What’s keeping you from publishing your work?

By Nina Brawn

    I have been working on one of those amazing family history books that Ancestry.com offers on their website. I am not saying that because I am amazing, but because these books are, and Ancestry makes the process as painless as is possible. You do not have to have an Ancestry membership to use their publishing process. You can create your family tree on Ancestry for free, and then use it with the “MY Family Publisher” to create beautiful charts, posters, calendars and books for yourself or to use as gifts.

    The reason I haven’t completed my book is because I keep getting “great ideas.” One of the coolest things about making these books is the numbers and kinds of backgrounds and embellishments they make available. For example, not only do they have over 800 different backgrounds you can use, but you can also upload your own photos to use as a background. There are backgrounds to fit many occupations, from farming to business and industry. There are backgrounds to celebrate many nationalities. There are backgrounds for funereal purposes, weddings, babies, and cookbooks. There are military backgrounds for the major conflict eras in American history; Revolutionary, Civil War, etc, as well as general military pages.
    I did one of these books for someone whose ancestors had been coal miners for generations before they emigrated, and then again for more generations once they moved to the Chicago area. One of the backgrounds the Publishing program features is a beautiful page with old-fashioned miners along the bottom; so I used that as the background page for every census where the father was a coal miner. Not only did it look great, but it made a real connection for people scanning the book to see how many family members worked in that terrible industry to support their descendants.
    Another project which is made easier with today’s technology is a signature page. If you can find the signatures you can scan and upload them to your project pages. It is worth doing some extra research for the possibility of finding an ancestor’s actual signature. You may feel that it is unlikely that you will find them for your ancestor, but there may be some, especially if you have letters or other documents from your ancestor. Many books which offer biographical sketches from the 18th and 19th century in particular, often include a signature of the subject of the biography, especially if there is a photo or sketch of that person.
    Some of the kinds of records which are publicly available and may have signatures include: wills and other probate court records; deeds; enlistment, pension and other military records; and naturalization paperwork. Do not forget to look at books passed down, many people signed books for several reasons. Even if your ancestor could not write, they may have had to make a mark signifying consent, and that has its own interest in these days when writing ability is taken for granted.
    The Publisher is a great program that makes masterworks of the most simple family history information. Check it out when you get the chance. On the Ancestry home page, click on the “Publish“ tab to begin to explore the possibilities.
    Nina G. Brawn has lived in the Dover-Foxcroft area for over 50 years and currently lives there with her husband Fred. Nina was the last of 10 children, has three children of her own and nine grandchildren. She can be reached online at ninagbrawn@gmail.com.