Days of Inspiration

The start of a new year causes people to compile lists of New Year's resolutions. Some good intentions are easily broken, while others become good habits. 

If you're looking for inspiration for your genealogy writing, as a conversation starter, or just a fun day to celebrate, check out the calendar dates below.  

January

• Jan. 1: New Year’s Day (Gregorian calendar)
• Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January)

February

• African-American History Month
• Feb. 14: Valentine's Day
• Feb. 29: Leap Year day (once every four years)
• Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February)

March

• March 17: St. Patrick's Day
• March 17: Evacuation Day
• March 20: Spring Equinox
• March 25: New Year's Day (Julian calendar)

April

• April 1: April Fools Day
• April 10: National Siblings Day
• April 16: National Librarian Day
• April 22: Earth Day
• Library Week (first week in April)
• Patriots Day (third Monday in April)
• Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work day (last Thursday in April)
• Arbor Day (last Friday in April)

May

• May 1: May Day
• May 2: Brothers & Sisters Day
• May 5: Cinco de Mayo
• May 8: V.E. Day: Victory in Europe Day
• May 22: National Maritime Day
• National Teacher's Day (Tuesday of the first full week of May)
• Mother's Day (second Sunday in May)
• Armed Forces Day (third Saturday in May)
• Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

June

• June 14: Flag Day
• June 17: Bunker Hill Day
• June 19: Juneteenth Day
• June 20: Summer Solstice
• Father's Day (third Sunday in June)

July

• July 4: Independence Day
• Parents’ Day (fourth Sunday in July)

August

• Friendship Day (first Sunday in August)

September

• Sept. 11: Patriot Day
• Sept. 17: Constitution Day
• Sept. 17: Citizenship Day
• Sept. 21: International Peace Day
• Sept. 22: Autumn Equinox
• Labor Day (first Monday in September)
• Grandparents Day (Sunday after Labor Day)
• Native American Day (fourth Friday of September)

October

• Family History Month
• National Crime Prevention Month
• Oct. 5: World Teacher Day
• Oct. 31: Halloween
• Columbus Day (second Monday in October)

November

• National Adoption Month
• Native American Indian Month
• Nov. 1: All Saints Day
• Nov. 2: All Souls Day/Day of the Dead
• Nov. 11: Veterans Day
• Election Day (Tuesday following the first Monday of the month)
• Thanksgiving (Fourth Thursday in November)

December

• Dec. 7: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
• Dec. 21: Winter Solstice
• Dec. 25: Christmas
• Dec. 26: Kwanzaa begins
• Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve

Other Holidays & Fun Stuff

In addition to the dates above, there are “moveable” holidays that change every year, such as Easter, Chinese New Year, Yom Kippur, Ramadan, and Diwali. To keep up with those dates, visit Holiday Insights. You’ll also find many other reasons to celebrate on that site. And don’t forget Thomas MacEntee’s GeneaBloggers’ daily blogging prompts.

Need help organizing all the dates? Check out Create Your Own Calendar. 

Finding a new home

Sears Catalog home, 1908-1914

Five years ago, I started writing the Boston Genealogy Examiner column at Examiner.com. I didn’t have specific deadlines to meet or assigned topics to cover. I could be my own boss and write about what I love. The premise seemed easy: The more you wrote, the more followers you collected, the better your payday. I knew I could never be as prolific as Judy G. Russell, the Legal Genealogist, or Heather Rojo at Nutfield Genealogy, but I knew I had something to contribute.  

I had so many story ideas that at first it was hard to concentrate. I had my niche—Boston, though I broadly defined that as all of New England since no one was encroaching on my territory—and genealogy was one of the most popular topics on the Internet. How hard could it be? I wrote articles and I learned how to tweet and stumbleupon and post story links to Facebook. The pennies slowly started rolling in.

While the Examiner site grew into a “dynamic entertainment, news, and lifestyle network,” my little column was lost in the channel shuffling. You needed to follow me on social media to find my posts or have telepathic powers to Google my latest topic. And then a funny thing happened. A couple of months ago, I stopped writing my Examiner column but continued to post news and events on its associated Facebook page—and in a short time, my number of “likes” multiplied. I had that aha! moment where I realized I had built a genealogy community outside of its original home and found the real people I wanted to reach.

