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    How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients: Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History
    How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients: Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History
    How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients: Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History
    Ebook361 pages4 hours

    How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients: Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History

    By Anne Hart

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    About this ebook

    Learn what questions to ask and how to interview people for the significant moments in their life stories, and then write, publish, and bind by hand exquisitely-crafted personal gift books, memoirs, or business success stories.

    Words in memoirs or life success story gift books have a life of their own. The purpose of a hand-made, finely bound memoirs or business success-story gift book is to show how two or more people bring out the best in one another.

    You'd be surprised how many people are satisfied to pay up to $10,000 (or more depending upon the publisher) to have only one copy of a hand-bound hardcover book published about their event or life story. What does it take to create and publish a memoirs gift book commemorating a Bar Mitzvah, confirmation, wedding, or true experience?

    What quality of personal book do you want to make from scratch-writing, printing, and binding? As far as printing and binding, you can make one finished book at a cost to you of only $1.50?$4.50. What you charge a client depends on what it costs you.

    If you create and publish a custom gift book, you'd publish only one copy of a hand bound, hard-cover book. The tome would contain anywhere from 60 to 100 photos.

    Text material based on phone or live interviews running at least two hours for one person (or more if needed and about two hours spent per each interview) would be about 80 to 120 published pages-slightly more, but only if necessary. Look at yourself as a designer, writer, interviewer, and book binder. Learn how to make your own pop-up books for all ages.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateDec 13, 2005
    ISBN9781532000676
    How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients: Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History
    Author

    Anne Hart

    Popular author, writing educator, creativity enhancement specialist, and journalist, Anne Hart has written 82 published books (22 of them novels) including short stories, plays, and lyrics. She holds a graduate degree and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Mensa.

    Read more from Anne Hart

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      Book preview

      How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients - Anne Hart

      9781532000676_epubcover.jpg

      How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients

      Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History

      Anne Hart

      ASJA Press

      New York Lincoln Shanghai

      How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs, Gift Books, or Success Stories for Clients Make Hand-Crafted Personalized History

      Copyright © 2006 by Anne Hart

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      ASJA Press

      an imprint of iUniverse, Inc.

      iUniverse

      2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100

      Lincoln, NE 68512

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      ISBN-13: 978-0-595-38083-1

      ISBN-10: 0-595-38083-2

      ISBN: 978-1-5320-0067-6

      Contents

      Chapter 1 Presenting Memoirs& Gift Booksas Success Stories

      Chapter 2 How to Bind Your Own Bookby Hand

      Chapter 3 Pop-Up Booksfor All Ages

      Chapter 4 Full 5–6 Week Course in Writing and Publishing Gift Books

      Chapter 5 50 Strategies on How to Write Memoirsand Life Story Gift Books.

      Chapter 6 Personal Histories & Autobiographies as Points of View within Social Histories:Write in the First Person

      Chapter 7 Personal History Time Capsuleswith DNA-Driven Genealogy Reports

      Chapter 8 Romantic Wedding and Anniversary Gift Books

      Chapter 9 Branding, Slogans, & Business Creativity Logos in Gift Books

      Chapter 10 Directories as Gift Books: Entertainment, Walking Tour Guides, Historic Neighborhoods, Galleries, Museums, and Dining

      Chapter 11 Gift Book Documenting Media Tours for Authors, Performers, and Speakers

      Chapter 12 News Clipping Collection on a ThemeGift Book

      Chapter 13 Age-Related Hubsas Gift Books

      Chapter 14 ReunionGift Booksfor Familiesor Alumni

      Chapter 15 Digital Scrap Booking and Gift Booksfrom Slide Shows

      Chapter 16 Dating History Gift Books

      Chapter 17 Celebrities’ Lessons Learned from Life as Gift Books

      Chapter 18 Mind-Body-Spirit Gift Books

      Chapter 19 Inspirational Gift Books

      Chapter 20 Self-HelpSeminar and Convention Gift Books or Year Books

      Appendix A Multi-Ethnic Genealogy Web Sites:

      Appendix B General Genealogy Web sites

      Appendix C Bibliography 1

      Appendix D Use Haiku as Proverbs and Slogans for Life Story Gift Book Themes and Inspiration

      Appendix E List of Published Paperback Books Written by Anne Hart

      Appendix F 1,005 Action Verbs for Gift Book Writers and Publishers

      1

      Description of Business

      How to Open a Business Writing and Publishing Memoirs or Gift Books for Clients

      Presenting Memoirs & Gift Books as Success Stories

      Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own. Carol Burnett (1936-)

      The purpose of a hand-made, finely bound memoirs or success-story gift book is to show how two or more people bring out the best in one another. Learn what questions to ask and how to interview people for the significant moments in their life stories, and then write, publish, and bind by hand exquisitely-crafted personal gift books, memoirs, or business success stories.

