How to write a
family history book
by Carol Baxter
Let internationally acclaimed biographer and genealogist, Carol Baxter, show you how to write a family history — not just any old publication, but one that family members will actually want to read.
Her two writing publications are companion volumes. Genealogists should first read Writing Interesting Family Histories as it is the foundational publication. Then they should read Writing and Publishing Gripping Family Histories as it builds on the first book. These two books can be purchased individually or as a discounted set.
Of Carol's own writing skills, The Times (London) wrote of The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable that it is "as lively and readable as a crime novel". America's Publishers Weekly (which helps bookshop managers purchase stock) praised another, The Fabulous Flying Mrs Miller, as being "a thrilling biography". That book is now being turned into a television series, The Aviatrix.
Thus, Carol has the knowledge and skills to show you how to write family histories that will be genuinely interesting to your readers.
Who would think a "how to" book could be a page turner?
Links 'n' Chains, Australia
Writing Fabulous Family Histories
Keen to write an engaging family history?
Stuck with little more than names and dates?
Uncertain how to begin?
Writing INTERESTING Family Histories is a must-read.
With advice ranging from how you can structure a simple family history and begin writing, through to how you can use simple words and sentences to evoke drama and tension, this book will help turn your dusty piles of notes and photocopies into a riveting family history.
It will challenge you to rethink what "facts" truly are. It will show you how to extract "dialogue" from original records. It will help release your creative writing spirit.
There is no need to fictionalise history to make it interesting! After reading this book, you too will be able to turn dry facts into an interesting narrative.
Writing Fabulous Family Histories
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 22.00
Website price:
$AUD 19.50
International & Kindle purchases
Writing & Publishing
Gripping Family Histories
‘Fact-driven and tedious’ is how the publishing world judges the entire genre of family history writing. Yet family histories don’t need to be boring. In fact, Carol Baxter has proven with her internationally acclaimed, award-winning popular histories and biographies that history can be ‘spellbinding’ (The Australian).
She began the journey of showing genealogists how to transform dry facts into an interesting narrative in Writing Interesting Family Histories. She goes one step further in the long-awaited companion volume, Writing and Publishing Gripping Family Histories.
Visualising facts, telling stories, creating tension, enveloping readers in sensory experiences, and using story boxes to add life to drier narratives are among the topics covered in this publication. It also provides editorial tips, information about publishing options, and self-publishing guidelines.
There is no longer any reason – or excuse – for writing ‘fact-driven and tedious’ family histories. This book shows you how to write the opposite: gripping family histories.
Writing & Publishing Gripping Family Histories
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 22.00
Website price:
$AUD 19.50
International & Kindle purchases
Book Reviews
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No aspiring author should be without this helpful and well-written gem.
The Ancestral Researcher (Heraldry & Genealogical Society of Canberra) -
This is an excellent guide to writing readable family history and should be read by every family historian, not once but many times. Author Carol Baxter has shown how to take the family history skeleton held together by the facts, and add the flesh of the person’s life story by explaining how to research the times of their lives and place them into the context of living history. This could be the most important family history guidebook published in recent times.
Rex Toomey, Ezitree Family History Computer Software -
I loved this book and didn’t want to hand it back to the Society Library so I’ll have to acquire one of my own and even give thought to the unthinkable, 'highlighting' some of the many points I want to recall – if it doesn’t involve 'colouring-in' the whole book ... It is now up to [you] to seek out this interesting, informative and witty book.
Elaine Sheehan, Newcastle Family History Group -
Writing Interesting Family Histories has become our "bible".
Neil Johnston (UC Pioneer, Heritage and Family History Group) -
This engaging book ... is recommended to all writers as a 'primer' full of sound advice and constructive directions.
Descent (Society of Australian Genealogists) -
This is a helpful book to read before you start writing up your research but it is also useful to dip into along the way. The suggestions can give new inspiration, renew flagging enthusiasm and promote create thinking about your narrative.
Cedar Log (Richmond-Tweed Family History) -
Carol helps you to turn your interesting family histories into great family stories.
Tina Bean, Ryde Family History Society -
The whole book [is] an informative and fun read.
Kith and Kin (Cape Banks Family History Society) -
This book is essential reading, guaranteed to help aspiring writers face the daunting task of putting words in a computer file or on paper. While we may not become writers of Carol's proficiency, following her ideas is sure to add to the quality of our publications.
The Reefs Ramblings (Stawell Biarri Group for Genealogy) -
"What singles this guide out for special mention is the emphasis on providing the tools to write a 'riveting family history' ... The section of the book most guaranteed to get the family historian fired up and ready to start writing is found in the concluding chapters in which Baxter draws on her own experience to provide tips and guidance on how to create a really entertaining text around the basic facts, together with some invaluable examples. ... For anyone planning their family history, this is well worth a read.
Ancestor (Genealogical Society of Victoria)
