If your question is not answered on this page, please call us 1 800 360-5284 or fill out our Question Form and we will respond within two business days.  

Family, organization, place, or phrase of whatever you are looking for.

1. I'm not sure my writing is good enough for my book to be published & put in the hands of family members.

Remember that people like to read stories in your own words and in your style of talking. You will find beginning steps in the Tell A Story section, plus many writing helps in the Family Book How To section. And you can see the kind of writing other people have done by looking at Writing Examples and also some of the books featured with stories & photos on Featured Books  Also see Why People Don't Write and Frequent Concerns.

2. What & who should I write about? 

We provide guidelines in the section Tell A Story. And we offer 2 free E-books ~ Book 2  "Tell A Story" is especially for those just beginning to think about writing. It doesn't contain the many how-to steps of creating a book. Book 3 is especially for organizations and is like Book 2, except the writing prompts are geared to an organization.  Ordering  an e-book does not obligate you in any way.

3. How can I find out the cost of publishing a book with you, if I decide to print & bind my book? And what if I only want a few books?

See Pricing Info  for the form to fill out, such as how many pages, what size of book, hard or soft cover, or both. It comes to us and we send you prices via e-mail. We don't call you or hound you. We are simply here to help. There is no obligation or pressure. We can quote prices for 25 books or many more. Also see New Ordering Options.

4. What kind of guarantees do you offer on quality of workmanship?

Even though we guarantee what is called "industry standard," our books routinely are of a higher quality. We hear stories from clients who were unhappy with a book they did before they came to History Preserved and how happy they are with our books. 

How your book is preserved with top quality professional printing/binding matters not only to you, but also to us. Families matter. And your book matters. You may wish to read Client Testimonials and Hard & Soft Covers for details.

5. Can I send you sheets printed from my computer?

Yes. For details, see Camera Ready Pages in the Publish Info section for information on how to prepare these pages. And see Easy Book for suggestions.

6. Can I send a disk or CD and if so, what formats do you accept?

 We accept Zip Disks & CDs. If your book is in Word or WordPerfect, it needs to be post-scripted before sending so all your positioning choices are protected. We also accept PageMaker, Quark Express, InDesign, etc. See more on Preparing the Disk and  When Ready To Send  If you need help post-scripting, we walk you through how to do it. If you are unable to do it, we often can do it for you. Plus we will create a PDF file (like an e-book) and e-mail it to you so you can have one last look before we go to the next step.  You can also create your own PDF file and submit it to us.

7. What kind of paper do you use in family books?

We always use sturdy acid-free archival paper. For 25-500 books, there is a standard non-glossy white that is used, although an off-white is available for an additional charge. If you are doing 500+ books, a different printing process is used and there is a wider choice of types of paper. See More Services 

8. What kind of cover materials and binding do you use on your books?

We use top quality coverings and offer a choice of colors, types of cover materials, and we routinely provide a sewn binding on a hard cover book, and new ordering options offer a glue binding. You can read much more under Hard Covers & Soft Covers and it will explain and lead you to Color Photos of books with explanations.

9. How do we communicate if I live far away?

We are happy to meet and work personally with clients. Lack of face to face meetings have never been a hindrance to getting to know people. Ninety percent of our clients live far away and our communication with them is via telephone and e-mail. Warm working relationships do not require eye-to-eye contact. People find us as easy to work with as their friend next door. No one hesitates to call with a question.

Our goal is to discover what you want to accomplish and help you find success. Our clients find us to be most helpful and willing to coach etc.

At the present time, we only do books that will be shipped within the U.S.

10. What is the process once I decide to have you publish my book? 

If you will fill out the Question Form with the many questions you are likely to have, we respond within one business day. This starts the process. Or you are most welcome to call us: 1 800 360-5284.

We need to provide you a price quote on your book. If you do not yet know the total number of pages, give us an approximate. See Pricing Info for the information we need or call us. 

We suggest you review the information under  Family Book How To & About Photos & Hard Cover/Soft Cover  etc. When you are ready to publish, we send you a form to have you indicate your choices regarding various items. 

And we will want to know what stage you are in for getting the book ready (just beginning, almost ready, or ready to print) and if you have questions after reviewing the info on the above pages. For more information about the process once you are ready, see When Ready To Send. 

11. How long does it take?

From the time we receive your ready to go disk or camera-ready sheets, to your having books delivered, ranges from 4-8 weeks, depending on whether you order a soft cover or hard cover. Within this time period, you also receive a proof to review and approve before we proceed with printing/binding. And we send a swatch of covers so you can choose the type and color for your hard cover book. See more information on When Ready To Send  

Many people plan a book to be ready for a holiday season like Christmas, so allow extra time. And also allow extra time for the books to be shipped to you since so much shipping is done during December.

