How to choose which photos to keep? "William Morris" your photo collection.
"Have in your houses nothing you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." I was recently explaining to a client how to pare down the hundreds of potential photos she had set aside to put in her family history book. It struck me then that Morris' advice could also apply when choosing what photos and keepsakes.
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Armstrong graveyard in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania
A couple of weeks ago, I stood with my daughter, son-in-law, and week-old baby grandson on a windy, lonely hill in rural Pennsylvania. We could have gone to an art museum, or out to dinner, or stayed home with snacks and Netflix. But instead we drove two hours outside the city, newborn in tow, to look at the grave of a dead person we’ve never met.
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Shotbox - a new way of digitizing photos and family memorabilia using the camera on your smart phone.
We were thrilled to see this clever little gizmo at RootsTech and quickly forked over our credit card, thinking of all the things we could use it for. Was it worth it? In a word, yes.
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A collection of short stories is all you need to create a highly readable account of your life.
One thing that we've learned, in a decade plus of helping people write and preserve their life stories, is that longer isn't necessarily better. Of course, if you have your heart set on writing a magnum opus, knock yourself out! But most of us don't have the time or inclination.
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This life history book has a shocking pink cover and a bubbly personality.
This week our book highlight comes to you live from the RootsTech Conference, where we have this book on display along with many others we've completed this year.
Working on this book with Marlene has been one of the most joyful experiences of our careers. She positively radiates with an energetic joy that is contagious!
Read moreRootsTech is the highlight of our year, and this year we are privileged to be presenting again as part of over 200 classes from top family history experts. To register, go to rootstech.org.
When we're not teaching, we'll be in the Expo Hall at booth #729, near the Cyber Cafe. Look for the big red Pictures and Stories book! Stop by to ask a question or browse books on display to get ideas for your own personal history project.
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A lovely book that our client created about her mother-in-law, using our book "How to Save Your Life, One Chapter at a Time" as a guide. We love the clever title, "No Cross Words," portrayed in crossword-puzzle style!
This week we want to highlight a very special book. Last year at RootsTech, Carol Davis purchased a copy of our book "How to Save Your Life, One Chapter at a Time." Carol and her family used our book as a guide to create this lovely book about her mother-in-law, in well under a year's time, start to finish. We hope it's an inspiration to all of you: proof that it can be done!
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If you are self-publishing a book, here's a handy guide to what parts go where.
You've got the guts of your narrative ready to go, but If you are in the process of designing or self-publishing a book, figuring out what comes before and after the narrative can be confusing. Should I use a preface or a foreword? Where do I put the copyright notice? Here's the skinny on the rest of your book.
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This year, write a memoir, autobiography, or personal history in just 15 minutes a day.
This year, Tom and I have each committed to set aside 15 minutes a day to work on our own pictures and stories. So we thought we'd take you along for the ride!
Starting January 31, 2016, we will post a daily writing challenge of some sort: an exercise, writing prompt, or bit of encouragement. Our hope is that by the end of the year, you (and we) will have a stack of personal stories recorded.
Read moreHow do you get from dry genealogy facts to a compelling story? This presentation from RootsTech 2020 will hopefully inspire you as well as give you tools to write your ancestors’ stories. (Audio with slides) Join me on a fascinating journey as I find one of my ancestors and write her story.
We are so excited to be back at RootsTech live this year! Come by and see the Pictures and Stories booth (#1609) and see some of the many new books we’ve helped our clients create. Alison is giving two in-person classes: The Seven Deadly Sins of Building a Digital Archive, and Making a Genealogy Story Book. Hope to see you there!