Genealogy Chat

I have been researching now for well over ten years and have decided that I would like to get all the info I have gathered here from Genes and before onto hard copy. I have got back some 840 years with some lovely highlights such as 1st settlers in Massachusetts, an Archbishop of Canterbury and a Lord Mayor of London to name but a few. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable trawl but I am finding technology increasingly difficult to absorb. Has anyone got any ideas on how to proceed please?

I suppose that it depends upon who your target audience is.

Why not begin by writing it using a publishing program such as Microsoft Word. It is a relatively simple program to use and will allow you to concentrate on what you wish to say without having to worry too much about the technicalities. It will allow you to incorporate charts or family tree extracts or even copies of census records. If you are doing this purely for personal amusement or just to be read by your family members then no problems should arise but beware that if it is for possible public consumption make sure that you do not infringe anyone else's copyright.

When written you can either print it off yourself on your home computer printer or alternatively most small independent printers should be able to print it and possibly bind it for you using the "Word" file that you give them.

Good luck.

Thanks for your input Jonesey,

Dave I want to do something similar. I once had a spare afternoon and went to Northampton Archives and saw quite a few family histories. One was so good that I phoned the author and asked him how he did it and how much it cost.

It was very expensive looking, excellent quality paper throughout, plenty of photos and visuals. Went back about 10 generations and family was quite interesting with all the ups and downs. It had cost him about £25k, but he had received a return on sales priced at £80 to offset the gross cost. He reckoned net he had laid out about £10k of his "retirement fund".

Lots of very cheap ways to do it, but that is how I would like to do mine if I get the wonga. No more than a basic Smart car, I suppose.

Being retired and on a set pension I can think of many many things to spend 10k on. Thanks anyway John. God Bless.