How to Print a Family History Book
Many families decide at some point to chronicle their story into a narrative for future generations. A long tradition of family history books has given us much of the history of our forefathers. If your family is interested in creating a book of family history, look at several approaches. In the end, you want a product that everyone will appreciate, and you want something that can be reproduced for future family members.
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Instructions
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Gather Family Stories
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Figure out who will write the book. Is there a writer in your family? If so, she can sit down with each family member (starting with the oldest) and record long conversations about times past. If you need to hire an outside person, there are plenty of writers, of both fiction and nonfiction, who regularly create family history books for reasonable fees.
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Creating a family history book can at times be like a scavenger hunt. Make a list of the locations where the eldest family members were born and married, and contact town halls to request your family members' vital records. These will provide a solid center point from which the stories can spin out.
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Collect photographs. Pictures can fill in gaps of family histories, and they can also help to jog the memories of family events from many decades ago. You may very well want to include some photos or copies of vital records in the final printed book as well. In this case, be sure to get written permission from photographers to use their work.
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Write a draft. Writing a family history is probably going to be a long, drawn-out process. You want to make sure everyone in the family is happy with the finished product, so after a rough draft is complete, show it to anyone in the family who wishes to read it, and get their OK before proceeding to print the book.
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Decide on binding. There are self-publishing companies, and also companies called "vanity presses" that will take your manuscript and create a beautiful finished book exactly to your specifications. The cost for these services varies, so be sure to do your research before agreeing to anything.
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Tips & Warnings
Have the publisher create a sample copy of the book---just one---before going ahead with a large order. Make sure you like the looks of the finished product before spending a great deal of money printing a stack of books.
References
- Photo Credit book,s image by charles taylor from Fotolia.com