Over the last couple of months, I have posted 120+ of my Examiner articles to my Genealogy Ink blog. In the process, I widened my scope , updated storylines, and checked links for what I’d call my “evergreen” articles, plus written new ones. I hope you join me on my new adventure.

Keeping Up with Genealogy Ink

On social media, I post news stories, links, events, and other snippets that may not make it to my blog. Follow me on Twitter @genbird8, Google+, and BosGenEx@Facebook.

Massachusetts society and library blogs

American Antiquarian blog

Many historical and genealogical societies and libraries have blogs, from the U.S. National Archives to small, local societies such as the South End Historical Society in Boston. Their blogs are, to some degree, an extension of their mission statements, to highlight their collections and provide information to members and the general public.

For instance, the Massachusetts Genealogical Council's mission is to serve as an "umbrella organization representing Massachusetts genealogists, historical societies, and individuals who are concerned about records preservation and free and unfettered access to civil records." Its blog, the MGC Sentinel, is "keeping watch over Massachusetts public records." You'll find news about legislative bills that affect genealogists and family historians, both federal and local, and how you can help. 

The American Antiquarian Society's blog delves deep into its collections, telling stories about acquisitions, archives, and great finds. It makes you want to explore the AAS records in-depth to see if your ancestors are lurking in the library, waiting to be found.

The Cape Cod Genealogical Society blog includes special interest group (SIG) meetings, genealogy workshops, and monthly programs, interspersed with articles of local and national interest.

You can find more than 3,000 genealogy blogs listed on the Geneabloggers site and on the Blog Finder at Genealogue. New England GeneaBloggers have a Facebook page. (To see a list of members and links to their blogs, click on the "about" tab.) And when you find a blog you like, check its blog roll for other interesting sites the blogger follows.

Besides blogs, many societies and libraries use social media to reach their audience. They may post items of interest (and links to their blogs) on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and You Tube accounts. Be sure to follow the blogs and social media outlets that interest you, to give you new research ideas, to learn about collections, and to stay involved in the genealogical community.

See also:

• Massachusetts genealogy and history blogs part 1
• Massachusetts genealogy and history blogs part 2

Massachusetts genealogy and history blogs part 2

History of Massachusetts blog

Below are more blogs to bookmark, covering historic Massachusetts in stories and photos as well as its graveyards, Redcoats, and folklore.

• And This Is Good Old Boston. "Boston history - sort of." Mark B. tells stories and shares photos of Boston, enhanced with maps to pinpoint the landmarks.
• Retro Boston Remembered. "Charles Boston’s scrumptious scrapbook of events and places from good old Retro Boston." A blog by the cultural historian who created Shopping Days in Retro Boston blog.
• History of Massachusetts by Rebecca Brooks. Articles, animated timelines, photos, scanned books, and puzzles covering 17th to 20th century Massachusetts history, with an emphasis on 1692 witch trials and the American Revolution.
• The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit. "A blog devoted mainly to the cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts with occasional forays elsewhere in New England. A member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits."
• New England Folklore. Peter Muise is an "avid folklore fan and New England native" who likes "exploring and writing about New England legends, folklore, and traditions." Sites like these can help you understand some of your ancestral quirks and odd beliefs.
• Muddy River Musings. Join Ken Liss on his "meanderings through the thickets of Brookline's past." A "researcher and amateur historian," he offers "an idiosyncratic assortment: people, places, and events, big and small, ... interesting, amusing, poignant, or peculiar, or that otherwise caught [his] eye."
• British Soldiers, American Revolution. "A place for information about British soldiers who served during the American Revolution, 1775-1783. Thousands of soldiers wore red coats, but little is known about them as individuals. This site will change that, soldier by soldier."

You can find more than 3,000 genealogy blogs listed on the Geneabloggers site and on the blogfinder at Genealogue. New England GeneaBloggers have a Facebook page. (To see a list of members and links to their blogs, click on the "about" tab.) And when you find a blog you like, check its blog roll for other interesting sites the blogger follows.

In case you want to delve into blogging yourself, Geneabloggers includes blog resources and daily blogging prompts.

