I have been detailing the many
elements I am including in the book I am writing about my mother’s family. I
have written about Page Numbers, a Table of Contents & an Index. These
items are standard items seen in the most useful genealogy books.
In this book I’d also like to add
some personal touches. My book has three basic sections:
The Families
The Families Come Together
Our Family
I want each section to begin with a
divider page. I gave thought to how those divider pages should look. When each
page in a self-published book increases the cost of the book I do not want much
white space. I considered charts or graphs but decided to use photographs.
At befunky.com you can make
collages for free. Import your own photos & follow the instructions. I made
a collage for each Section and each chapter of my book. On the collages I used
the text boxes to add a number for each photo. I inserted each collage &
beneath it I typed in a key that tells the reader who is in each photo.
I'd love to use color photos when available but color greatly increases the cost of each book.
I'd love to use color photos when available but color greatly increases the cost of each book.
The divider pages are not merely
filler pages. They organize my book, embellish & educate. Here is the divider for 'The Families'.
Caption:
1 Gartner/Weissberg Wedding; 2 Rock of
Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland; 3 Michael & Mary Jo (Mullane) Coyle; 4 Daniel
& Daniel Mullane, Jr.; 5 Children of Michael & Mary Jo (Mullane) Coyle;
6 Bartholomew A Brady family; 7 Alberta Joy Gardner; 8 Children of Bartholomew
A Brady; 9 Brigid (English) Mullane; 10 Helen F. Coyle & Nathaniel Gardner;
11 Patrick Coyle; 12 Leopold Gartner
& Nathaniel Gardner
What personal touches have you added to your publications?
Great plan and outstanding divider page idea. I just did a short book about my paternal grandparents. Since it was just the 2 of them, the divider pages were just one large photo of either my grandmother or grandfather. My Jollett book had more sections, so I filled the divider pages with a variety of images - a county map, a photo - but I'm afraid they are not quite as meaningful as your plan. Live and learn!
ReplyDeleteWendy, those are all great ideas. I thought about using maps but decided to use them in other places in the book. As always, thanks for stopping by & commenting!
DeleteWhat about a word cloud with the surnames that pertain to each section? Informative, fun, and visually interesting. Of course I agree with you that the index is a MUST. Happy 2016!
ReplyDeleteMarion, word clouds are fun. There may just be a spot for that...
DeleteColleen, that is a superb idea, and it came out quite handsomely. It would be hard to top that as an idea--just as long as you have a supply of enough old family photos to fill up the required number of dividers!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jacqi. You can also use photos of churches, tombstones, family homes, etc.
DeleteI love this idea! The page you shared is just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love it!
ReplyDelete