In case you missed it, the inaugural Blooker Prizes — honouring the best of what some in the online community have taken to calling “blooks,” or published books that essentially started out as blogs — were handed out April 3. This isn’t the first and won’t be the last time someone in the book biz, this time print-on-demand firm Lulu.com, tries to capitalize on the popularity of blogs. But a recent article by the Book Standard’s Kimberly Maul may make publishers think twice before they begin their search for the Great Canadian Blook.

Blog readers are a dime a dozen and blook buzz might be big, Maul writes, but sales sure aren’t. Surveying the fortunes of various blook authors including Ana Marie Cox of Wonkette, the Washingtonienne’s Jessica Cutler, and some Blooker Prize winners — Cherie Priest, who won in the fiction category for her Tor-published novel, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, and the non-fiction winner, Julie Powell, who wrote Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment — Maul notes poor sales throughout, with one of the better-selling blooks being Powell’s at a mere 58,000 units in the U.S. Priest’s book has fared even worse, with fewer than 5,000 copies sold.

Related links:
Click here for Maul’s article on the Book Standard site
Click here for more information on the Blooker Prize