See also:

• Massachusetts genealogy and history blogs part 1
• Massachusetts society and library blogs

Massachusetts genealogy and history blogs

Boston 1775 blog

With so many blogs being written every day, it's sometimes difficult to know which ones to follow to enhance your genealogical research. Some blogs are forays into the research process, with records and resources. Some are personal histories with plenty of "cousin bait" included. Some are photo histories and curiosities, covering buildings and people and events. Some delve into cultural, religious, immigrant experiences, and more.

Blogs can inspire or direct your own research, leading you to new discoveries. They can help put your ancestors in context or explain the world around them. 

Here are some of my recommendations:

• In the process of researching a yet unfinished novel, J.L. Bell began his Boston 1775 blog featuring “history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in Massachusetts.”
• Ryan W. Owen's Forgotten New England explores the area's history from the 1850s onward, with a special focus on Lowell.
• Professional genealogist and house historian Marian Pierre-Louis has several projects of interest, including Marian's Roots and Rambles. 
• If you have Mayflower families and/or other settlers from Plymouth and Barnstable county, check out Chris’ Massachusetts and More Genealogy Blog. 
• Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings is jam-packed with “genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories.” Although Randy lives in Chula Vista, California, he has New England roots. You'll often find record transcriptions (census records, vital records, wills, etc.), lineages, stories, and photos about his Massachusetts folks.
• Although Heather Rojo's family is not from Nutfield (an area now known as Londonderry, Derry, and Windham, New Hampshire), she used the name for her blog, Nutfield Genealogy, to designate where she lived. She often writes about her Massachusetts roots. Pay particular attention to Tombstone Tuesday and Surname Saturday posts.

Thomas MacEntee’s Geneabloggers web site lists almost 3,000 genealogy blogs, from personal musings to professional insights, and everything in between. For more blogs, check out the Genealogy Blog Finder.

In case you want to delve into blogging yourself, Geneabloggers includes blog resources and daily blogging prompts.

See also:

• Massachusetts genealogy and history blogs part 2
• Massachusetts society and library blogs

Genealogy goals: Beyond research

As genealogists, we often have short-term goals (such as find the obituary, gravestone, burial record, will, etc., to provide an end date for an ancestor). But what about long-term goals? Have you considered how to share your years of research with your family?

You can start small, with a genealogy photo book or a collection of family stories. Perhaps you have your great aunt's war-time journal, which you could transcribe and annotate. Or you'd like to write a multi-volume series, covering each of your grandparents' lines. There are plenty of genealogy projects to do.

Tools for Writing

To help you get started, here are a few suggestions for tools to help with writing:

RootsMagic's Personal Historian software

Guide to Genealogical Writing by Penelope Stratton and Henry B. Hoff (NEHGS)

Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America, 1607-1783 by Dale Taylor (and other books in the series)

Writing/Publishing

Check out my writing/publishing series for genealogists:

• Top 10 reasons to publish your research
• Top 10 reasons to publish on paper
• Top 10 projects to publish
• Top 10 writing tips
• Publishing terms for the genealogist
• Top 10 marketing tips for publishing your genealogy
• Creating a genealogy photo book

Historical perspective: Putting your ancestors' lives in context

Oftentimes, as genealogists we tend to focus on births, marriages, and deaths. But to see the bigger picture, we need to consider what was happening in the community and the world around them to put our ancestors’ lives in context.

One way to do this is to create a timeline of family events and match it with historic events. That way, you can determine what outside factors may have influenced your ancestors’ lives, from wars, pirates, strikes, politics, religious revivals, and murders to fires, weather, flu epidemics, famines, and other major catastrophes.

For instance, my ancestors, a husband and a wife in their late 30s, died in 1721. From reviewing historic events of the time period, I finally figured out that they may have died in the smallpox epidemic that was ravaging Boston. After all, a few months prior to their deaths, they sent their children to live with relatives in Essex county, Massachusetts.

Other relatives lived in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892 when Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother. Did they know the Bordens? Maybe not. But how closely did they follow that sensational news? At the time, one of my relatives was a five-year-old boy, and he grew up to be a policeman. I sometimes wonder if the murders influenced his chosen career and how much inside information he knew from working at the police station.

Below, I’ve included some Massachusetts events randomly collected from the MassMoments web site. Hopefully, a few of them will make you consider how an event may have affected your ancestors’ lives. What did they live through? How may that event have influenced their lives?

