Publishing

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Emily Doolin Aulicino on July 19, 2009 at 10:42am

Publishing, sharing your work with the public, can be achieved by several means:

1. Sharing it with your family (paper, CD, "homemade" booklet)
2. Self-publishing (you paying for the costs to print in book form)
3. Online publishing (Author House, etc.)
4. Using a professional publishing company (Random House, etc.)

Whatever your choice, investigate the method well, read the find print, and be sure to copyright your work either using the logo, your name, and date or by filing the correct papers with the government (Google copyright).

Permalink Reply by Karen Rhodes on August 18, 2009 at 10:38am

Sharing with family in a self-produced booklet or CD can be a great way to share family data. I have sent CDs to and received them from cousins all over the place in the U.S. and Canada. Great way to share information, forms, and documents. I have also produced a book of the ancestors and descendants of one of my ancestors, which I had comb-bound at Staples and sent to many family members and to a historical society in the area of Canada where the ancestor lived. Don't forget your local genealogical society, either, when you produce one of these!

I would put up a big "caveat emptor" when discussing self-publishing in the form of "vanity presses," (you pay the costs, and a lot more) or publish-on-demand (POD) presses, which print a book only when there's an order for it. There are some sharks out there. Anyone contemplating that route should take a look at the Writer Beware blogs, maintained by A. C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss. Writer Beware is a project of the Science Fiction Writers of America, in which they have recently been joined by the Mystery Writers of America. It is mainly geared toward fiction writers, but there is valuable information there for anyone who looks to be published beyond the do-it-yourself booklet or CD. I would particularly recommend their February 14 ,2007, blog in which they give a "thumbs down" list of publishers, ones against which they have received the largest number of complaints.

They tend to frown generally on publishers that you pay to publish your books, and there are considerable risks in going that route. Anyone who would like to go that way, and thinks it is best for them, should be aware of these risks and of the bad actors in the field.

Some of the online publishers should also be approached with caution. Specifically, there are troubling blog posts about Author House, the one mentioned above. Look here

and here

And here

One might do just as well to look for a local printer who would do the job possibly for less, possibly for more, but which would allow the individual more control, and would be local and accountable. While I'm not saying one should never consider the sort of things Author House and others provide, one should approach them with caution. Check with such agencies as one's local consumer protection agency, the state, and the Better Business Bureau.

Submitting to a professional house is the biggest goal, and the most difficult. One could try one of the big houses such as Random House (especially if the family history in question has famous names in it). There are also smaller professional publishers -- those which pay the author, rather than the other way 'round -- from which one may choose. Be prepared for rejection, however.