12. Will my book be "featured" on your site or just the title and author listed?

With your permission, we feature each book with two pages at no charge. If you wish more pages devoted to your book, you can pay a small one-time charge for that service. Which to choose depends on what your family would like to see.

13. Somebody said you list certain books with Internet Search Engines.

With each featured book, we make the title & family/organization name available to major Search Engines Yahoo, Google, & MSN, so that distant members who may be looking for a book about their forebears, town, church, or organization can find it on our site. When such e-mails come to us about a certain book asking how to obtain a copy, we forward their message to the author. In this way, families and other groups can find one another. See more under Find Family Books Internet Search. See Examples of how a book appears there.

We also set up pages that Search Engines can capture of People and Places written about in these books for the same reason. See more under Preview of People   Preview of Places   Where To Find  Search Families & Places 

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14. Will you design my book for me and, if so, what is the cost?

Yes, we offer design services for those who request it. We quote a per-finished-page and a per-photo charge so you can gage exactly what the one-time design costs will be. We do not quote an hourly charge for this because we believe you need to know in advance what the total cost will be. Read about our design services and costs.

15. Do you offer editing services?

We do and you can read more under Editing & More Services. You may also wish to review Formatting Your Pages to learn other helps.

16. How do I prepare my photos to look good in a printed book?

As you may have learned, preparing photos to present well in a printed book is different from preparing them to look good on a computer screen. Read all the how-to details under About Photos etc   And you will find many examples of types of scans.

17. If I wish to contact one of your publishing specialists by telephone on an ongoing basis, and use them as a consultant, what is the cost?

We are happy to answer questions at no charge to you.

18. Does my book need an ISBN number?

An International Standard Book Number is like a social security number for an individual. If copies of your book will be donated to a library, they prefer it have one, but it is not required. The ISBN number identifies publisher name, the country in which it resides, and the number assigned to a specific book. We offer that service if you wish. See example of how this appears on a copyright page. See ISBN etc about costs. 

If an ISBN number is elected, we also offer the service of providing a Library of Congress number. If your book is a detailed history that may be of interest to many people, the Library of Congress will register your book in their database (this is not a copyright). A copy must be sent to them. Many people search their database looking for books. 

Because we keep a book copy on hand and the original file submitted to us, and because we are a referring source for such a book, we can add an ISBN number where desired.

19. How do I copyright my book?

Most families do not choose to do this. Having the word copyright or the copyright symbol © on your copyright page (the next page after your title page) protects your material and you are required to send one copy to the copyright office in Washington. You can also upgrade to Registered Copyright (two copies must be sent) and we offer that service if you wish or you can do it yourself.  

Do place a statement on the copyright page saying you give permission to others to quote from your book, or not. Some authors want the right to give written permission only; others are willing for material to be used without permission. If permission is required, your copyright page (this is the back side of the Title page) should provide a telephone number or address.

20. Does your company also do books for organizations like churches, towns, historical societies, etc?

Yes, we do histories of churches, towns, colleges, historical societies, etc. You can see the List of Books for examples of these.  In addition to all the practical info on Family Book How To, Format & Design, etc, you can also see Organizations Info. And we offer a free E-book for organizations that can guide you in knowing what to write about. Ordering it does not obligate you in any way.

21. What if I write something controversial about a family member?

Any printed material is subject to laws governing slander, etc. Unless you have the person's written permission, signed and dated, and the signature and date by a witness, agreeing for you to publish your exact wording of the incident, etc, you are at risk of a lawsuit. So when we do a book, a paragraph in the simple contract covers this.

22. Your web site has so much information, I wish there was an easy way to find certain pages I've already looked at.

You can use the Search Box on the Main Page. Type in the topic you want to know about and hit the Enter key. You can also go to Our Site, a page that lists all the pertinent sections, and quickly find what you are looking for. And if it doesn't, let us know and we'll add more info to that page.

23. When I use the Search Box on the Home Page, it gives me more info than I want.

The more specific the name, phrase, question you enter, the more likely you are to find a good response. And when the Search page comes up, it gives you the opportunity to "refine" your search.

24. What exactly does your Art Department do?

They create drawings of people or places for a book and/or to be framed and displayed in the home. Read more in Art Department.

If you have questions, please feel free to call us 1 800 360-5284 or you may submit them on our Question Form. We are always happy to discuss whatever questions you may have.

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