      You’d be surprised how many people are satisfied to pay up to $10,000 (or more depending upon the publisher) to have only one copy of a hand-bound hardcover book published about their event or life story. What does it take to create and publish a memoirs gift book commemorating a Bar Mitzvah, confirmation, wedding, or true experience? What quality of personal book do you want to make from scratch—writing, printing, and binding? As far as printing and binding, you can make one finished book at a cost to you of only $1.50-$4.50. What you charge a client depends on what it costs you.

      If you create and publish a custom gift book, you’d publish only one copy of a hand bound, hard-cover book. The tome would contain anywhere from 60 to 100 photos. Text material based on phone or live interviews running at least two hours for one person (or more if needed and about two hours spent per each interview) would be about 80 to 120 published pages—slightly more, but only if necessary. Look at yourself as a designer, writer, interviewer, and book binder.

      You can even tailor a pop-up book creation (with the help of input from engineers on how to fold paper). Or learn how to make your own pop-up books. See the Joan Irvine Web site on making pop-up books at: http:// . Also check out the How We Make Pop-Up Books Web site at: .

      What questions do you ask to help people respond calmly and openly at an interview? Start with "What do you enjoy the most about this particular time of life? What do you enjoy most about this event? What do you enjoy most about this holiday? What do you enjoy most about this experience? What thought, act, or feeling do you want to emphasize in the gift book?

      Serious Life Experiences

      If the person is going to emphasize a war-related or military service event, an ordeal, medical or survival details, or a factual report of behaviors related to any other serious segment of a life story, you could ask in addition to the details, what have you learned from this experience?

      How have you transcended the past and moved on? What have you learned from other people’s mistakes or choices? What have you learned from your past choices, mistakes, decisions, or alternative solutions and paths? For business case histories, ask your client to relate the details step-by-step so readers can follow how your client arrived at solutions to problems or achieved measurable results. A memoirs book is like a public relations campaign. It’s about image built on solid detail and storytelling illustrated by visually-striking photography (photojournalism).

      Answer the individual’s silence or long pauses (to gather thoughts) by using action verbs such as, Bring me up to date on your life story, a special event, or your work. Tell me about your plans for this book. Also let your client describe experiences in detail and color. Ask interview questions such as the following: What’s your favorite experience and why? Describe a special gift you have given. What have you received that transformed your life? What lessons have you learned from past mistakes? What holiday or event do you enjoy the most?"

      For further information on using action verbs, see my book titled, 801 Action Verbs for Communicators: Position Yourself First with Action Verbs for Journalists, Speakers, Educators, Students, Resume-Writers, Editors & Travelers. ISBN: 0-595-31911-4. Also check out my Web site links at http:// www.newswriting.net.

      The interview questions should be given well ahead of the time of the actual live or telephone interview. Meet with the person by phone and/or in person before you arrange any interviews so you can learn your client’s expectations.

      If your client wants to exceed the maximum number of words allowed, that client would be charged usually a dollar for each extra word included in the book above the maximum words allowed. (It varies with different publishers, of course.)

      Each reprint of the book you’re your client would pay your team $10,000 for also would cost the client $250 or more per additional copy. The gift book would be wonderfully hand crafted in full color—a lifetime experience. The book could feature only one person being interviewed, for anywhere from two to 70 hours. Or an entire family may be interviewed in any city.

      There could be only a half-hour interview of each person when 100 or more people have to be interviewed. Or such a valuable, well-crafted book may be customized to fit an individual’s special requirements. Yes, people do very happily pay this much for having a gift book crafted on them or their theme, and businesses doing this are doing wonderfully well finding clients.

      The books are spectacular—rightfully gorgeous, hand bound in full color. For $10,000 (or more) anyone with the money and the time can have a book written based on interviews from anywhere, published and beautifully hand-bound with a hard cover. Are you ready to become a publisher of customized gift books?

      You can publish all by yourself at a price only you will determine as you research the markets for gift books. You have a lot of choices varying from print-on-demand software to hand-crafted bindings.

      You can hire a team of interviewers, writers, and publishers or put to learning volunteer help from school projects and senior centers. The outcome is all the same: recording, organizing, and publishing peoples’ true life stories or other events. And you can pay for books that can be bound a whole variety of ways.

