Design, Layout, and Publishing Tips for Family History Books
October 16, 2024
If you embark on the task of writing a family history book, it’s because you want to honor your ancestors and preserve their stories for future generations. This is more than just a book — it’s a cherished keepsake, a way to keep your family’s legacy alive. That’s why it’s important to make your book as visually inviting and easy to read as possible.
By carefully designing and structuring your family history book, you ensure that your family’s stories are told in a way that resonates emotionally with readers. Thoughtful choices, like selecting high-quality paper and printing options, will not only make your book beautiful but also create a lasting heirloom that can be passed down through generations, ensuring your family’s memories live on.
Here are some helpful tips to guide you through the process:
1. Start with a strong structure.
The first step in creating a great family history book is to develop a strong and compelling structure. A good structure both retains the reader’s attention and organizes the research and writing so that it becomes easier and faster to complete. Imagine your family history book as a building.
Before you can start adding the finishing touches and decorative details, you need a solid foundation.
Begin by thinking about the order of how you should tell the story.
For many families, the most natural choice is chronologically: Begin with the earliest known ancestors and work your way forward through the generations.
This keeps the story fluid and makes it easy for readers to follow the lineage, watching how family traits, customs, and values get passed down.
Or you might favor a topical approach, in which you devote sections to particular topics or events: major migrations, family businesses, or remarkable achievements.
If your family holds great cultural or geographic diversity, you might choose to organize sections by place or cultural background. A chapter on how different branches settled in different places, for example, could detail how the places influenced their lives.
Another approach is to start with an individual or branch of your family tree. This works well if your research yields some larger-than-life characters or if some relatives were particularly influential in shaping your family’s history. It’s one way to make your tale more intimate and personal, to put flesh and blood on the bones of the past, and to bring your characters to life for the reader.
When working with a ghostwriter, you can brainstorm the best structure for the story of your family. Nonfiction ghostwriters often bring a fresh perspective that can help you identify patterns or themes emerging from your material. The ghostwriter will help you make these decisions, ensuring the structure keeps readers engaged while respecting the integrity and depth of your family’s legacy.
2. Focus on readability.
Your family history book is an investment of time and energy. Making it as easy to read as possible will keep your audience interested.
Whether you are producing your family history book for close relatives or your extended family, a clear, easy-to-read book will be accessible and enjoyable.
For a start, consider your fonts. Beautiful, hand-painted, or swirly fonts might grab the eye, but they will be hard to read. So, while you can have a bit of fun with creative fonts in the chapter titles and section headers, the main body text should use a clean, easy-to-read font, such as Arial, Garamond, or Calibri.
Font size also figures into the mix. A font that is too small makes the book difficult to read, while a font that’s overly large makes the book look like a children’s picture book. The happy medium – 11 or 12 size font for the body copy, without exception – makes your content legible but keeps the book from looking childish.
Use line spacing and margins to your advantage. Don’t be afraid of white space!
Ramming the text onto the page is easily the biggest mistake novice family historians make.
Text needs space! This might be because closely spaced text is harder on the eyes or because overly dense text overwhelms the reader. A good guideline is a line spacing of 1.5 and at least 1.5 cm margins on all four sides of the page. This will give your text room to breathe and allow readers to scribble notes once they have your book. Ample margins make your family history book interactive and reflective.
Your ghostwriter will have lots of good advice on readability, likely drawing from their experience in ghostwriting books that have been published in print. They’ll help you make design decisions to ensure your book is not only well-written but a pleasure to read.
When you hire a ghostwriter, you’re hiring someone who will not only make your story sound great but who can also help make important design decisions, ensuring your book is as polished as possible.
3. Incorporate photos and documents thoughtfully.
Family history books are often organized as a chronological journey, and one of the most fulfilling tasks is bringing this to life by including photos, letters, and other documents from family archives. It’s another way of making your family’s stories real for the reader.
However, you’ll need to exercise restraint, curating your images so they support the narrative without overpowering it.
Decide what images and documents are most important.
Though you might like the idea of including every old photo or letter you’ve found, less is almost always more.
Which images support the storyline?
Wedding photos, historical documents, and photos of family homes can all bring your story to life. Consider grouping images by theme or time period to enhance the flow of your book.
Once you’ve chosen your photos, make sure they are placed well on the page. Photos can be used sporadically throughout your story to highlight key details, or you might use “photo chapters” between traditional chapters to break up the text with visuals. If you’re writing about a memorable event such as a migration or a reunion, a full-page spread of photos can make a powerful impact.
