Are you boring? Okay that was rude, of course you’re not! Let me rephrase that. Do members of your family suddenly find something urgent they have to do
right now as you begin to tell them about your latest census find? Do their eyes glaze over when you show them a photo of their great great grandmother’s grave? Do you ever find yourself getting frustrated that part of your interest in genealogy stems from a desire to pass on your research to younger members of your family and NOBODY is interested?One solution is to write a book and let those frustrations just wash away. I know it seems like a mammoth task but think about it. You already have a lot of the basic information, the stories and the photos. Imagine you’re writing it for a descendant yet to be born who develops a passion for genealogy. It doesn’t have to be the best written book in the world either.
Imagine finding a book today written by your great, great grandmother. Would you criticise it for spelling, grammar and style or would you just be blown away to discover this jewel? I know I’ve been thrilled to discover a document containing the real signature of a distant ancestor but a book..written with me, or someone like me, in mind?
You’re thinking that nobody would publish a book that potentially has little interest to the book buying public and that’s probably true, but these days its possible to self-publish at relatively little cost. Web sites like lulu.com offer such a service and you can get a handful of copies printed, allow people to buy their own, even make it available on Amazon if you get an ISBN. With epublishing and Apple inviting authors to self publish for the Ipad there is a an exciting democratisation within publishing taking place giving many more people the opportunity to share their work.
You may have the intention to write up all your work when you’ve finished your research. This was always my plan, until I realised that this research will never be finished. Silly me! As the years go by more records are unearthed and made available and the chase resumes. You don’t have to stop researching, just make it part of your work to, for example, write something about one ancestor every week. Or document your research in the style of a diary. Just a few hundred words every week and in a year or two you’ll have the ground floor of a book! Start today!
Posted via email from rainbowfamily