      Act alone or work with a team of hired skilled people, volunteers active in retirement, or students learning the publishing business. However you manage your craft, every life story is worth a book. You can open a business or enjoy a hobby publishing gift books.

      Gift Books for Everyone

      Gift books present memoirs, family history, events, business success stories, and commemorations. Gift books showcase celebrations and rites of passage rituals with ‘action’ photos or other graphics along with text in a coffee-table style book, pamphlet, and/or multimedia disc, usually inserted in an envelope pasted on the inside cover.

      Besides being more than a glorified scrap book or keepsake album, the memoirs gift book is portable and can be published in a size that easily can be mailed anywhere.

      The memoirs gift books also can be digitized and placed on discs such as DVDs or CDs, uploaded to Web sites as compressed MP4 files (video pod-casts), narrated for a public access or family-only video if you interview the individual, or presented in a variety of formats from paperback or hard cover books and pamphlets to multimedia slide shows and short documentaries.

      The difference between a memoirs gift book and an autobiography has been explained by author Gore Vidal in his memoir titled Palimpsest. Vidal wrote, A memoir is how one remembers one’s own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked.

      When you write another person’s memoir, you’ll have to do the type of research that can be fact-checked. Verifiable facts in a memoir are based on the words—either oral or written—from the person you are interviewing to gather life experiences.

      It is that individual’s words that are recorded, edited, and written. You may never find a way to prove the facts. An autobiography includes a lot of material that does not depend solely upon memory.

      For example, a person you interview might use poetic or colorful words, moods, rhythms, and textures to create an ‘ambiance’ such as this fictional line recalling the economic depression of 1931: The sunlight shattered tongues of ice on the pond as the bread line wound around the men selling apples in woven baskets. Or this possible line, Before I left, a merchant said he’d heard rumors that the village shaman sacrificed a llama to the rain deity and burned its heart as an offering because I visited his village to measure rainfall in the parched the Chilean desert that year.

      How would you like to show how the basic, fundamental, and universal truths of human experience pull together in patterns, celebrations, commemorations, business success stories, memoirs, family histories, and rites of passage? If you want to start and operate a home-based business online, on phone, or face-to-face writing and publishing memoirs and gift books, here is your step-by-step guide to follow. Get results and solve problems.

      Help people celebrate significant experiences. Interview, transcribe, organize, edit, write, and publish a personal memoirs or business history book, booklet, or pamphlet. Or include with the book a sleeve containing a CD or DVD disk on the inside backpage. That disk would contain the same material as the text portion of the book, but as a narrated audio or video ‘book.’

      When children grow, up they’d love to see great grandma on video, hear her voice narrate her own life story’s highlights, and discuss the times and scenes from her past. The paperback or hard cover book would contain the same material that easily can be read without technology.

      Here’s how to start. Your first step is to offer potential clients unique, individual, customized books or booklets. The type of books you would write and publish would be memoirs and gift books. To operate your business, you’d need to hire as independent contractors interviewers to interview clients in a variety of cities nationally or around the world.

      You’d not only write the book, but also arrange any photos or other graphics, publish the books, and send finished, bound copies of the book or booklet to your clients. Your client would pay for a fixed number of copies of this book, enough to be both affordable for the client and profitable for you. On the average, you’d write and publish about 25 books per year, with the help of freelance writers or a team of writers working as independent contracts on assignment.

      The type of book you’d write mainly would emphasize personal stories. They would be personal books that come out of journals and celebrations, life stories, business histories, tributes, and appreciation material. To begin, divide your categories into these main topics:

      Personal Celebration Books

      Quincinera (Hispanic 15th birthday party)

      Start of teenage years

      End of teenage years

      Reaching 21

      Military Service

      Life stories/memoirs child’s memories Pregnancy Diary

      Travel tips and memorabilia/Travel Guides

      Bar/Bat Mitzvah Celebrations

      Ethnic Rites of Passage

      Confirmations

      Ordinations

      War experiences

      Immigration stories—the journey and life in the new country

      Bilingual life stories in family’s original language with English translation

      section of same information

      Moving stories—relocation, new house.

      Surviving an illness and healing journal

      Diet success story How I lost weight and kept it off.

