privacy – Our Casbon Journey

Book cover 27Nov thumbnail This will be the final post in this series describing the steps involved in writing The Descendants of Isaac Casbon in America, which I published in late November 2019. This is also my third post in the Guild of One-Name Studies 2020 Blog Challenge.

In the previous post I described the final steps in preparing a print-ready manuscript. So today, I will talk how that manuscript was converted into a printed book and made available for purchase.

I haven’t mentioned previously that I had decided to publish the book only in printed form—not as an e-book. The reason for this was all about privacy. E-books are very popular and generally less expensive than their printed counterparts. However, due to their easy accessibility and the ability to disseminate them electronically, I was concerned that it would be too easy for information about living people to be shared or possibly misused. Even though I had received permission, I felt that I had a responsibility to limit access to that information.

Before I could print the book, I had to decide which company use for self-publishing. A Google search on self-publishing companies turns up a dozen or more options. After reading about these, I narrowed my list down to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Lulu.com. They both seemed to have well-developed platforms for publishing and marketing, and there were no up-front fees for either.

I initially decided to use Amazon KDP because of the ability for my target audience to use Amazon to purchase the book. I also figured that many of my readers would be Amazon Prime subscribers and would therefore be eligible for free shipping. I went so far as to print a proof copy of the book before I changed my mind and went with Lulu.com. I’ll explain the reason for the change when I talk about distribution.

The process for submitting a manuscript on either Amazon KDP or Lulu.com is very similar. The manuscript can be uploaded in either Microsoft Word (DOCX) or Portable Document Format (PDF) format. I saved my Word draft as a PDF file before uploading it to Lulu.com. Lulu then converted it to a print-ready PDF which I was allowed to download and review The only difference between my PDF and the print-ready PDF seems to be that the top, bottom and outside margins were increased slightly, so that the edges could be trimmed to the final 6 by 9-inch size after printing—hence the term “trim size.”

However, before the book could be printed, it needed a cover. Both Amazon KDP and Lulu.com have cover creator wizards that allow you to choose from a variety of templates and colors to design a cover. Some of the templates allow you to upload your own photos or images for use as cover art. They also allow you to design your own cover without a template. Once completed, the cover is saved as a PDF file.

With the manuscript and cover uploaded, the book was ready for printing. At this point, I was given the choice of releasing the book to the public or ordering a print copy. I strongly advise anyone considering self-publishing to order a proof copy. This allows you to see the final product and review one last time before sending the book to market. Amazon puts an overprint on their proof copies that reads “Not for Resale.” The proof copies from Lulu.com are the same as what will be sold to the public—the only difference being that the proof copy is available at a reduced price.

After reviewing my proof copies, I was ready to start selling books. But first, I had to decide on a price. Both Amazon KDP and Lulu.com have calculator tools to help you with pricing. The calculator subtracts printing costs and publisher’s profits from your target retail price, allowing you to decide how much, if any, profit you want to make on the book. My goal was to provide an affordable book to my readers, not to make a profit. After all, this wasn’t intended to be a best-seller!

Once the price was set, all I had to do was push a button on the computer and the book was available for sale, with its own product page on the website.

Screenshot of the book’s product page on Lulu.com

Why did I finally go with Lulu.com instead of Amazon? It all came down to privacy again. Since the book contains private information about living people, I wanted to have the ability to limit sales of the book to family members and others of my choosing. Lulu.com provides this ability through a sales option called Direct Access. With Direct Access, the book can only be sold to people who have received a link to the product page. The book does not appear on Lulu’s search page or online catalog. Amazon KDP does not have this option, so the book would have been available to anyone. I didn’t realize this until I had already received my proof copy from Amazon, so I switched to Lulu.com at that point.

As an aside, since I received proof copies from Amazon and Lulu.com, I was able to evaluate the print quality of both. Both were excellent quality and the graphics came out very well. The only difference between them was that Amazon seemed to use a slightly heavier weight of paper, so the book was a little bit thicker.

The final step was letting people know about the book. I did this through the same means I had contacted people to send them permission forms and family information sheets. I announced the book on the Casbon Family Facebook group, asking them to contact me for the link if they wished to purchase copies. I sent emails to everyone I had email addresses for and I sent letters by regular mail to those who don’t use email or the internet.

After almost a year of work, the book was finished! I’m very happy with the final result and have a great sense of accomplishment. I’ve already learned of a few corrections that will need to be made and I’m looking forward to providing an updated edition sometime in the future. But for now, I’m happy to get back to blogging and spending time doing anything other than working on the book!

In my previous post I explained the planned scope of my book and my intention to write it in Register style. Before I could start writing, I needed to compile and organize a great deal of information. Today’s post looks at the information that went into writing the book and how it was obtained.

My information requirements fell into three general categories:

Genealogical information (i.e., basic facts such as births, deaths, and marriages)
Additional biographical information
Background information—historical, geographic and other sources used to provide context

Genealogical Information. The first step in gathering the genealogical information was generating a list of the people who would be included in the book. I’ve already said that I wanted the genealogy to begin with Isaac Casbon and then trace the descendants of two of his sons, Thomas and James, up to the present time. Much of the information I needed was already contained in the genealogy software (FamilyTreeMaker®) that I have used for many years to save my research. The program allows me to generate custom reports, so I was able to produce a list of Isaac Casbon’s descendants along with their vital (i.e., birth, marriage, and death—”BMD”) information.