Each photo or document should have a caption identifying who is in the photo, where and when it was taken, and why it is relevant to the story. Captions should be brief—a few sentences usually suffice to add context while keeping readers focused on the main text.
When working with a ghostwriter, they will ensure that your visuals are integrated smoothly into the narrative.
Nonfiction ghostwriters often excel at balancing narrative and visuals, ensuring that your family history book is as visually appealing as it is well-written. A ghostwriter can also help with fact-checking the details of your captions. In ghostwriting books, accuracy is essential, and it’s the small details that make a big difference.
4. Choose the right publishing option.
If you want to get your family history book out into the world, there are various ways to publish, depending on your budget, goals, and how widely you want to distribute your work.
Some families prefer to keep the project private and create a limited number of print-on-demand books of high quality, just for relatives. Others may aim to publish more widely.
- Self-publishing. You can upload your book to platforms like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to print on demand or self-publish digitally, giving you 100% control over design and distribution.
- Traditional publishing. If your family story has broader appeal, you might consider pitching it to a publisher. A nonfiction ghostwriter can assist with this process or even handle the submissions for you. When you hire a ghostwriter, they often have experience navigating the publishing world and can help your book reach a larger audience.
- Private printing. For those who appreciate a more intimate, keepsake-style book, private printing services offer custom, locally bound, high-quality books. These options are perfect for creating a beautiful family heirloom that will be treasured by your relatives.
Working with a ghostwriter can make these decisions easier. Experienced in ghostwriting books, they can provide guidance on which publishing option will best suit your goals and ensure your family’s story reaches the right audience.
5. Work closely with your ghostwriter.
Hiring a ghostwriter will not only help you create your family history book more smoothly, but it will also allow you to truly have your say.
If you’ve never worked with a nonfiction ghostwriter before, you might wonder how the process works and how much control you’ll have over the final product.
The truth is, ghostwriting is a highly collaborative experience, and your input will be valued at every stage. You and your ghostwriter will work together to shape the narrative, ensuring it reflects your family’s unique story.
When you first start working with a ghostwriter, you’ll be asked to share stories, memories, and the vision you have for your family history book.
Be ready to talk at length about the key moments in your family’s past.
A good ghostwriter will listen carefully, asking insightful questions to draw out the most meaningful details. They’ll also ask about your writing style preferences and the tone you want your book to have—whether formal, conversational, or somewhere in between.
These interviews form the backbone of your family’s story.
Family history is not just about collecting facts and dates; it’s about capturing the spirit of your family—the joys, challenges, and personalities that make your ancestors come to life on the page.
Your ghostwriter will also gather essential documents and photographs that add depth to your family’s history. They might suggest scheduling additional interviews with relatives to fill in gaps or offer new perspectives. The end result is a family history book that is as rich and complete as possible.
Once the interviews and research are complete, your nonfiction ghostwriter will begin crafting the narrative. This is where their expertise shines: They’ll take the facts, stories, and emotions you’ve shared and weave them into a compelling story that flows naturally from chapter to chapter. Their experience in ghostwriting books ensures that your story is engaging and cohesive.
Throughout the process, constant collaboration is key.
A good ghostwriter will keep you updated on their progress, presenting sample chapters for your review. You’ll have the opportunity to provide feedback on the tone, structure, and content of the writing. If there are areas that need more depth or revision, your ghostwriter will work with you to make adjustments. This is your book, and the final product should feel like a true reflection of your family’s legacy.
After the first draft of your family history book is complete, you’ll work with your ghostwriter on revisions. Based on your feedback, they will refine the text to ensure every chapter meets your expectations.
Whether it’s reworking a section, adjusting the placement of images, or tweaking the flow of the narrative, your ghostwriter will continue to make changes until you are completely satisfied with the final product.
When all is said and done, you’ll have a beautifully written, thoughtfully structured family history book that captures the heart and spirit of your family. Because you collaborated closely with your ghostwriter, the book will feel personal and authentic, preserving your family’s story for generations to come.
Final Thoughts
Writing and publishing a family history book is a meaningful endeavor that will preserve your family’s story for future generations. Whether you’re working on the book solo or hiring a ghostwriter, carefully choosing the form and layout, and setting your publication plan will result in a handsome and treasured keepsake.
If you’re ready to begin or need someone to help you along the way, don’t hesitate to hire a ghostwriter who can bring your vision to life. Every family’s story is worth telling in all its complexity, with great care, detail, and the right expertise.
