I just liked the interface better and it allowed me to use graphics and colors really easily. For the purpose of this project I chose to use BookWright instead, which is BlurbвЂ™s proprietary software.

Sadly for me, I am not great with InDesign (but I am working on it!). When it comes to photo editing, I use Lightroom and and I was excited to learn that Blurb has an available plug-in for it!В If you like using InDesign, there is also a Blurb plugin for that. I thought I may make it into a run of prints to sell on my site or in local stores, but then decided theyвЂ™d work well in a zine format, peppered with snippets of text telling the story of my move, life in California and my very own Gold Rush. Hence the title for the series: вЂњ Local KnowledgeвЂњ. As I was editing them and looking through, I realized they represented my growing knowledge of this new world I live in. There were a lot of images of my trips to the desert, some from my hikes, some taken in the heart of DTLA. LetвЂ™s start at the beginningвЂ¦ Pretty much since I moved to Los Angeles, I have been compiling some landscape images, at first without any particular intention, but soon it became apparent they all belonged together. That was made using Blurb! Those of you who know me personally and have been to my house may alsoВ have been subjected to my collection of travel photo books, made religiously each time IВ go somewhere, also using Blurb.В So while the service isnвЂ™t new to me, it is the first time IвЂ™m using it to make a magazineВ which is why I thought itвЂ™d be nice to document the process for you. Those of you who have been following me for a while will remember that some time in 2010, I had already made a book compiling interviews with some of my favourite people.

But after recent developments in my life mentioned in one of my latest posts, I decided it was time for me to dip my toes in the zine waters, with a little help from Blurb, my go-toВ creative book-making and self-publishing platform. While I am no stranger to publishing my writing (online on this site and others +В IRL in book form) and I am also no stranger to zine culture (lived it and breathed it in the 90s) I havenвЂ™t ventured into any kind of purposeful zine making (I think my 1995 вЂњ 90210вЂќ pamphlet doesnвЂ™t count).

Bookwright cost