Learning about the times they lived in may give you a new perspective into your ancestors’ lives. It may even give your family history research new clues to follow.

1620: Pilgrims and strangers land in Plymouth
1630: Puritans arrive in Boston
1636: Harvard College founded
1658: Quakers outlawed in Plymouth
1659: Christmas celebrations outlawed
1675: King Philip’s War begins
1690: first newspaper published in the Colonies
1692: Salem witch trials
1717: pirate ship the Whydah sinks off Cape Cod
1721: smallpox epidemic in Boston
1733: Boston masons organize first Grand Lodge in America
1746: Abenaki raid on Deerfield
1760: Great Fire of 1760, Boston
1765: Stamp Act protests
1770: Boston Massacre
1775: American Revolution begins in Lexington
1797: USS Constitution launched
1806: first African-American meeting house opened
1812: War of 1812 begins
1820: Maine becomes own state, apart from Massachusetts
1821: Massachusetts General Hospital admits first patient
1837: Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary opens
1844: Millerites await end of the world on October 22
1848: Boston’s first municipal water system completed
1850: first national women’s rights convention held in Worcester
1860: Lynn shoeworkers strike
1861: Massachusetts volunteers join in the Civil War
1872: Great Fire of Boston
1888: blizzard of 1888
1892: Andrew and Abby Borden murdered in Fall River
1897: Boston opens the nation’s first subway system
1903: Marconi relays first transcontinental radio message from Wellfleet
1912: Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence
1919: Great Molasses Flood in Boston
1926: construction of Quabbin Reservoir begins; towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott disappear
1927: execution of Sacco & Vanzetti
1938: hurricane ravages New England
1962: Boston Strangler killings
1978: Blizzard of 1978
2004: Red Sox win World Series

Anatomy of a publication

A continuation of my publishing/writing series for genealogists. This article deals with the components that make up a book, monograph, article, etc.

Body copy: The main text in an article, excluding headlines, etc.

Byline: Credit given to author (by author name). Sometimes refers to author bio at end of article.

Call-out: Label used to identify parts of a photo, illustration, chart, etc. Sometimes with lines, arrows, or balloons tying call-out to a particular element, say identifying a building in a map.

Caption: Description of illustration, photo, chart, or graphical element, plus credit for the source.

Continuation head: Repetition of the headline (and jumpline) to identify continuation of article.

Deck (dek): One or more lines of text after headline and before body of article to expand the headline/topic.

End Sign: Dingbat or other symbol used to mark end of article.

Endnote: Reference citation or note placed at the end of an article, chapter, or book that is referred to in the body of text with superscript numbers.

Folio: A sheet of paper folded in half is a folio. A folio has four pages (two on each side). Several folios, one inside the other, make up a signature. Several signatures together make a book (or magazine), etc. Also known as a page.

Footer: Repeated text at the bottom of every page (or every other page of newsletter).

Footnote: Reference citation or note placed in the footer on the same page in which it is referred to in the body copy with superscript numbers.

Gridline: Non-printing line that helps with placement of text and graphics. Also known as guidelines.

Header: Repeated text at the top of every page (or every other page of newsletter). Also known as running head or standing head.

Headline: Article's name or title.

Jumpline: Continuation line, as in Continued on page 16 and Cont. from page 1.

Kicker: Short phrase set above a headline; as an intro or section heading for regular column.

Masthead: Publisher, staff, contact info, copyright, etc.

Nameplate: The banner on the cover that includes the publication's name; sometimes graphics or a logo, tagline; publication information including Volume and Issue or Date. May also be called masthead.

Page layout: Design or composition of the page. Also known as page composition, page design, desktop publishing.

Pull-quote: A phrase or sentence(s) from the article that is repeated in large type as a graphical element.

Recto: Right-hand page with odd number.

Running head: Repeated text, often the name of the publication, that appears on every page or every other page of newsletter. Also known as standing head or header.

Sidebar: Short article within an article that are sometimes placed within a box inside the main article, much like a graphical element.

Signature: Several folios, one inside the other, make up a signature.

Standing element: Page element that appears on every page of a publication in the same position and format. Also known as master page element or repeating element.

Standing head: Page element that appears on the top of every page of a publication in the same position and format.

Subhead: Phrase or short title that appears within the body of an article between paragraphs to break it into smaller sections.