      Memoirs and photos at various stages of life—how a person changed every

      seven years

      High school journal

      Religious experiences

      Inspirational journey

      Motivational testimony

      Diaries

      Wills/Testaments Eulogies

      Childbirth experience/Bringing home baby

      Adoption stories/open adoptions

      Leisure life

      Retirement

      Selling the large house and moving to smaller quarters

      Transition to assisted living

      Volunteer experiences: documenting acts of kindness

      Relationship Books

      Anniversaries

      Adoptive child meets birth parents after decades

      Dating history gift books

      Engagements/Betrothals

      Wedding stories

      Wedding gifts and favors

      Couple’s life stories together

      Family histories

      Genealogies

      DNA reports linking families

      Commemorative Occasions

      Friendships Reunions

      Divorce journal of details

      Battered spouse detail and dates of incidents journal

      Events book

      Religious conversion explanations to children

      Partnership unions

      Pet’s journey through Life

      Dog weddings

      New pets introduced to older pets in the household

      Merging of families—man with three children marries woman with three children

      Extended family histories Friends for 50+ years

      Several couples buying one vacation home together

      Gift Books

      Children’s letters

      Lessons Learned from Life (celebrity interviews)

      How to Make the Most of What You Have Exercise or dance lessons Scholarship(s) or Fellowships won

      Haiku poems

      Report cards from past generations

      Original designs or writings preserved for future generations/keepsake albums

      Jokes (original, not copyrighted by anyone else other than your client)

      Personalized children’s books—a story book bearing the name and photos of each child. This can be a universal novelette, novel, or story featuring the child.

      Travel stories and events with details

      School year books with a twist—customization and details

      Valentine’s Day for each year for many years or one specific event—first

      Valentine’s day before the wedding.

      Bridal showers

      Baby showers

      Baby naming book or baby naming event Building a house

      Book of thank you notes for an event, gift, or celebration

      Pet showers (new dog or cat shower)

      Bar and Bat Mitzvah

      Confirmation

      Baptism

      Conversion

      Christmas gatherings over the decades

      Recipes/cookbooks preserved from generation to generation (original)

      Hanukah, Passover, Purim, Rosh Hashanah memories and other holiday gatherings

      Ramadan

      Holidays of feasting with family book with details gathered over many decades as memoirs of events.

      Birthdays

      Weddings

      Mother’s Day

      Father’s Day

      Children’s Day

      Grandparent’s Day

      Cousins’ Books

      Special Anniversaries

      New Home/housewarming

      New Boat/Yacht

      First Apartment

      College Graduation

      Age-related celebrations

      21st Birthday

      100th Birthday gift book

      Cruise memories

      Bon Voyage

      Welcoming newcomer books

      Life stories of uncles and aunts as gifts to nieces and nephews or cousins

      Novel for children or other age groups and genres

      Plays or skits and monologues based on real-life stories or memoirs

      Poems

      Songs with lyrics

      Interviews

      Letters collected

      Change of Name

      Passing driver’s license exam and getting one’s first car

      Born Again Spiritual Theme

      Marking each stage of life transition

      Timeshare stories

      Room mates/Sharing a household

      Business Books

      Grand openings

      Success stories/case histories media book

      Switching brands—why customers switched to your product

      Promotions

      Elections/Politicians in Office

      News Clipping Collection on a Theme Gift Book

      Authors’ Media Tours Gift Books

      Case histories

      Entertainment/Music/Theatrical Tour Guides/travel tips/restaurant guide Opera

      Dining and Restaurants for each city Walking Tours/Guided Tours Museums Galleries

      Outdoor Theme parks Local museums Camp grounds State Fairs

      National Weeks Celebrating a Theme

      Mothers Day

      Children’s Day

      Fathers Day

      Grandparents Day

      Clubs/national associations

      Ethnic Themes

      Historical neighborhoods/homes Video/Virtual Reality theme parks Volunteers’ work book of thanks and gratitude

      Professionals such as dentists and doctors or hospitals—commemoration or thanks to staff.

      Wedding chapel history/church history

      Solving problems and getting results case histories

      Branding

      Retirement parties and retirement stories, tributes, or histories Corporate roast with jokes and standup comedy routines Appreciation book from clients, customers, employer, or employees ‘Why’ customers switched to your product book of step-by-step details that potential clients can follow to solve problems and get results. Professional associations’ events Conventions

      Public speaker’s experiences Inventory

      Political views of family members

      Campaigning

      Public Relations

      Video news releases with similar material in paperback print as text Courses or other instruction, tips, and strategies or techniques (how-to)

      Employee’s suggestions from suggestion box saved for many decades

      Inventions

      New license to practice a profession First job

      Contest or competition winner Sports achievement

      Award/Hall of Fame/Historical sites/Museums/Galleries

      Activities after retirement

      Motivational speakers

      Instructional/Educational Gift Books

      Literacy Tools and Photos

      Restaurant Guides with Price Ranges

      Fundraising

      Non-profit agencies work overseas documented

      Computer camp or drama camp experiences remembered

      Author’s creative salon with book reviews or poetry and photos

      Target Market

      Look for turning points, unique significant events, and highlights. Examples could be rites of passage and grand openings, graduations, or the start or finish of major life events. Journals and diaries maybe turned into customized books. The major events would pertain to individuals and businesses, schools and organizations. Any situation that has a measurable life span, rite of passage, celebration or ritual may be turned into a book of memoirs.

