Personal publishing consultant…

I always think the word “consultant” sounds a little pompous…like I know more than someone else so therefore I can be a consultant. At my age, I could be a consultant on many things…but not necessarily something you would want my advice on.
However, personal publishing in this context means I might know something, and with a little more training, to go with the experience I already have…and I’m it…a consultant.
It will take a little cash…doesn’t everything? But that’s just to get the supplies that make the business a little easier, AND direct you, the customer to the right site. Well, if I do this my way, my consulting could take you in many directions.
I want you to follow something I believe in. I’ve written about. I’ve practiced. But, with this new pursuit, while you’re doing it and maybe helping me with a business, I’ll have time to do more myself.
Of course, there is the little matter of my job, but with a little creative scheduling…And I’ve done that many times, this can work.
Thousands, millions? of women, and some men, I suppose, across the country have invested in paper, scissors, punches, glue and glitter to scrapbook their way to family fame.
Well I’m not a scrapper in the traditional sense. Goodness knows I have plenty of scraps that need preserving. I just choose to do it with no mess no fuss…digitally. And I found it, the site I want to use to do my digital scrapbooking. It’s a little pricey-er than some sites, but it offers so much more than some of the standards.
Anyone can sign on to a photo site and compile a photobook with digital images, embellish it with backgrounds, digital “stickers” and even a few quotes or captions ( my journalese let’s me call them cutlines). But I want you, and me, to do more.
You CAN write a book! You can tell your stories, your family history, capture your memories or those of your family members. People are doing it and I want to help more people do it.
All those readers of the Hartland Historical Society newsletter have heard me expound on it for years…a few have tried…the trick is “write it down.”
I’ve started a few “memoirs” and it really isn’t about setting down to write a book. It’s about capturing memories…one story at a time, one event at a time, maybe one person at a time. Today, more than ever, people are discovering what they’ve lost in family memories, the stories, the pictures or maybe the stories that go with the pictures. Don’t you ever wonder when you see an old picture? Who is that? Why are they doing that? What are they doing?
I have a great family album, leather-bound, gilt-edged and a brass clasp…but who are the people? I now know two of them with some creative sleuthing. But no one identified the pictures in the 1800s and here are these people…my relatives and I don’t know who they are or why we have their pictures.
I’ve written columns about this…mark your pictures, date your pictures, keep them in an album, create a scrapbook or now even better, and easier create a digital album or scrapbook…it couldn’t be easier, even if you don’t own a computer.
But, of course, you do…you’re reading this.
And if you are reading a blog you are not just an occasional computer user. You know your way around the Internet. You can use the software. Maybe you already upload your digital pictures to a photo website. Maybe they offer a digital album, photobook option….most do these days. Some sites offer more…more backgrounds, more design options, more help and classes, too. Check it out….as soon as my wehsite is set I’ll let you know how to get there and how I can help you.
Heck, I can help you now…it just depends on how much you want to do in the way of family history.