Blook

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The term "blook" has been actively used since the 1990s, by librarian/collector, Mindell Dubansky, to describe unique or manufactured objects and ephemera that are made in imitation of a book or books. A blook is relica of a book and has no text. In this case, "blook" is a shortening of "looks like a book." These items can be found as early as the 16th century and were made in many countries. They can take the form of memorial objects, advertising and packaging, toys and games, household appliances and others. An example of a blook would be the "bible regal," a form of late-Medival portable organ in book form.

The first blook was written by Tony Pierce in 2002 when he compiled selected posts from his one-year-old blog and turned the collection into a book called "Blook". The name came about when Pierce held a contest, asking his readers to suggest a title for the book. Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine won the contest and subsequently invented the term, as documented here. Pierce went on to publish two other blooks, How To Blog and Stiff.

Another definition of blook is a book serialized on a blog site. Chapters are published one by one as blog posts, and readers can then subscribe to a blook with an RSS feed, tag it, comment on it, etc. This type of blook was popularized by Tom Evslin in September 2005, with the launch of hackoff.com, a murder mystery set in the dot-com bubble.

Blooks can include online material. For example, hackoff.com includes both a wiki and a faux company website for the fictional company described in the book.

Print-on-demand publisher Lulu.com inaugurated the Lulu Blooker Prize for blooks, using the definition of a book deriving from blog content, which was first awarded in 2006.

The term blook is one of a short-list of new words being considered by a panel of experts for inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary according to an article which appeared in the news blog of Guardian Unlimited in October of 2006 and is a runner-up for Word of the Year according to that article.

Naked Spygirl by Olivia Frank, An Instance of Shining Light by A. Zlengy and Madie's Bear Tribe Journals by Marsha Loftis are self-described as blooks. Other blooks available as of 10/12/05 include: