If you're a photographer and you want a book, and what photographer doesn't want a book (?), Blurb's Photography.Book.Now competition is for you. The grand prize is worth $25,000. The competition kicked off last year and was won by Jen Bekman Gallery's very own Beth Dow*.

Photography.Book.Now juror (and HHS! panelist), Darius Himes, helpfully outlined the ins and outs of the competition's new categories on his blog. This year's contest is all about showcasing a really brilliant book concept, so pay attention to these hints!

You can read more from Darius in this Q&A over on the Dodge & Burn blog.

And as Darius notes at the end of his post, to learn even more about photography + art book publishing, pick up The Photobook: A History, Volumes 1 & 2 by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger (Phaidon) or a copy of the newly released WordsWithoutPictures.org, conceived and edited by Charlotte Cotton at LACMA, to which he contributed an essay, about, you guessed it, photo books. Darius, a perennial fountain of knowledge for photographers has also managed to co-author a book with Mary Virginia Swanson, to be published in 2010.

The Photography.Book.Now. deadline is July 16th @ 12 p.m. PDT so you've got some time to read and review all of this essential info, get your photos together and enter!

* Beth Dow's photograph featured here is from her series, In the Garden, and can be found at 20x200.