layout, typography, and exploring your creativity. And since it is a Blurb book itself, you get to feel in your hands how these techniques play out.

Spread from "How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book"

Some of my favorite passages include:

• Documentary Photography: Documentary work is about truth and reflecting the reality of life around us, and isn't about orchestration, setups, or the fabrication on the part of the photographer.
• Editing & Sequencing: You could compile your favorite 100 photographs, but then it wouldn't be a book -- it would be a photo album. A photo album gives pleasure, but it isn't a sequentially unfolding story, each image related to the thread of the story you're telling.
• Captions: Providing captions will slow down the pace of your book. Captions can be brief titles or they can be explantory. These decisions affect the way someone will move through the book.

There are so many helpful professional tips in this guide. Considerations such as: What type of margins are best for your subject material? How does your font selection affect the voice of your book? Should you include front matter?

You can purchase "How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book" for $37.95 (or the soft cover edition for about $12 less), or you can win a copy free of charge by being featured in our Book Page of the Month feature right here on "Blurb on The Digital Story." Not only will you have this wonderful guide to help you create the best book possible, you'll receive a $75 certificate to put toward the production of your book.

Blurb on The Digital Story is a sponsored site dedicated to using Blurb tools for telling your story through photographs and words.