Cooker Beats Hooker to Win the Blooker

- As Prize for Books From Blogs Names Winners

'Blooks Are The New Books' - The Love-Child Of Blogs & Books -

Tale Of 'Self-Discovery and Cholesterol' Makes Literary History

LONDON, April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- An American cook has outclassed a British prostitute to make literary history by winning the inaugural Blooker Prize, the first literary prize for "blooks," or books based on blogs.

"Julie and Julia," a chronicle of "extreme cooking" in a New York apartment kitchen, beat "Belle De Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call-Girl," the leading British contender, and 14 other short-listed "blooks" to win the Lulu Blooker Prize (http://www.lulublookerprize.com) -- sponsored by Lulu (http://www.lulu.com), a self-publishing website.

"Blooks are the new books -- a hybrid literary form at the cutting edge of both literature and technology," says Bob Young, Lulu's CEO.

"Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen," by Julie Powell, began life as an online diary, or blog, chronicling Powell's bid to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's classic 1961 cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

When publisher Little, Brown discovered her, the resulting blook, published last year, sold almost 100,000 copies. There are even plans to make it into a film, or "flook."

Powell, 32, is a Texan-raised New Yorker. She calls news of her Blooker win "humbling."

"The community aspect of blogging and the interaction with others kept me honest, kept me writing and kept me from sinking into my habitual black hole of self-loathing," says Powell.

A total of 89 blooks were submitted for the Blooker by "blauthors" from over a dozen countries.

Cory Doctorow, editor of Boingboing.net, the world's most linked-to blog, and chair of the Blooker judges, calls Powell's blook a "heartfelt, funny and occasionally obscene tell-all about her journey of self-discovery and cholesterol."

The Blooker -- whose name is a nod to the Booker, Britain's top literary prize -- is open to any blook published in English. It honors blooks in three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction and Comic-Blooks, with one -- this year, Nonfiction -- also crowned the grand winner.

All the inaugural Blooker winners are American. The Fiction award went to "Four And Twenty Blackbirds," by Cherie Priest, who calls it "a southern gothic ghost story" set in Tennessee.

The winner of the Comic-Blooks category was "Totally Boned," by Zach Miller, a 24-year old self-published artist from Rochester, Minnesota.

"Those who dismiss blogging as 'mere' confessional writing and complaining about one's day job fail to appreciate just how engrossing those genres can be when handled by a talented writer like Julie Powell," Doctorow says. "The story of how blogging -- writing in public -- changed Powell's life is both memorable and inspirational."

For more information on the Blooker and its winners, go to www.LuluBlookerPrize.com.

ABOUT LULU.COM: Lulu, the world's fastest-growing source of print-on- demand books, lets individuals publish a blook, book, ebook, calendar, image, music or video for free. SOURCE LULU.COM