I haven't tried to write on them yet, but from the texture of the paper I suspect a sharpie will work just fine. On the artcow website it is the 7x5 photobook, and ther were $4.99/ each with free shipping.....so even though the shipping took FOREVER, it was well worth the wait. My books have 40 pages in each, so we choose which characters each child wanted in theirs. It was a tuff decision, as Natalie has sooo many great Disigns!
With the 7x5 books, there is no background, so the pic takes up the entire page. I just centered it accordingly.
Thanks for all the great comments! I truly am pleased!