Iphoto create photo book

I have been trying to create a photo book in iphoto so that i can then send of for it and give it to my wife for our anniversary. I am able to start to create book and can add some photos but when i shut down mbp for the night and then want to continue the next day it says there are no photos in my book.
I have to start from scratch again. Why is it not saving?
I am shutting down iphoto correctly. This is another bit of software that has a serious glitch. imovie being the other.

Come on apple. I thought these machines were made for being creative.

Some details about what machine you're using and what version of iPhoto would be helpful, but in my version of iPhoto my work on books and such is saved under "Projects" and is automatically autosaved.

You might also detail your workflow, maybe there is something you're doing wrong.

Hi chas_m. sorry forgot to add such details. I am using os x 10.6.8. Iphoto version 9.2.3.

Dont know how to detail workflow. Can you explain.

Cheers

You're a little bit behind my version, you should check Software Update to see if that's as high as you can go (it might be, I'm on iPhoto 9.4.2 running on OS X 10.8.2).

Anyway to explain workflow I'll just detail how I do it.

First thing, I make a new album. Not a smart album, just a regular album. As a new album it is of course blank.

Then I fill it with the pictures I am going to want to use. I drag them in from other event, or albums etc. until I have all that I need and then some.

Leaving the album selected (no individual pictures, just the album name on the left side) I hit the "Create" button on the lower right and choose Book.

This creates a new Book project with my chosen album of photos already laid out in an automatic attempt to get me started.

I then rearrange the photos and change the settings on each page to suit me.

Is this similar to the way you're doing it?

Yes it is pretty much the same way as i have been doing it.

I choose the photos i want but i go through and flag the photos i am going to use. I then choose the book style and colour etc.

This then creates the book in the Projects menu in iphoto.

I then opt to use the flagged photos for my book.

This then lets me drag and drop the photos into my book.

I then add any text in the formatted boxes.
In effect i could complete my book in one session and order it but i have not got the time to do that.

When i then close iphoto by quitting and reopen at a later date my book is still in the Project menu but it says 'Stephen Book - 0 Pages'.
This is even if i have populated a few pages previously.

The book doesn't show up in the graphics but just the textured iphoto background.

I then have to start from the beginning again to choose book style etc.

Sounds like a permissions issue. Try this, after you've done your latest backups:

Launch iPhoto with the option (alt) key held down. This will bring up a self-repair dialog.
Check every box and leave it do its thing for a while.
Maybe restart the machine when its done.

See if that makes a difference.