I don't think you can judge the motives of the author of a family book by
just one or two examples.  The reasons for writing the book can be a varied
as people are.  Every situation is unique.  I don't believe every author has
money as a motive.  Some people genuinely want to share their research with
others and sometimes take a hickey to do so.  Lets not "generalize".
Beth Ann
----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Wilbanks 
To: 
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2000 12:34 PM
Subject: Family History Book Costs


 Message text written by INTERNET:[email protected]
> >  You mentioning a "book on your family" brings to mind another question.
> >What is up with all the books being written?  Are people doing this for
> >money?  Silly girl......of course.....oh great, now genealogy has me
> >answering my own questions.
> >  Some one wrote a book about my line and wanted my information about my
> >grandmother to put in their book because they didn't have it and then
> wanted me to buy the book, huh?.......okkkkk.<
>
> Another person gave me a book on another part of my family and it was huge
> >and I was grateful BUT I would only use it as a source.  If I saw
> something
> >I thought might fit I would go looking for documentation.....
>
> ***************************************
>
> The cost of professional printing is very high especially in the very
> limited numbers requested by authors of a family history book. These books
> are usually printed in numbers of a couple hundred to a couple of thousand
> at most, unlike the major publishers of popular books that print in the
> hundreds of thousands and are able to reduce costs through the total
volume
> of books printed.
>
> I hope to have a book on my Wilbanks/Mayfield family of South Carolina
> published in the next few years. A family member in the publishing
business
> gave me an estimated price taking into consideration a family discount.
The
> estimated discounted price about six years ago was around $5000 for a
> limited run of 500 copies. The cost could be higher with photographs and
> even higher with color. The costs have increased substantially since then,
> possibly even doubled. To break even on publishing costs six years ago
> would mean charging $10 per book. This does not cover research costs,
> travel costs, long distance calls, mailing costs, photograph duplication
> costs, etc. I have already spent over $3000 duplicating pictures that were
> lent to me by relatives. I have also spent over $5000 in plane fares,
hotel
> room expenses, rental car expenses and auto expenses. The author of a
> family history book is not going to make money on the book. They are doing
> it because they want to share and preserve the family history.
>
> If you want to make money on a book, you will have better luck with a
> novel!
>
> I will be indebted to literally hundreds of people that shared information
> with me on their families when I publish my book. If I gave everyone a
copy
> of the book for free that shared information with me, I wouldn't have but
a
> handful of people left to sell it to.
>
> Would it be better for me to borrow the $5000 or more to publish the book
> and then just give the book away to everyone that shared information?  How
> should I try to recoup the $5000 or more in publishing costs and the many
> thousands in research costs? Personally, I have chosen to eat the
> research/travel/labor costs. That will be my cost for partaking in what I
> consider an enjoyable hobby.
>
> Luckily, family members (even those that shared info) at my
> Wilbanks/Mayfield Family Reunion realize this and are impatiently waiting
> for the chance to purchase a copy when it becomes available. My plan is to
> try to keep the price of the book as close as possible to the actual
> publishing cost to keep the book affordable. Many of my relatives are
> low-income and will not be able to afford a book of $40 or more a copy.
I'd
> like to keep it around $15-$20 a copy so that everyone in the family can
> afford the book.
>
> There is a lot more to publishing a book than most people realize. I have
> yet to meet anyone that recouped all of the expenses involved in
publishing
> a family history book. Most people actually lose money, as I will.
>
> You may want to take some time to think about what the author had to
> contribute in time, money and effort to preserve your family's history and
> make that book a reality.
>
> Gary
>
> PS
> I do agree with you about documentation. Most family history books are not
> to be used as the final source. They are used to find clues, open doors to
> research opportunities, etc. The exception is the book that  publishes the
> actual source documents and where they were found. Even then, you should
> examine the original documents yourself.
>
>