Family History eBooks: Your Blueprint for Success

Family History eBooks: Your Blueprint for Success

Lisa A. Alzo, M.F.A.

lisa@ /

? 2020, copyright Lisa A. Alzo. All rights reserved.

You¡¯ve done the research, verified the details, and uncovered the secrets. Now what? In this

session, you will learn how to find your creative muse to turn your genealogy research into a book

fast, then publish it and share with others in three simple steps. Even if you are busy, intimidated

by writing, or don¡¯t know where to start, this simple and easy-to-follow blueprint will help you go

from blank page to published family history in no time.

The Three Steps for Easy Self-Publishing

1. Decide What Your Book Will Be About -The very first thing you need to decide when

self-publishing a book is: Who or what is your book to be about (e.g. favorite ancestor,

family line, specific event, general how-to genealogy book, etc.). What¡¯s your why?

2. Choose Your Book Topic ¨C What do you want your book to cover? (Don¡¯t worry about

a title, that will come later). Use the ¡°rifle¡± approach rather than the ¡°shotgun¡± approach.

Don¡¯t try to cover too much in one book; better to write smaller focused books. Craft an

¡°Elevator Pitch¡± (summarize your book in 2-3 sentences to ¡°hook¡± your readers).

3. Write Your Book. Set a deadline (30 days) and schedule time to write. Set a word count

(500-1000 words per day); don¡¯t aim for perfection. Eliminate distractions. Keep writing!

The Writing Process

1. Mind Map. Brainstorm your ideas using a Mind Map. A mind map basically, a brain

dump¡ªbased on your book¡¯s topic. I recommend Scapple by Literature and Latte Next,

organize your thoughts/ideas into an outline or storyboard. I recommend Scrivener ¨C a

project management program by Literature and Latte (see page 3).

2. Utilize Dictation. Working from your outline, try dictating, using a program like Dragon

Naturally Speaking to record your spoken

words to create your book draft. Or use a recording device and transcription service (use

Google to find them) Typically we can speak faster than we can type. This can save you

time!

3. Polish and Format. Clean up your draft (fix typos, spelling, grammar, and formatting

issues), add citations (footnotes, endnotes, or author¡¯s notes), and format your eBook.

Family History eBooks: Your Blueprint for Success

Copyright 2020, Lisa A. Alzo

1

The Self-Publishing Process

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10.

Research

Planning

Determine Audience

Storyboarding

Writing

Editing

Layout

Publishing

Distribution

Promotiom

E-Books: The Basics

Producing a work in a standard e-book format can be as simple as uploading a Microsoft Word

file or printing to PDF. However there are a myriad of standard and proprietary formats

including mobi, ePub, and others used by various e-readers. Using a program such as Scrivener

can help with formatting for the many different formats.

An author can submit a digital work to a service which, for a fee of $100 or more, converts the

work to one or more digital formats. Other services like Lulu will offer their platform to convert

your work for free; however much of the formatting is difficult and the responsibility of the

author.

ISBN

In order to sell a print book or have it cataloged properly in a library, you will need to include an

ISBN (International Standard Book Number). An ISBN (International Standard Book Number)

has been the standard in the publishing industry to track title listings, multiple editions, book

formats, and sales. Many services (such as CreateSpace or Lulu) will offer a free ISBN as part of

the process but beware because if you decide to change services you will not be able to take the

ISBN with you and will need a new one. For most family history publishing, you do not need an

ISBN for an eBook. There are instances, depending on your distribution choices, where you may

need an ISBN (and some countries do require them for eBooks). You can purchase your own

ISBNs (in sets of 10) through Bowker

Here are two helpful articles on the subject:

¡°Digital Publishing: 5 Reasons Your eBook May Need an ISBN¡± on The Future of Ink:



¡°Does Your Ebook Need Its Own ISBN?¡± on BookBuzzr



Family History eBooks: Your Blueprint for Success

Copyright 2020, Lisa A. Alzo

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Conversion and Writing Software

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Calibre



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Delicious Monster



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Scrivener





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Scapple



ple.php

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Seamonkey



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Sigil



Self-Publishing Platforms

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Amazon Kindle Direct



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Leanpub



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Bookbaby



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Lulu



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Bowker ¨C ISBN



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MyCanvas (by Alexander¡¯s)



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Draft2Digital



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Nook Press



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Designrr



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Pressbooks



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iBooks Author



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Vellum (Mac only)



Alternate Platforms

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Blog2Print



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Issuu



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Blurb



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MagCloud



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Hyperink



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Scribd



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Flipboard



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Smashwords



Family History eBooks: Your Blueprint for Success

Copyright 2020, Lisa A. Alzo

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Advice & Additional Resources

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A Newbie¡¯s Guide to Publishing



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The Passive Voice



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Bookbaby - Free Guides for Authors



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The Writer¡¯s Guide to E-Publishing



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New Self-Publishing



Wikipedia ¨C Comparison of formats



on_of_e-book_formats

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Self-



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WiseInk



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Self-Publishing Advice Blog



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Self-Publishing Team



Legacy Family Tree Writing

Webinars by Lisa A. Alzo



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Publishing a Genealogy E-Book

webinar by Thomas MacEntee



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The Book Designer



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The Creative Penn



The Secret to Successful Self-Publishing: Patience, Practice, Persistence

Books

For links, go to

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Building Your Book for Kindle by Kindle Direct Publishing (free)

How to Write (and sell) Non-Fiction Books: 5 Easy Steps by Nancy L.Hendrickson

Publishing Ebooks for Dummies by Ali Luke

61 Ways to Sell More Nonfiction Kindle Books by Steve Scott

Self-Publishing Checklist

To get a copy of my free Self-Publishing Checklist, go to:



The Write Stuff Writing Courses: Research, Write, Connect



Family History eBooks: Your Blueprint for Success

Copyright 2020, Lisa A. Alzo

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