With this list I was able to identify gaps in the data, such as missing dates and places, that would require further research before I could start writing. This was a straightforward task. However, a bigger issue was the fact that my list was incomplete because it did not include most of the more recent—especially living—descendants. Many records, such as births and marriages within the last 50 to 100 years, are not public. Finding this information would require a different approach.

How do you find people when you don’t know who they are? The easiest approach was to ask other people who might have the answers. I’m fortunate to have distant cousins in different branches of the family who are willing to share their family information with me. They were kind enough to provide names and contact information for many of their relatives. Obituaries were another good source, since they usually listed surviving members of the decedent’s family. Facebook was another valuable resource. There is a Casbon Family Facebook group with about 150 members and a smaller Casbon Family History group with 84 members (most of them are also in the former group). These groups have provided a great way for distant cousins to meet and share stories and photos. They also provided a convenient way for me to tell people about the book and ask them for information about their families.

Between these sources I had the names of many living descendants. The list was still incomplete but it was good enough to move forward. The fact is, after nine generations, it is practically impossible to keep track of every descendant. In the book some family lines would just have to end with the last known person.

Although I now had names, I still needed contact information for many of the living people. This is where my old friend Google helped out. Anyone who has used Google to find people will know that it is a mixed blessing. A Google search brings up many websites with information derived from public records. The problem is that many of these records are not current. They frequently list multiple addresses and phone numbers for a given individual. It was a lot easier when everyone had landlines and you could just call directory assistance. At any rate, I ended up with preliminary contact information for most of the people on my list.

The next step was to contact as many living descendants as possible, ask them for information about themselves and their immediate families, and obtain permission to publish their information in the book.

This latter point—permission—is very important. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for family history and some might take offense at finding their names and other personal information in print. In these days of robocalls, identify theft, and laws directed at privacy protection, it is imperative to respect these concerns and to seek permission before printing personal information. Based on suggestions made by genealogist and lawyer Judy Russell in her blog, The Legal Genealogist (“Getting Permission,” 20 March 2013) I crafted a form for people to complete, giving me permission to print their information and allowing them to opt out of certain types of information.

An excerpt from the permission form I sent out; the form also explained the purpose of the book,
asked for contact information, and gave options for keeping information private

I announced my intention to write the book on Facebook and by email. If the only contact information I had was a phone number or mailing address, I called them up or wrote a letter. Along with the permission form, I sent, via Facebook Messenger, email, or regular mail, a form that allowed individuals to list vital information about themselves and their immediate families.

A portion of the family unit chart; note that it allows for information about three generations:
parents of husband/wife; husband/wife; children; it also allows for previous marriages

I started contacting people in February 2019. Responses did not immediately begin to roll in—it was more like a slow trickle. I found that it was necessary to send follow-up emails and to make multiple pleas on Facebook. One approach that seemed to work was to publicly thank people on Facebook when they returned their completed forms to me. This served as a reminder to those who had not yet responded. I eventually set a deadline of 31 May 2019 to return the forms to me, so that I could proceed with writing and setting the information into Register style. Even so, a few people continued to contact me well into the summer and I accommodated them.

Most people were happy to share complete details such as birth dates and locations. Many requested limitations of one kind or another, such as using birth year only, omitting locations, or not mentioning previous marriages. A very small number of people said they did not want to be included in the book. Many of the completed forms identified additional people to contact, such as adult children with families of their own. I was happy to get their names, but this required me to sent out more forms.

Eventually I received roughly 70 completed forms. Several additional people gave me permission by email. In all, I had about 560 names and 164 family groups to include in the book. The added benefit of contacting everyone was that I now had a ready list of people who would be interested in buying the finished book!

Additional Biographical Information. There were several potential sources of this information. Newspaper archives—either online or microfilm— were probably the most important. Newspaper articles often helped to fill in gaps in timelines or identify significant family events (a barn burning, an airplane crash, and a traumatic amputation are just a few examples). Obituaries were especially helpful because they often included short biographies of the deceased. Local county histories, popular in the early 1900s, contained biographical sketches with interesting tidbits of information. Censuses were also helpful because they identified where people lived and how they were employed. Property records showed when people moved from one location to another.

Background Information. I wanted the book to include more than just genealogical and biographical information. It was important to describe the world my ancestors lived in and the circumstances that shaped their lives. A lot of good information was available online, but traditional books were needed for many subjects. My local libraries don’t have carry much about the history and geography of Cambridgeshire. Thank goodness for interlibrary loan! I also found books that described social conditions in 18^th and 19^th century England. Other sources described the expansion of railroads in England and the United States, information about immigrant ships, and transportation along the St. Lawrence River. A military unit history helped me to create a timeline for one relative’s movements during and after the American Civil War. All these sources helped to “set the scene” for what was going on in people’s lives.

Other than the family information forms, most of my background research was completed by about April 2019. I was ready to begin the next phase—writing the book.

Tag: privacy

Writing the Book, Part Five

Writing the Book, Part Two