Table of Contents (TOC): List of articles and their page numbers.

Template: A master guide, often with standing elements in place, to help design pages within a publication.

Title page: Title of publication and name of author (and illustrator). Sometimes includes publisher name and address, copyright information, ISBN, Library of Congress number, date of publication, etc.

Verso: Left-hand page with even number.

Publishing terms for genealogists

Copyright: Protection under United States law to the authors of “original works of authorship” such as articles, books, web sites, and other creative and intellectual property, whether published or unpublished, for a certain period of time. Get the copyright basics from the U.S. Copyright Office.

See also:
When Works Pass into the Public Domain chart by Lolly Gasaway
"Who Owns Genealogy? Cousins & Copyrights" article by Gary B. Hoffman

Editorial Calendar: Magazines often have an outline of topics planned for upcoming issues, such as the cover story or a special theme, in addition to the regular columns or departments in every issue. You may be able to pitch a story idea that would fit with a special section on immigration, for example, if you know about the theme in advance of the lead time. Or you'd know, based on the editorial calendar, that your story idea had been covered in a previous issue.

Fair Use: Part of the U.S. copyright law, fair use allows brief passages of copyrighted material to be quoted without infringing upon the copyright owner's rights.

Fulfillment: Shipping services. Some fulfillment companies stock inventory, handle orders, provide billing services and order tracking in addition to shipping.

Lead Time: A magazine staff needs time to select and edit articles, design and layout the pages, proofread, and finalize the issue before it goes to press. So, for example, articles for an issue may be due six months in advance of the issue sell date. Check writer's guidelines or with the editor for submission deadlines.

ISBN: International Standard Book Number, a unique identifying code for every published book.

Monograph: A printed booklet, about 30 to 100 pages long, for genealogical or historical projects that are too long for an article and too short for a book. Examples include extended biographies, transcriptions, and research in progress.

Print on Demand (POD): Typically, books are printed in quantity because the larger the print run (amount of books printed), the cheaper the cost per book. For the self publisher, the cheaper cost per book sounds great...until you lose storage space in your garage for all the unsold books you need to store. Print on Demand allows you to order exactly how many books you've sold in advance, and then print more as needed. Some POD companies have set minimums and upfront fees in addition to actual print charges, so check the requirements before you sign a contract.

Public Domain: Material that is not under copyright restrictions.

Publisher: a company that purchases an author’s work. See also Self Publishing, Vanity Press, Print on Demand.

Query Letter: A short letter that pitches an article or book to a magazine or book editor. Queries should be brief, businesslike, and to the point so that the editor can decide whether your subject matter and treatment fit into the company's future publishing plans.

Rights: Magazines purchase rights from the author to publish articles. Also applies to book publishers.

• All Rights means the magazine can use the article in any format and as many times as they wish, without restrictions and without additional payment to the author. For example, an article may be printed in the magazine and then appear on the publisher's web site, on a CD-ROM, and/or in a book. 
• First Serial Rights gives the magazine the right to publish a work for the first time in any periodical; after that, rights revert back to the author. 
• One-Time Rights allows the publisher to publish a work one time, after which the rights revert back to the author. 
• Reprint Rights allows a magazine to reprint an article after it has already appeared in another periodical.

Royalty: Percentage of a book's retail sales paid by the publisher to the author.

Self Publishing: The author handles the writing, editing, indexing, printing, marketing, and sales of a book instead of a publisher handling all the details and paying royalties to the author. See also Print on Demand, Vanity Publisher.

Slush Pile: Unsolicited manuscripts sent to publishers.

Vanity Publisher or Subsidy Publisher: A publisher that charges the author all costs of printing book. Sometimes offers distribution/fulfillment services for a fee too.

Top 10 genealogy writing tips

How do you turn your genealogical research into something that people want to read? Try these suggestions:

• Read the top genealogical journals. Besides the articles, check the book reviews to see what the reviewers consider to be well-done genealogies and follow their suggestions for your own article or book.  

• Cite your sources! Provide full source citations in footnotes and bibliographies. That way readers and researchers can follow up on the materials and references you've used to reach your conclusions. For proper citations, check out Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Evidence Explained:Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace 2nd Edition and Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. These two books go beyond the earlier Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records by Richard S. Lackey.

