babEbook Gives Birth to Customizable Multimedia Baby Journal

April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Keeping track of baby's first smiles, first words and first laughs just got easier thanks to babEbook, the first completely customizable web-to-print multimedia baby journal. This unique custom-publishing service launches today, just in time for Mother's Day.babEbook's online interface makes tracking children's milestones and memories easy and fun, simplifying life for the busy parent. Users start by selecting from hundreds of suggested starter topics related to a child's first years (such as the date baby first rolled over, or details on their first trip to the zoo). At each step, they can modify a topic to fit their personal experiences or create entirely new questions. By adding photography and audio, parents can incorporate the sights and sounds of life with baby. After parents have told their child's story in their own way, babEbook will custom-publish a hardcover book and accompanying CD-ROM.

babEbook was born out of frustration," said Girard Ruddick, President of InScribe Publishing. "Traditional books are mass-produced and inflexible, making it nearly impossible for parents to capture the moment in a way that reflects their experience. babEbook lets parents create a keepsake book that is as unique as their child."

The new service is the premiere offering of InScribe Publishing, a developer of custom-publishing solutions for memory keeping. The concept expands beyond traditional memory books by allowing parents to include only what's important to them, and by incorporating multimedia elements into the book and CD-ROM. Gift packages are available at http://www.babebook.com/ or at select baby gift retailers in the Northeast.

A basic babEbook gift package includes everything parents need to create a fully customized baby journal: a one-year subscription to the service, 10MB multimedia storage space, and production of their 45-page hardcover book when completed. Also included is an interactive CD-ROM, which captures audio and photography at publication. Multi-year packages and upgrades of time on service, multimedia space and pages are available as well so that the babEbook experience can best meet the needs of the individual user.

"babEbook is the perfect gift for new parents -- personal and personalized, putting time-saving technology at their fingertips," said Ruddick. Basic gift package price will start at $75.

Testers have been enthusiastic about the babEbook service, calling it "really easy and very functional." Noted one user, "I'm having so much fun! I love being able to ask my own questions." A former scrapbook enthusiast praised babEbook, saying, "With this book, my kids will have a story and memories of things they could never get through pictures alone."

The advantage that babEbook offers parents over traditional journal is true customization, including:

Collaboration: Friends and family members can join in the fun by contributing their memories and thoughts, or just viewing a book in progress.

Scrap Mail: A unique organizational feature allows users to capture the moment without even logging on.

Multimedia: Incorporate audio (baby's first word -- spoken!) and digital photography (first steps -- in action!), bringing milestones to life.

Design Choices: Users choose from one of four sophisticated design "themes."

Convenient Online Service: A secure web service where text, photos and audio can be uploaded, organized and stored until the final baby book is produced.