Blogs have many uses beyond enabling people to speak online in an authentic human voice. There are, for example, blogs used as the venue for writing a book. Somebody has decided that a book created from material originally posted to a blog should be called a “blook.” And (would you know it?) online publisher Lulu.com has created the (get ready) Blooker prize for the best blooks.

The Charlotte News and Observer has an interview with one of the Blooker judges, UNC associate professor Paul Jones, who is also the director of the ibiblio online library and archive.

You might argue the notion of a prize for books generated from blogs is ridiculous, given books are generated from all kinds of various original sources. Is there a similar competition for books that evolved from magazine articles? Non-blog websites? How about book adaptations of movie screenplays? And do we really need another competition at all?

But I’m more focused on “blook” and “Blooker,” which follow on the heels of “splogs” and a host of other horrible-sounding words that have been conjured to leverage the word, “blog.” I suppose blogger BL Ochman could capitalize on this by changing her name to “Blochman.” I suspect this trend will get carried just as far as the “e” prefix—etailing, ebooks, ecommerce, until we shouted, “eNough!” I also suspect nothing will stem the tide. Blech.