• Use standard numbering systems, such as the Register System (NEHGS), the NGS Quarterly Numbering System, the Henry System, and the Sosa Stradonitz System for genealogies.

• For grammar and composition questions, follow the The Chicago Manual of Style. 

• Develop an interesting story, not just a list of begats. Include transcriptions of family letters, journals, Bibles, and other records—if you have them. If not, read histories of the time and place so you can create a setting for your people. 

• Use photographs (with captions and whereabouts of originals) of people, places, and things. Use maps or other graphics to illustrate a story, such as migration patterns or land holdings.

• Protect information about the living. You should not give out personal information and vital statistics. Beware of sharing skeletons in the closet, especially if they may hurt, offend, upset, shock, or embarrass your family members.

• Have an editor edit and proofread your work carefully. Double-check all your facts and citations.

• Know how copyright affects your publication.

• Create a complete index of people and place names. 

There are lots of books for would-be writers, including a bunch specifically for genealogists and family historians.

Top 10 genealogy projects to publish

Have you thought about publishing?

Ask yourself: What research have you done or what materials do you have access to that other people would be interested in?

• family history/genealogy, for example, the award-winning More Lasting than Brass: A Thread of Family from Revolutionary New York to Industrial Connecticut by Peter Haring Judd (2004)
• profile of an ancestor or family group, such as Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall written by his descendant, Eve Laplante (2007)
• surname dictionary (such as a One-Name Study)
• photo book of a person, couple, or family (use a digital photo service to create a hardcover photo book)
• history of a location
• photo history of a location
• house history
• transcriptions of cemeteries, business ledgers, personal letters, journals, Bibles, family memorabilia, etc.
• abstracts of wills, probates, newspapers, etc.
• indexes for obituaries, old town/county histories, court cases, etc.

Top 10 reasons to publish your research

As genealogists, most of us have stacks and stacks of papers related to our family history. Vital records, census records, pensions, land grants, ship manifests, immigration papers, old photographs, and other treasures—all of these pieces of information give us the essential data to create a family tree.

At some point, we always plan to publish our findings, whether it’s just within immediate family members or to the world at large. Here’s some incentive to get you started:

• Doing research with the idea that you're going to publish an article or book helps you to focus the direction of your research.
• No one can make more sense of your research than yourself, regardless how neatly you've arranged your file folders or family history charts and how accessible your databases are. So collecting dead relatives isn't enough, you have to tell their stories and publish their lineages.
• You'll feel a sense of accomplishment when your article or book is in print, above and beyond any money you make off the deal. 
• Researchers will quote you in their footnotes and bibliographies!
• You'll find other people related to your family lines, and one of them may have the long-sought-after family Bible, photos, or other precious memorabilia to share.
• Your new-found relatives may have different hypotheses or additional information about your lines that will further your research.
• If you submit your book for review, you may learn ways of improving it for the second edition.
• You can submit your work to win an award. (For example, NGS, ISFHWE, and ASG awards)
• You'll have a published article or book to pass on to future generations.
• You're not getting any younger!

Top 10 marketing tips for publishing your genealogy

Spread the word about your publication!

Now that you've published your book, you need to find ways to reach the people who want to read it. Try these marketing ideas:

• Let your relatives know about your book or article and where they can get a copy. Mention it in your letters, holiday cards, and family newsletter.
• Include book details in your email signature line.
• Send review copies to genealogical magazines and journals; local and state genealogical and historical societies (in areas where your subjects lived); and other societies where you are a member. You may get free publicity, plus a critique that will improve your second edition.
• Send your book to local libraries and societies; the National Genealogical Society, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, the Library of Congress; and membership societies. Researchers may find your book on the shelf and want to order their own copies.
• If you have a personal or genealogy-based web site, announce your achievement and tell people how they can order copies.
• If you belong to appropriate surname and location email list groups, check with the list owner about mentioning your publication to the group. Or, you could post a general note asking members if they're interested in your line to contact you.
• Post your book title and ordering information on surname and location genealogy boards.
• If you've written a how-to-research, a local history, or a record transcriptions book, see if bookstores would be interested in holding a book signing event.
• Advertise your book for sale in appropriate genealogical and historical magazines and journals.
• Rent booth space at local, regional, and/or national genealogy conferences and sell your books there.