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  1. #1
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    Default Advice Printing a Book .... a lesson learnt

    Recently I tracked down a not too distant but 'lost' cousin of my husband and shared some family history with him. He contributed, financially, to the research which made a difference to how much I was able to do. He also provided encouragement and some photos. I wrote a complete family story for him with photos, background information, certificates etc. etc. He said he was going to make it into a book for his sons and grandsons. I sent him everything I had, made an index, designed a cover etc. - all ready for the printer. I spent hours on getting it right.

    Whilst I don't begrudge the time researching and writing because I enjoyed it and it was for me/husband too I did spend a lot of extra time preparing it for a printer and unmuddling the muddle they got into with it.

    I assumed he was going to have it all professionally printed and slipped into some sort of ring binder or soft folder of some sort. But, he has just sent me a photo of the book which has been professionally printed and bound in a smart red hard back with gold lettering for the family name. He is thrilled with it and very grateful .......... but, not so grateful he has offered me a copy!

    With hindsight, and had I realised what he was planning, I should have asked for an extra copy for me/husband and would have been happy to pay for it.

    So, now I'm thinking I want to look into getting it printed myself as a Christmas present for my husband.

    Some years ago there used to be a 'Shop' tab on Ancestry and there were options for getting family trees, stories etc. professionally printed. Since their obsession with DNA I've noticed this tab has gone and there is now no mention of books and publishing. Any advice where to go and how much I'm likely to pay for a printed, hard back, bound book?

    Feeling a little foolish about this missed opportunity ...................

  2. #2
    Valued member of Brit-Gen
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    Am appalled that he did not give you a copy. a couple of years ago I contributed some information (not half as much info as you seem to have provided) concerning an old firm for someone writing a book on a very specialist subject ( for a club interested in that subject) and asked if I could buy a copy when it was published. He sent me a complimentary copy, which was more than I expected. In your case you should not have even been expected to ask, but should have been given one

  3. #3
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    Thanks for the support. I have to say I was disappointed not to be offered the opportunity to have a copy.

    Part of the research I did was sent to a life saving organisation as it had relevance to them. One of their researchers helped me with background information and when he published the story in the in house booklet he sent me two copies - one for me and one for the cousin who is the grandson of the 'hero' featured. Totally unexpected but gratefully received.

  4. #4
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    Have you tried asking hi if he could get a copy printed for you.......he might not have thought about it and be happy to do so

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    The same thing happened to me AudreyF but in my case I didn't want my name associated with the book at all as the 'author' took a lot of leeway with information she was given from the few pages I read on Amazon.
    Why not get in touch with him giving a spiel along the lines of how happy you are to see that all the long hours of research and editing you did helped him to produce such a quality product and could he please tell you how to get a copy as you would love to have this record of your shared family history for your children and grandchildren.
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  6. #6
    Starting to feel at home
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    Hello Audrey. While I have sympathy because you feel you were not dealt correctly, there is a side of these events that makes me think of the phrase "tilting at windmills"

    You have the information, you know the provenance, is there any point in making life difficult for yourself. Walk away, do your own thing and let it go.

    Regards

    Peter

  7. #7
    Brick wall demolition expert!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter_NB View Post
    Hello Audrey. While I have sympathy because you feel you were not dealt correctly, there is a side of these events that makes me think of the phrase "tilting at windmills"

    You have the information, you know the provenance, is there any point in making life difficult for yourself. Walk away, do your own thing and let it go.

    Regards

    Peter
    If you read the whole of Audrey's post she has let it go - she's simply recounted the tale, and has asked members for advice about where she could go to get her own version printed and what the likely costs would be.



    Audrey - I've never attempted to do anything like this so can't recommend anything, but did an internet search "create a family tree book" are there a lot of sites claiming to do this. It might be worth having a look at them and seeing what you think. I hope that you find something that meets your needs.

  8. #8

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    If the book is formatted and in PDF format, try one of these:

    Several of the bookshops here in The Hague have a print and bind service for small print runs - my favourite one is now offering print versions of the books belonging to the Dutch Royal Library that have recently been scanned (by license).

    Alternatively, I don't know where in France you are, but it's worth checking around. If you're in/near one of the University cities, check the big copy shops near said Uni. Students often have to have to get a couple of copies of their reports/theses copy/bound.

  9. #9
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    I'm feeling a bit better about this now. I should have asked what he was planning for the printing but I don't feel I can go back to him now. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable about not including me in the print run and perhaps he was expecting me to ask and when I didn't thought I wasn't bothered.

    A consolation is that I don't think they can have changed anything I wrote as I 'locked' all the documents and my name appeared, very small, in a footer on every page! I don't, in any case, think they had the intention (or the nounce) to change anything, re-write etc.

    So, I will take a look online, as suggested, and the University option might be something I can find fairly locally.

    Thank you for your support!!

  10. #10
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    Have you considered a "photobook" version.
    A couple of years ago we redecorated / modernised an old villa. Lots of photos and text during the project. When we finished we loaded it into a "photobook" - A4 size with a hard cover. The 24 full colour pages plus cover cost us $29.99 NZ dollars. Some providers offer options with many more pages.
    Just a thought .......................................
    David

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