Publishing Your Family History

You’ve done all the hard work researching your family history. Now, you’d like to turn it into a publication. That’s why we’ve put together some guidelines to help you do this.

Before publishing your family history you’ll need to think about its structure and the type of information you’d like to include. You’ll also need to consider whether there are any copyright or privacy implications.

Content of your publication

When you are preparing the content (text and images) of your family history, you will need to ensure that you:

• Cite photographs correctly
  Cite your photographs (and any other illustrations) using an appropriate referencing style.
• Avoid breaching copyright
  You have a responsibility to ensure that your publication does not breach copyright. See the Australian Copyright Council website for more details.
• Respect people’s privacy
  Respect the privacy of living people mentioned in your publication. Visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website for more information.
• Use a consistent publication and writing style
  This will ensure your publication has a professional look and is easy to read and consult.

For in-depth advice on writing style, refer to the 2002 Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th ed., John Wiley & Sons, Queensland.
View catalogue entry >

Please note: It’s a good idea to address copyright and privacy issues well before you finish your publication.

Structure of your publication

These guidelines list the components of any clearly structured publication. While not all of these components are mandatory, you should include all the items that are relevant to your family history:

• Title page
  Choose a title that accurately describes the work. Keep it relatively short and use a sub-title, if appropriate.
• Reverse title page
  List some or all of the following: copyright statement, editions, reprints, IBSN number, as well as publisher’s and printer’s details.
• Acknowledgements
  Thank people who have contributed material or helped with your publication. You can include individuals, families or groups.
• Contents page
  Give the reader an outline of your publication, listing chapters or sections.
• List of illustrations
  List all images in you publication as a contents page.
• Introduction
  Introduce your family story and establish the context for the lives of your ancestors. You may also explain why or how the publication was created.
• Conclusion
  Summarise the publication.
• Glossary
  Define unfamiliar words and include abbreviations, if necessary.
• Genealogy charts
  Include pedigree, family group drop-down or other family history charts.
• Footnotes or endnotes
  Use one of these citation styles to refer to sources of facts or quotations that you have included in your story.
• Bibliography
  List all sources that you have used for your research and suggestions for further reading.
• Appendices
  Attach information that is too long to include in the main text (for example: wills, birth certificates, etc) at the end of your publication.
• Index
  Create an alphabetical list of names, places and subjects included in your publication that gives the page number(s) for each entry. Indexes have categories and sub-categories and are essential to locate specific references. You may even create separate name (surname, first name) & place indexes.
  

Publishing

Once you have completed writing and structuring your family history, you will move into the publishing phase.

Pre-publication

Before publishing a book, we recommend that you acquire an International Standard Book Number (ISBN). You also have the opportunity to obtain a Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) entry. This is a entry for a book in library catalogues.

• Applying for an ISBN
  ISBNs are obtained in Australia through Thorpe-Bowker.
  PO Box 101, Port Melbourne, Victoria 3207
  Phone: 03 8645 0300
  For further details, visit the Thorpe-Bowker website.
  
• Applying for a Cataloguing-In-Publication (CIP) entry
  The National Library of Australia (NLA) provides a free service. For further details, visit the NLA website.

Post-publication

Publishers of family histories in Victoria have additional responsibilities and opportunities, in the form of legal deposit and family history awards:

• Legal deposit
  If you publish your family history in Victoria, you must deposit a copy of your book with both the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Victoria.
  
  Read more about legal deposit >
  
• Alexander Henderson Award
  This Award is presented annually by the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies (AIGS) and judges the best Australian family history published in Australia in the previous year. You may wish to nominate your family history for this Award. Visit the AIGS website for more information.

Useful resources

• Berry, L 2004, Writing and publishing your family history – a labour of love, Lesle Berry, Victoria.
  View catalogue entry >
  
  
• Edwards, Hazel 2003, Writing a non-boring family history, Rev. ed., Hale & Iremonger, NSW.
  View catalogue entry >
  
  
• Titford, John 2003, Writing up your family history: a do-it-yourself guide, 2nd ed., Countryside Books, England.
  View catalogue entry >
  

Check the Library’s Main Catalogue to locate other information on how to write your family history. Choose ‘Subject List’ from the ‘in:’ box and write the following headings:

• Genealogy—Authorship
• Genealogy—Publishing

Many genealogists are now publishing their family history on the internet as a website and/or enjoying a new hobby called digital scrapbooking. Information on how to do this is available in the following:

• Howells, Cyndi c2003, Planting your family tree online: how to create your own family history web site, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville.
  View catalogue entry >
  
  
• Nerius, Maria c2004, Digital scrapbooking: using your computer to create exciting scrapbook pages, Lark Books, New York.
  View catalogue entry >