      Clients would ask for a variety of different-sized books or booklets and pamphlets. The length of the book as well as the number of words and pages would differ. The emphasis is on details to share or real-life stories. Each book would be sold as a gift. Customers could order a set number of books.

      You keep the master copy on disk and backed up in a disk drive or put on a CD or DVD. You can offer the book in print, as a print-on-demand book saved also in your computer and if you want to add voice narration, also as an audio book and/or narrated video using photos, images, video clips, and memorabilia recorded. You could include DNA-driven genealogy reports, maps, graphics, and interpretations in plain language. Back up any files for storage as master copies. Relatives and friends may order additional copies.

      If your client is of interest in the public arena, the book also could sell as a published work. Make sure the book is copyrighted in your name and that you have all the publishing rights to the work which is based on interviews with your clients or video and audio recording your clients.

      The reason the book is copyrighted by you as a business and not by the client is that you’re doing the writing and publishing. The client is being interviewed by phone and recorded in audio and/or video. From this information, you are transcribing the life story or business history. Then you are editing it for grammar and spelling. You are organizing the book so that similar topics are grouped together. Then you are changing the files of what you typed as a document into a PDF file that will be transformed into a print-on-demand book.

      You are designing the cover which would be given free to the client using either art work or photos supplied by the client or your own graphic designs. You can do this yourself or hire a graphic designer to design all your book covers. This artist as an independent contractor would work for a fee per book cover. Or you could ask for art work or photos saved at 300 dpi as a .tiff file, with CMYK color, for example using PhotoShop software. The books could vary in size or stay a basic 6 by 9 inches. Art work for the cover would be saved on a CD and mailed to you as a 6 by 9 inch file saved at 300 dpi as a .tiff file.

      For all this work, you’d charge a fee that would cover writing, editing, and publishing. Production work includes designing the cover, shipping and handling, and printing on demand several authors’ copies. The client would pay for as many copies as the individual ordered. Finally, you’d display the book’s cover and marketing information on a Web site for the client or save it to a CD and send to the client so that the client has a copy of the book in paperback, on a CD, and saved as a Web site on a CD. It’s up to the client whether to upload information about the book to a personal Web site.

      You could host the Web site with the book information or catalogue, or the book can be entirely private and sent only to the client to distribute to family and friends or employees. Some books would be private, such as a child’s story. Parents wouldn’t want their child’s name and image outside of the family.

      Businesses touting success stories and histories may want a book or pamphlet circulated among employees and prospective clients. How the book is presented depends upon the client’s needs and preferences.

      Sharing meaning defines ‘communication.’ What you are doing is bringing to life family histories, life stories, journals, or successful business experiences. Memoirs can be presented in print or as audio and video recordings or all together.

      For example, present the book in text on acid-free paper, then include a pocket or flap envelope pasted to the inner cover of the book or pamphlet containing a CD or DVD that has a video and/or audio narration with graphics such as photos as memorabilia. This three-way enhancement of a life story or business case history/success story offers reading, viewing, and listening that can extend far into the future for generations.

      Interviews

      Your minimum interview time with a client should be at least two hours at a time. One person could be interviewed for just two hours, or more if necessary at different appointments. Each book should contain more than 65 photos and more than 85 pages. Identify each photo with the name, the relationship, the date, location, and story surrounding the photo.

      Book size can be 6 by 9 inches or larger. A square book also is fine as long as it is at least nine inches in length. Trade book size usually is 6 by 9 inches, and personal books should look similar and professionally crafted, bound, and printed with a clear, colorful cover. You can interview several people for up to 70 or more hours to obtain all the details or as little as two hours to interview one person. If you’re charging a high-end fee, the client will want to spend a long time with your interviewers getting the details expressed so that the words and the people say what they mean and mean what they say. The most important piece of paper to have at an interview is the one with the list of questions, including questions built

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