Giving Descendants a Place in History

Your family history is of little value unless you publish it so it can be shared with your family, your descendants and other genealogists.

Publishing can be as simple as typing up the information you have gathered about your family (and, of course, you will have cited your sources properly) and making a few dozen photocopies of your manuscript to give to family members and particular libraries and archives, to having a real book printed.

So many genealogists now own computers that the chore of writing a family history has been greatly diminished. If you also have software that will compile your genealogy in proper form, the agony of writing a genealogy has been eliminated. The work of your lifetime should be published in some form. After all, the story of your family is important; it’s part of America’s history.

Deciding to publish your family history will force you to bring your research to some point of completion. Like most genealogists, you think you will research all your ancestors and then someday write the book. It never happens. Old age, sickness and other responsibilities often prevent us from doing a complete story about all our ancestors.

Decide to publish what you have on a particular line or several lines. Then, after that goal is completed, begin preparing material for additional lines. Once you have decided to publish, set a long-term goal for this to be accomplished. It could be for a Christmas present in 1990, your parents’ golden anniversary, or someone’s birthday, but set a reasonable date.

Next, explore publishing options and discuss printing problems with potential publishers. You will need to know what kind of book you want, what the costs will be, how many copies to publish, what methods of copy preparation are available, how to arrange text, pictures and documents on a book page, and how your finished book will look. Do you want a hardback or soft-cover? What will be its final price?

Start by contacting local printers in your area (check the yellow pages). Many will print your book from what’s called “camera-ready” pages and will work with you by showing you how your manuscript must be typed and arranged. They will give you an estimate of the cost based upon the number of pages in the book and the number of books to be printed and additional costs, such as screening of photographs and bindings or covers. Most genealogies or family history books are printed in limited numbers--usually 100 to 200 copies.

For a free copy of “A Guide for Authors” send your name, address (and phone number if you wish) to Gateway Press, Inc., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21202. Gateway Press also has a 28-minute VHS videocassette, “Prepare to Publish,” available that gives an excellent visual introduction to the art of publishing. It shows how to design your book, prepare your text, organize your manuscript, arrange photos and charts, and save money. It also provides a glimpse into the world of book manufacturing. This video is available for $41.45 postpaid from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21202.